Pistol packin’ – Miranda Lambert sets her sights on Bayou Country Superfest

The daughter of East Texas private detectives, Miranda Lambert was taught from an early age how to handle a gun. At 29, she still hunts deer in season.

Like local country artist David St. Romain, the outspoken singer first gained prominence on a country-fried version of American Idol called Nashville Star.

That was a decade ago, and now the platinum-selling country artist might be known best as the spitfire foil to her husband, soft-spoken country hit maker Blake Shelton, who plays the resident nice guy on NBC’s mega-hit talent show The Voice.

Always opinionated, Lambert appeared as a mentor on the show last season, but says she doesn’t make a point to tell her husband if she disagrees with his decisions. “I am just a big fan of the show,” she says. “I love supporting [Blake’s] team.”

She’s not always that democratic. Lambert talks candidly about her obsession with fire, she was never shy about releasing a record called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and she’s done publicly what so many of us have done privately—slam Chris Brown.

Which begs the question: How could it be that someone so inherently befitting of the raucous milieu of southern Louisiana has never performed live in Baton Rouge? Lambert will fix that problem right up this Memorial Day weekend when she performs as one of the headliners for Bayou Country Superfest at Tiger Stadium.

“Everyone knows that Louisiana folks know how to party, so, naturally, I’m looking forward to a great time performing there,” Lambert says. “It’ll be especially fun with my friends Lady Antebellum playing too.”

Often described as a rock group fronted by a loud country gal, Lambert’s band is not the typical twang. They’ve played Tennessee’s indie hippie festival Bonaroo, and her anti-abuse anthem “Gunpowder & Lead” is a hit on Rock Band with its “He ain’t seen me crazy yet” lyrics cozily at home under the laser lights and rainbow blips of the popular guitar-playing game.

As lively as she can be in person—she’s claimed on Chelsea Lately that vodka makes her mean—playing to massive festival crowds did not come naturally to the Country Music Association’s 2010 Performer of the Year.

“Early on in my career I had the opportunity to be on some amazing tours with folks like Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and Keith Urban,” she says. “From watching entertainers like them, I was able to learn a lot about how to engage a crowd.”

The point of festivals becomes less about the individual artist on stage and more about the collective audience experiencing something unique together.

“I hope we’ll be able to make everyone in the crowd forget their troubles for a while and have a good time,” she says.

Lambert recently opened The Pink Pistol, a clothing boutique in Tishomingo, Okla., and her second album with folksy trio The Pistol Annies is slated to arrive later this month.

Lambert performs live at Superfest on Saturday, May 25. For tickets and more information on this two-day concert event that includes performances by Lady Antebellum, Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker and others, visit bayoucountrysuperfest.com.