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The honor of a lifetime. Over the weekend, Miranda Lambert was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame by the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association at ACL Live in Austin, Texas, alongside other honorees in Don Cook, Keith Gattis, and The King, George Strait. The ceremony featured performances by Brooks & Dunn, Jamey Johnson, Parker McCollum, Randy Houser, Natalie Hemby, Ashley Monroe, Dean Dillon, Waylon Payne, Bubba Strait, and more, and inductees Miranda Lambert and George Strait also performed. The inductees are chosen based on the criteria that they “embody the heart, grit, and poetry of Texas music, celebrating a rich songwriting legacy that continues to resonate far beyond the Lone Star State.” Of course, all of those individuals have contributed greatly to the heritage of incredible music in the Lone Star state, and Miranda in particular is the Academy of Country Music’s most-awarded artist of all time, in addition to being a producer (she’s producing Ella Langley’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Dandelion), label co-founder, and entrepreneur, with 10 #1 singles, seven #1 albums, and three GRAMMYs to her name. She is a proud Texas girl through and through, and during her speech, she talked about everyone who helped her get to where she is now over the years, including Jesus and her family, who sacrificed so much for her over the years: “Thank y’all so much, this means the absolute world to me. I can’t even believe I’m standing up here… I want to thank Jesus, first, because good Lord I wouldn’t be here without him. I want to thank my family, my daddy is the one that taught me about songwriting, taught me three chords and said that’s all I needed for country music, and it worked out. They went all in, you know, my family went all in. I said, ‘I’ve gotta do this, this is all I can do in my life.’ and they said, ‘Let’s go, and we did it.’ So thank you. I want to thank my husband for putting up with my s***, and for believing in this career and standing by my side, thank you so much. And now you write songs with me… we’re doing that now, too.” She thanked her manager, her team, as well as her “framily,” her chosen family, because she explained to the crowd that they have followed her all over the world, since the beginning, to hear her play and cheer her on when no one else was there: “I’ll tell you what, when  I was playing Rudy’s Bar-B-Q in Tyler, Texas for two people, and my mom just would gather everybody up and say, we’re gong to listen to some damn music, and y’all are gonna cheer, and you’re gonna love it. I think it gave me the confidence to keep going, like, even though they were kinda paid to be there. They acted like they cared. But I just appreciate y’all following me around for the last 23 years, and coming to every show, and traveling 100s of miles. And fans, what do we have without fans? The song don’t mean nothing if y’all don’t listen to it, so thank you so much.” And of course, she thanked all of her heroes and collaborators, especially those from Texas, who curated her love of music which has given her a life beyond her wildest dreams. Miranda seemed truly moved by the honor, and I have to imagine being recognized by your home state in that way is a dream come true: “Thank you to my heroes and collaborators, and lastly, thank you to the great state of Texas. The music that came out of this place is what built all of us standing on this stage tonight, it’s what built country music. A lot of that is why we’re all standing here, so I cannot tell y’all how thankful I am to  be from the Lone Star state tonight. Thank you to the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame for inducting me, I will keep making you proud for another 22. God bless y’all. Thank you.” You can watch the full speech here: @ran_fan_forlife♬ original sound – ran_fan_forlife She also shared photos from the evening over on Instagram, saying it was a night she “will never forget as long as I live”: “Last night was one I will never forget as long as I live. Being inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame along with King George, Keith Gattis, and Don Cook was the biggest honor I could ever dream of. Thank you to Parker McCollum, Natalie Hemby, Ashley Monroe, Jon Randall and Jack Ingram for singing my songs, and Frank Lidell for the most heartfelt speech. Texas is always home and the music that came from our great state is the music that built me. Big lone star love to all that have supported me all these years. My heart is full.” If you scroll to the third slide, you can see part of Natalie Hemby and Ashley Monroe delivering a beautiful acoustic performance of “Kerosene,” and on the sixth slide, Parker McCollum does “Famous in a Small Town”: View this post on Instagram The post Miranda Lambert Says Being Inducted Into The Texas Songwriters Hall Of Fame Is The “Biggest Honor I Could Ever Dream Of” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Megan Moroney fans believe one, two or maybe even three songs from her new album are about Riley Green. Is it true? Continue reading…