Miranda Lambert Says She and Chris Stapleton Channeled Kenny and Dolly on Their Groovy New Duet

Miranda Lambert says she and Chris Stapleton channeled their inner Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton on their new duet, “A Song To Sing.” 

The just-released tune finds the superstar artists using music as a metaphor for love. The tender ballad is set to a groovy disco-style melody, and truly stands out from anything else that’s on country radio today. 

During a recent conversation with Cody Alan on SiriusXM’s The Highway, Lambert recalled co-writing the song with Chris Stapleton, Jesse Frasure, and Jenee Fleenor, and revealed that it was actually written a few years ago.

“I had a date with Jesse Frazier and he randomly reached out to Chris kind of last minute and was like, ‘Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be around today? Me and Miranda are just writing for kind of fun,’” she recalled. 

Lambert, who credits Frazier for helping her to step outside her comfort zone, said Stapleton texted him back and that got things into motion.  

“And Chris was available, so he came over and he actually, Jenee Fleenor, who is an amazing fiddle player, sort of her and Jesse had worked on this track and sort of got this groovy kind of 70s thing going. So she wasn’t in the room that day, but her parts really drove this beat,” she explained. “And, we wrote two songs that day, but it’s been around for like a couple of years. It just wasn’t time, I guess we couldn’t really figure out what project it fit on or where it should go.”

The song finally found its moment, and Lambert and Stapleton headed to Savannah, Georgia last year to record it with producer Dave Cobb.

“I mean, I got to just hang in Savannah for a couple days with the Stapletons and drink some wine and cut a record that to channel our inner Kenny and Dolly, you know what I mean,” she shared. 

The Kenny Rogers/ Dolly Parton inspiration also invaded their group chat, according to Lambert. 

“It was really fun. It was like on our group text, like the memes we keep sending are all the Kenny and Dolly, you know, we really wanted to like, we wanted to fully go there and I feel like we did and paid homage to our heroes,” she said. 

Lambert and Stapleton had the chance to perform the song together for the first time over the weekend at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. 

“Our 1st time ever playing ‘A Song to Sing’ live. Thank you Chris Stapleton & Morgane Stapleton for having me, and to LA for the warm welcome on Saturday,” Lambert shared following their performance.

Together, Lambert and Stapleton have earned a combined 14 GRAMMYs, 33 CMA Awards, and 59 ACM Awards, each leaving a lasting impact on country music with their unique artistry and distinct creative perspectives.