Hold onto your hats, Las Vegas. Miranda Lambert is coming to town. Artist residencies are certainly nothing new to Las Vegas, but since our city reopened, we’ve seen more and more stars from various genres join the Las Vegas party.
Just a month after winning the Entertainer of the Year Award from the Academy of Country Music, country superstar Miranda Lambert announced her Las Vegas residency Velvet Rodeo at Bakkt Theater inside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The residency is scheduled to open on September 23, with an additional 23 shows to follow through April 2023.
As a diehard country music fan, this editor fulfilled a lifelong dream by interviewing the 2022 ACM Entertainer of the Year about her Las Vegas residency, her upcoming album (Palomino officially drops on April 29) and how she’s stayed true to her sound and her roots.
Miranda Lambert and “Velvet Rodeo”
How long has “Velvet Rodeo” been in the works?
ML: We have been working on it and talking about it for about a year now and recently got a start on the creative and production parts.
Has a Las Vegas residency been something on your mind for a while?
ML: I guess it’s not something I thought about until it was brought to the table, but after I gathered all the info, I think it’s a great place for me to be right now in my career.
My first ever country music concert was one of your shows back in 2009, and “Kerosene” was the first country album I ever bought. When you look back on that album, how do you feel your sound has evolved?
ML: I think I’ve stayed pretty true to my original sound but reinvented in ways of production. I always try to keep it fresh but stay true to the stories that I’m telling.
Your catalog has grown so much in the last decade, and you have so many hits. How do you pick what songs to put on your setlist?
ML: That is always a good problem to have. I try to do most songs off all of my records that are recognizable or were hits. I think it’s important to give the fans the songs they have been a part of with me throughout all these years. But I also try to throw some new ones in or maybe a deep cut here and there.
Will we be seeing a wide range of your old and new songs in Las Vegas?
ML: Yes, absolutely. Probably a lot more old than new, but my new album, Palomino, will be out for a bit by that time. Since we start in Vegas in September, I will definitely play a few new ones from that in the show.
Your new album “Palomino” is dropping this month. Can you tell me which track is your favorite and which one is the most personal?
ML: I change my mind on my favorite as time goes by, but I really love “Carousel.” It’s just one of those very special songs.
Being a Southerner, your music always felt like home to me. What elements from home are you bringing with you to Las Vegas in September?
ML: I want to turn it into a big ole Texas honky tonk with as many rhinestones and as much fringe as I can get away with!
What are you most excited about for your time in Las Vegas?
ML: Sunshine and the fact that the party comes to me instead of me going to the party! I’m ready!
