“When I Was His Wife”: Miranda Lambert tells the story of the song that paved the way for “Interstate Gospel”

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RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert‘s new album with Pistol Annies is filled with sly references to her divorce from Blake Shelton, in songs like the first single, “Got My Name Changed Back,” “Leavers Lullaby,” and “When I Was His Wife.”

Miranda reveals it was actually “When I Was His Wife” that paved the way for Interstate Gospel, her third album with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley.

“That was the first song we kinda had written in a couple years,” Miranda recalls, “so that was the official first song of this project.”

“It was cool,” she adds. “I think it just set us up to get off and running. It opened the gate.”

When Miranda first got the idea for the song, she instantly knew it was one she had to write and sing with Ashley and Angaleena.

“‘When I Was His Wife’ was an Annies title for sure. It came to me the day we wrote it,” she remembers. “I mean, I didn’t save it for the Annies. I just started writing it, and I was like, ‘Hold on, this is for the girls.'”

“So when I sent it to these girls,” Miranda explains, “I just sent the first verse and a chorus, and said, ‘Here, I think this is Annies. What do y’all think?’ And within literally five minutes I got a verse back from each one, each girl. And it was perfect.”

Interstate Gospel is new in stores and online today. Tonight, Pistol Annies play a rare show together at New York City’s The Town Hall, before heading to Los Angeles for their Wednesday concert at The Novo.

They’re also set to sing at the 52nd CMA Awards on Wednesday, November 14. You can watch for their performance starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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