Miranda Lambert on her new album, Australian tour, and very Instagrammable husband

“Y’all are welcome.” Country superstar Miranda Lambert is a newlywed – and judging by her Instagram, she’s absolutely smitten.

It’s been just over a year since US country singer Miranda Lambert wed her husband, New York City Police Department Officer Brendan McLoughlin, and she’s clearly smitten.

Just check her Instagram.

Lambert, 36, married 28-year-old McLoughlin in January last year, following a whirlwind three-month romance that started when he was working security for a TV show she appeared on.

Since then, Lambert’s kept her fans entertained with Insta-posts of her very buff man – “house husband shirtless promo,” as she calls it.

“Y’all are welcome,” she captioned one post. Indeed.
As Lambert tells news.com.au, they pair have kept level heads and a shared sense of humour as they’ve navigated their first year of marriage – he a cop, she a country superstar who’s sold more than 7 million albums since 2005.

“He’s very laid-back and easygoing, so he fell into this life so easily with me. Plus I’m really normal, and I think that’s what keeps us happy. I have a very public job, but when I’m done, I go home and we don’t let that get into our marriage,” she said.

You can forgive Lambert the hot hubby brag, given the heavy few years she’s endured. She split with fellow country superstar Blake Shelton in July 2015 after four years of marriage. Two months later, he announced he was dating his The Voice co-star Gwen Stefani.

From that heartbreak came a landmark moment in Lambert’s career, the sprawling, subdued 2016 double album The Weight Of These Wings.

American country music star Miranda Lambert released album Wildcard on November 1. Picture: Ellen Von Unwerth/Chugg Entertainment

While it scored rave reviews, a 95-minute record about a painful divorce seemed something of a risk for an artist previously known for glossy, radio-ready country hits.

“I guess the team around me was willing to go there with me, at a point in my life where I really needed to,” she said of Wings.

“I was lucky, because the label was on board and willing to do it – and this is at a time when it’s not super popular to make records in general, especially a double. It was something very special to me in my career, and it was a real healing process. From what I hear from fans, it was the same for them. Certain people needed that record as much as I did, so for whoever it touched in that way, we did our job,” she said.

And from the darkness, last year’s follow-up Wildcard is altogether lighter. Don’t mistake lightness for flimsiness though – the stunning Bluebird might be her best song yet.

The question remains: Is it harder to write good country music when you’re not wallowing in heartbreak?

“They go hand in hand, but it is possible to put yourself in a place to write sad songs – it’s a good reminder that you can write when you’re happy. Country music is basically based on sad songs, but it was definitely a more upbeat writing process for this record,” she said.

Between albums, she released her third LP with her all-female side project, the Pistol Annies (“I love singing harmonies and hanging out with my girlfriends, and I get to do both in this band,” she said), from which a smattering of songs should make the setlist during her first ever Australian tour next month.

Lambert is set to visit Australia for the first time. Picture: Chugg Entertainment

Most of all, she’s enjoying playing the new songs live – punchy, razor-sharp anthems like White Trash and Mess With My Head.

“I’d been a little introverted and introspective on Weight Of These Wings, and really dug deep into my songwriting. But my bread and butter is the fun country songs I built a career on, and I think Wildcard has the perfect balance of those.”

Miranda Lambert headlines the CMC Rocks Festival in Willowbank, Queensland, on March 22, then performs her own shows at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on March 24 and Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on March 26. Tickets and info via Frontier Touring.

Originally published as Miranda Lambert on her new album, Australian tour, and very Instagrammable husband