Diva Spotlight: Pistol Annies

I was so excited in 2011 to hear that Miranda Lambert, who I've mentioned more than once on here that I love, was taking part in a joint musical project known as The Pistol Annies. I didn't know who the other two ladies were at the time, but in the years since I first heard Hell on Heels and bought it on iTunes, I enjoy Angaleena and Ashley and think they mix with Miranda so well, and their music brings the perfect mixture of boss ass bitch and melancholy relatability.

Similar to our last Diva Spotlight, where I highlighted a group instead of a solo artist, our info dump looks a little bit different but stick with me (information current as of February 2022):

-Members include 38-year-old Miranda Lambert (nicknamed Lonestar Annie), 35-year-old Ashley Monroe (Hippie Annie), and 45-year-old Angaleena Presley (Holler Annie). Ashley and Angaleena are both Virgos and Miranda is a Scorpio.

-Miranda is from Lindale, Texas; Ashley from Knoxville, Tennessee; and Angaleena from Beauty, Kentucky.

-All three ladies are vocalists and guitarists as well as songwriters for all of their group's music.

-They are an American country trio formed in 2011, went on a four year hiatus in 2013, and has been making music together again since 2017.

-Have released 4 studio albums (3 regular, 1 holiday) as a group with each member also having released solo albums (Miranda 9, Ashley 5, and Angaleena 2)

Miranda Lambert has been one of the biggest names in country music for almost two decades, and Ashley and Angaleena have made big names for themselves as songwriters in the country music genre, but in my opinion the trio as a group doesn't get as much attention as they deserve. Therefore, I'm super excited to talk about them this week, because they're a great group to turn to when you need a little "girl power" music in your life. Let's get going!

Hell on Heels (2011)

Pistol Annies' debut country album was released August 23rd, 2011 by Columbia Nashville when Miranda was 27, Ashley was 24, and Angaleena was 34. With a run time of 30:05, it produced 1 single in the form of Hell on Heels (6/12/11). This first album is a little slower paced than the others, but I still enjoy it a lot. It was a fun musical experiment that ended up paying off and paved the way for more fun, albeit jaded, music in the future. I like most of this album (I think there's only like 2 songs I'm not big on), but my Top 3 was pretty easy to narrow down:

Track 1: Hell on Heels (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

The one that started it all, I love this song so much and can say it's my second favorite Pistol Annies song so far. With each Annie getting lead vocals on their own verse (Angaleena on verse 1, Miranda verse 2, and Ashley verse 3), this song has a great energy to it despite being a slower tempo.

I’m hell on heels, say what you will/I done made the devil a deal/He made me pretty, he made me smart/And I’m gonna break me a million hearts/I’m hell on heels, baby, I’m coming for you/This diamond ring on my hand’s/The only good thing that came from that man/Got a GTO from one named Joe/And a big piece of land down in Mexico/I’m hell on heels, baby, I’m coming for you

Track 3: Beige (written by A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

This song, featuring lead vocals from Ashley, starts off sounding like it'll be a sweet ballad about a wedding until the lyrics take a more melancholy turn. A lot of country songs tend to make fun of shotgun wedding situations, so hearing the ladies take the subject a little more seriously in an actually lovely sounding song was a take that I really liked and respected.

Mama planned it all/Said it’s pretty in the fall/And the flowers would be/Roses and daisies/And she prayed nobody saw/The weight that I put on/The bride shouldn’t be/Four months and three weeks/Daddy’s pride and joy/Is marrying some boy/And he looked afraid/The preacher turned the page/And I was wearing beige

Track 7: Boys From the South (written by A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

When I first heard this song on either Pandora or iHeartRadio (I can't remember which one), I got super excited thinking it was a brand new Miranda Lambert song I hadn't heard, which isn't surprising since she takes the lead vocals on this track. This love song is sweet, hopeful, nostalgic, and features some really tight vocal harmonies from the ladies.

Maybe he’s in Texas, maybe this town/Maybe Oklahoma, plowing up some ground/Southern Carolina, somewhere on the coast/Maybe Alabama, driving through Montgomery right now/There’s something ‘bout a boy from the south/Maybe he’s in Florida, somewhere in the pines/Maybe on the delta, throwing out a line/Maybe he’s in Georgia, staring at the stars/Maybe Tennessee, picking on a guitar right now/There’s something ‘bout a boy from the south/Yeah, the first time I felt it I was only 16/And he kissed me underneath the chinaberry tree/Said, "Goodnight, darlin’" with a sweet Southern drawl/Man, I think I might just have to love them all/The boys from the south

Annie Up (2013)

Pistol Annies' sophomore country album was released May 7th, 2013 by RCA Nashville when Miranda was 29, Ashley was 26, and Angaleena was 36. With a run time of 42:35, it produced 1 single in the form of Hush Hush (4/8/13). This album is a little more fast-paced than the first while still touching on some serious subject matter in their lyrics. It does a good job working it's way from upbeat and fun type of cynical at the beginning to a slower paced, still jaded but trying to be hopeful tone by the end. I'm in pretty much the same place on liking this album as I was with Hell on Heels, but my Top 3 was a little more difficult to choose here.

