Grammy-winning Lambert aims to shake up music

In 2003, a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Texas made a significant mark on Nashville Star, a TV country music competition modeled after the wildly popular American Idol. That singer was Miranda Lambert, and she came in third behind winner and Arkansas native Buddy Jewel.

Twelve years later finds Lambert touring in support of her fifth full-length album, Platinum. She's the only female not named Carrie Underwood to break up the current testosterone-clogged country charts. And she accepted the award for best country album for Platinum at the 57th annual Grammy Awards earlier this month in Los Angeles.

Lambert headlines the Friday night concert at North Little Rock's Verizon Arena. Arkansas native Justin Moore is the highlight of the opening acts for the show that starts at 7:30 p.m.

The late February country music chart has Sam Hunt, Luke Bryan and male duo Florida Georgia Line battling it out for the top spot. This is not unusual for the last couple of years as the so-called bro-country movement has been the darling of Nashville and its loyal fan base. Lambert bucks that trend, which has pretty much been her norm since her first single, "Kerosene," a fiery number about a woman scorned.

Lambert openly states that she wants to change the ratio of males to females in country music.

"I love women artists, and I hope we will have more of them in country music again soon," Lambert says. "I will always support them, especially when they are so good at what they do."

Her most notable support of this cause came on a popular side project, the all-girl group Pistol Annies. Lambert teamed up with lesser-known peers, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, and released two records, Hell on Heels in 2011 and Annie Up in 2013. Lambert has also hand-picked several female country singers to open for her in various points along the way of her current tour. (RaeLynn is on the bill for the Verizon Arena stop.)

While Lambert has put out records on a consistent basis and landed popular singles on the charts the entire time, the biggest change has been in her personal life and her 2001 marriage to fellow country star Blake Shelton. This has turned Lambert from a well-known entertainer to subject matter for grocery store tabloids. Lambert addresses this new life in a fishbowl on a few songs on Platinum.

"It does the opposite of probably what [the tabloids] want it to do, to tear us apart," Lambert told an interviewer for Spin magazine. "It makes us laugh together about it. ... It's such a far stretch, these stories. It seems like the more successful we are, the more solid we get, because we have to pull together."

Lambert is only 31 and yet is keenly aware of how long she has been in the spotlight and how long she has been on the road. The experience has not grown stale for her.

"It appears it becomes more fun the longer you do it," Lambert says. "I think performing live for me is the most enjoyable and rewarding aspect of my career and having done this for the better part of 14 years, I am not seeing it get any less fun. When I see the fans singing along to my songs, there is nothing better."

On the current tour Lambert is taking note of what songs are hitting the mark with her fans.

"My current single 'Little Red Wagon' had immediate response from the first time I played it live; that was even before my album came out," Lambert says. "I believe it's because of the nature of the rocking track, and the lyrics are fun too. It's one of those songs that's just fun to perform live. Of course 'The House That Built Me' goes over great every time, too. I am not surprised by the fans' reaction, but depending on what mood I am in, surprisingly the message affects me deeply almost every time I sing it."

Weekend on 02/26/2015