Miranda Lambert's Country Thunder debut in 2005 came at 4 p.m. on the final day, a sun-drenched Sunday with a lineup weak enough to siphon off a good third of the audience.
The next year, she graduated to opening for headliner LeAnn Rimes on a Wednesday night.
Next Thursday, the 26-year-old Texas native will headline the first full day of Country Thunder 2010.
"It shows that we have progressively got to go later and later, and now we get to play at dark," she joked in a call from a concert stop in Oregon in late March.
Lambert is on the road with her first headlining tour, "Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars," which will keep her busy until late May, when she'll join Sarah McLachlan's much-anticipated resurrection of the all-female "Lilith Fair" tour. She plans to take her tour back on the road in the fall.
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We chatted with Lambert about returning to Country Thunder, the success of her "Revolution" album, and being nominated for six Academy of Country Music Awards.
Did it blow your mind that you were tied with Carrie Underwood for the most ACM nominations?
"Yeah. I didn't even know I was eligible for six nominations. I didn't know there were that many categories I could be in."
Admittedly, you are up against tough competition for female vocalist - Reba McEntire, Underwood, Taylor Swift and Lee Ann Womack.
"Thanks for reminding me."
Here's the thing: You have an honest chance.
"There's really nobody that deserves to win more than the other person. The girls are kicking butt right now; the girls are shining. With Carrie, Taylor and myself being some of the top nominated people, it's really making me proud that we're getting recognized for what we're doing."
Is this country music's Year of the Woman?
"I always say that every year."
Well, it surely is shaping up to be your year.
"I think so. It feels great. We're doing our first headlining tour, we just had our first No. 1 ('White Liar'), and we have all these nominations. It feels like we're definitely moving up a level."
You're also on Lilith Fair.
"That is going to be the coolest thing. . . . It will be our first time on a tour that's not country. So I'm kind of nervous, but really excited."
"Revolution" has been out there since September and you've already sold gold (500,000 copies).
"We went gold in half the time that (2007's) 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' did. And that right there tells you that we're doing something. I'm most proud of this record. I love it."
The new single, "The House That Built Me," already is in the Top 30.
"The song is undeniable. When I first heard it, I fell in love with it."
Will you release "Time to Get a Gun" as a single?
"I'm not sure the label will go for it, but I sure would love to have that as a single."
Hey, they put "Gunpowder & Lead" and "Kerosene" out there.
"Everybody was afraid of them, but they worked. So we'll see."