Track 3: Being Pretty Ain't Pretty (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

A couple of months ago, a very good friend of mine and I were getting dressed up for a special event and she turned to me and said, "By the time you're 32, you should have spent 90% of the money you've ever made in your life on makeup." While she was totally joking, I felt like that statement, especially for women today, was pretty profound, and this song (featuring lead vocals from Angaleena) seems to echo that sentiment pretty perfectly.

I fought it off for a while/But it went out of style again/I don’t read the magazines/And I can’t keep up with the trends/The red on my nails keeps chipping off/The pink on my lips just adds to the flaws/I ain’t good at fake lashes/Every time I wear high heels, I fall/Being pretty ain’t pretty, it takes all day long/Spend all your money just to wipe it all off/You spray on your perfumes, you spray on your tan/Get up in the morning, do it over again/Being pretty ain’t pretty at all

Track 10: Damn Thing (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

This song is honestly just a lot of fun. Featuring lead vocals from Miranda, it's got a bouncy, upbeat tempo and lyrics chock-full of self-depreciation, which always make for a good time (especially in a country song).

Been washed in the blood of the Lamb/And I washed blood off of my hands/And I can’t do a damn thing about it/Been taught to love but I love to hate/And my mama tried for heaven’s sake/I can’t do a damn thing about it/It’s a damn shame that I can’t change/I can’t undo everything I’d like to/So I roll on and I shout it/‘Cause I can’t do a damn thing about it

Track 12: I Hope You're the End of My Story (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

This is definitely my favorite song off of this whole album. Featuring lead vocals from Ashley, this is a beautiful song and a nice change of pace from the Annies' usual take on love.

I hope you’re the end of my story/I hope you’re as far as it goes/I hope you’re the last word I ever utter/And it’s never your time to go/Sometimes this road that we travel/Feels like it’s leading us on/And spinning our wheels just stirs up the gravel/Before you know it, it’s gone

Interstate Gospel (2018)

Pistol Annies' third and mosts recent Americana/country album was released November 2nd, 2018 by RCA Nashville when Miranda was 34, Ashley was 33, and Angaleena was 43. With a run time of 46:41, it produced 1 single in the form of Got My Name Changed Back (10/29/18). There's a different feel to this album than the others, whether it's from being their first album post-hiatus or just the fact that all 3 ladies were older, more mature, and in very different stages of their lives than when they recorded Hell on Heels. The overall tone is a bit more somber than Annie Up, but they still definitely provided us with some bangers. A lot more of these songs took longer to grow on me than the other albums, but my Top 3 are pretty solid.

Track 3: Best Years of My Life (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

This song has definitely become my favorite Pistol Annies song out of all the music they have released thus far. Each Annie gets to lead on this one (Ashley on verse 1 and the outro, Angaleena on verse 2, and Miranda on verse 3 and the choruses), and this song is just so sad but I think it describes how a lot of people, not just women, can feel when they're stagnant in life.

I picked a good day for a recreational Percocet/I’ve got an itch to just get high/I’m in the middle of the worst of it/These are the best years of my life/I’ve got the hankering for intellectual emptiness/I’ve got the need to ease my mind/I’ll watch some reruns on the TV set/These are the best years of my life/I was looking forward to staying here forever/‘Cause you asked me to, didn’t think that I could do better/So I settled down in this ten cent town/It’s about to break me

Track 5: When I Was His Wife (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

I was crushed when Miranda and her ex-husband Blake Shelton split up in 2015, and maybe that's why this song hit me so hard when I first heard it. Another song where the ladies split lead vocal duty (Miranda on verse 1 and the choruses, Ashley on verse 2, and Angaleena on verse 3), this is another example of super relatable song lyrics in their subject matter repertoire, and this is one that I appreciate that even though I've never been in this type of situation myself I can sympathize because their emotion is so genuine throughout the song.

He’d never cheat, he’d never lie/He’ll love me forever ’til the day that we die/He’ll never take me for granted, I/I said that, too, when I was his wife/God, he looks handsome in the bright morning light/His smile can light up your world for a while/His love is enough to keep me satisfied/I said that, too, when I was his wife/When you’re blinded by diamonds and driven by lust/Hon, you can’t build a mansion with a piece of sawdust/Holy matrimony, best day of your life/I said that, too, when I was his wife

Track 6: Cheyenne (written by A. Presley, A. Monroe, M. Lambert)

Ya'll know by now that I'm a big fan of storytelling song lyrics, and this is one of those songs that does that very well. Featuring Miranda on lead vocals, you start to feel like you really know the character of Cheyenne and are able to sympathize with her throughout the song.

She lives for the nightlife and trashy tattoos/She loves country music and broken-in boots/Nobody can blame her for the chip on her shoulder/She finds plenty of pool table cowboys to hold her/Her daddy says she was destined for sadness/Her Grandmama Lily’s to blame for the madness/The only forever she knew ended tragic/So she’ll fall for the night while the neon light flashes/If I could treat love like Cheyenne/If I could be just as a cold as the beer in her hand/If I could move men and mountains with a wink and a grin/Oh, if I could treat love like Cheyenne

I highly encourage you to check out the Pistol Annies if you haven't before, because these three ladies are a really powerful trio and deserve the hype. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!