“Dang Right He Is!” – Miranda Lambert Adds Her Own Lone Star Flair To “Choosin’ Texas” During First Live Performance

She’s a Texas girl through and through.

Yesterday, Miranda Lambert played a show in Thackerville, Oklahoma at Lucas Oil Live in the WinStar World Casino, which included the debut performance of the song she co-wrote and produced for Ella Langley, her current single “Choosin’ Texas.”

Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor are also co-writers on the song, and Miranda is also featured on background vocals, and her touch and style is apparent throughout the entire song, which is probably why it’s one of my favorites Ella has ever released.

Soaked in steel and full of heartbreak, it finds Ella reminiscing on a lost love who fell in love with a Texas girl, leaving her heartbroken in Tennessee. Ella says it was born out of a writers trip she went on with Miranda, Joybeth and Luke about a year ago:

“I had the amazing opportunity to sit down in a room with Miranda, Luke, and Joybeth on a writing retreat about a year ago. We wrote a bunch of songs together, but the second one really stuck with me.

Miranda, being from Texas, started telling us one of her wild stories about drinkin’ and doing something ridiculous, and I said, ‘Well, she’s from Texas, I can tell.’

As soon as I said that, we all just looked at each other like —yep, that’s it! That’s the next song. She’s from Texas, the girl he went with. And I thought well…you know I love a song like that.”

Miranda added that she wanted to let Ella’s “artistry shine” through the song, and it’s something she’s really proud of:

“Ella may have grown up in Alabama, but she has a rowdy, fiery side that us Texas women recognize and respect. She’s an artist through and through, and it was important to me to let her artistry shine through at every stage of the process, from co-writing to co-producing.

I’m so proud of how ‘Choosin’ Texas’ does that, and can’t wait to see the world continue to get to know Ella through this song.”

Of the inspiration that first let to writing the song, Ella previously shared that it came after Miranda told her a story about getting pulled over with a kangaroo in her car.

“She told me she had a pet kangaroo, and she was doing something, she was driving down a dirt road, and the kangaroo was in the back seat, and the dog was in the front seat. There was a lot going on. Then she got pulled over with a kangaroo in the passenger seat. And I was like, ‘This story’s as good as I thought it would be.’ 

She said the lady cop pulled her over, and she’s like, ‘Of course I have Texas plates on the back of my car.’”

After hearing that, Langley responded to Lambert, saying, I’m sure the cop could tell she was from Texas, given the chaos unfolding in the car with a kangaroo and a dog in the passenger and back seats.

“And I was like, ‘She’s from Texas, I can tell.’ And from that phrase right there, I don’t know, I was walking to the bathroom and I started to go, ‘She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way he’s two-steppin’ around the room.’ 

And Miranda was walking behind me to the bathroom, a separate one, and she was like, ‘Wait a minute! The b***h he went with, she’s from Texas, I can tell.’ The girl he went with, you know? 

And from there, I think the song fell out in about 30 minutes, and it’s one of my favorite ones we got off the retreat that weekend. And it’s my first song with Miss Miranda Lambert coming out.” 

And somehow, out of that, a honky tonk heartbreaker was born…

But during the aforementioned performance in Oklahoma, Miranda put her own twist on the chorus, which goes like this:

“She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do, nah, yeah

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosing Texas, I can tell, no
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell”

And Miranda added the following line at the very end:

“Dang right he is!”

She’s a Texas girl, and proud of it… I’m sure it will be a staple every time she sings it live, as it should be… as much as it is an Ella Langley song, it’s a Miranda Lambert song too, and I can’t get enough.

Check it out:

@jlga456 #choosentexas #mirandalambert ♬ original sound – jlga456

It’s such a great song, and you can listen to Ella’s studio cut here:

“Choosin’ Texas”