The first time Reba McEntire heard “Trailblazer,” she cried. So did Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert as they wrote it.
The star trio are debuting the emotional, mid-tempo ballad about thanking those who came before them — and lifting up those who come after — at the ACM Awards tomorrow (May 8). The song will be available on all streaming services at 8 p.m. E.T. Thursday.
Wilson and Lambert wrote the song with Brandy Clark on Lambert’s back porch, specifically as a song that the pair and McEntire could sing together.
“We were like, ‘OK, we’re going to do a song with Reba — what kind of song do we write?” recalls Lambert on Wednesday after rehearsals at The Star in Frisco, Texas, in the only interview the three artists are doing together. “We were calling her on the set [of sitcom Happy’s Place] and trying to figure out, ‘What’s the right message for this trio? What do we really want to say in three minutes?’”
They decided they wanted a country song that talked about influences —the song namechecks “Dolly and Loretta, Patsy and Tammy, too”— and how to pass it down. “We were just having a conversation about how both [Lambert and McEntire] have influenced me and [about] passing the torch and blazing trails for each other,” says Wilson, who came up with the title. “Generation after generation, it’s going to continue, but we got to keep blazing those trails for the next one.”
It was also important to drop some Easter eggs into the song that tied back to each artist. For example, the lyrics include “Kerosene,” the title of one of Lambert’s biggest hits, and also talk about being from Louisiana, Wilson’s home state, and Oklahoma, where McEntire grew up.
“We wanted to lean in pretty hard to paying tribute to each person,” Lambert says. “We had to do it strategically though, because we didn’t want it to be so blatant — but more like a secret thing that you would have to listen to it twice.”
But they still needed to keep the song’s appeal universal and beyond music. “I remember thinking that this could be a song that a grandmother and a daughter and a grandchild could listen to,” Wilson says. “And not just about the history of country music… If we’re not thinking about the people that we’re singing to then they’re not going to be able to relate.”
The song came together quickly and felt, Wilson says, divinely inspired. “When you’re writing a song and you get that like feeling, it’s like the Holy Spirit feeling. And you just feel it all over your body. Definitely had that.”
Wilson, Lambert and Clark had butterflies when they sent it to McEntire, but they needn’t have worried. “I remember listening to it in the dressing room. I couldn’t find a flaw in it, not a word,” McEntire says. “It was that great. I was very emotional when I heard it.” The three recorded it together in Nashville with McEntire and her longtime producer Tony Brown co-producing.
Another overarching theme in the song is friendship and the three have clearly cultivated close ties. They giggle conspiratorially when they talk about their group text. “We can’t tell you what’s in it,” Lambert says. “It’s off-color.”
Their relationship exists in a way that McEntire says couldn’t have when she was coming up, in part because of technology.
“There’s something different totally in these generations than the earlier generations, mainly because of the social aspect,” McEntire says. “We’ve got texting, we’ve got emails, communication at our fingertips, and we didn’t have that starting out. And I like it that things are more approachable. When I was getting started, I wouldn’t have even thought about talking to Dolly when she walked by me in 1977. I was brand new. She was a huge, mega, beautiful star. And I don’t know if it’s confidence that’s totally different, but I had [my musical heroes] all up on this pedestal where you can’t touch, you can’t talk. Now, we’re more friends and it’s a family. It’s totally different, and I like it this way.”
The three stress their friendship and McEntire says that is another big takeaway from “Trailblazer.” “We’ve got that camaraderie; we’ve got that helpful nature. If somebody needs something, the others come in to help. That’s very important. A lot of people think it’s backstabbing and so competitive. There’s enough room in this business — and all businesses — for everybody to be successful. We’ve just got to help each other and share what we’ve gone through and say what didn’t work. ‘Now here’s what did work. Maybe it will work for you.’”
There’s a line in the song about paying tribute to those who “gave me a seat at the table.” “One of the very first people to give me a seat at the table was that one right over there,” Wilson says, looking at Lambert. “She made me feel like I was welcome, and like she was my cheerleader. I think a lot of times people like to pit women against each other, and I think we’re just proving otherwise.”
That group text isn’t all about jokes: It provides a tremendous support system. “Sometimes you need someone to talk to when you’re so exhausted,” Wilson says, looking at McEntire. “I know I texted you one timem and you told me, ‘Sometimes I have to get up [on stage] and sing for a different reason. Sing for my sister. Sing for whomever it is.’ I remember those things when I’m on stage and feel like I can’t do it anymore.”
“I remember at the end of one of my long Vegas runs, I texted you,” Lambert says also looking at McEntire. “I was like, ‘I’m crying getting ready. Just wanted to let you know. It’s one of those tiring days.’ And I feel like I’m not alone in that, because they’ve been there.”
When they sing “Trailblazer” tomorrow on the ACM Awards, they will be singing it for more than themselves. “It’s not about us,” Lambert says. “It’s about what the song means to little girls out there watching, or anyone out there watching that really has a dream or needs to be surrounded by people they love, and needs a little nudge to know they’re not alone.”
And there will hopefully be more coming. When asked if “Trailblazer” is their last collaboration, McEntire says “No, ma’am” before the question is even finished. “I love singing with these gals. They’re a lot of fun. They’re great singers. Our harmonies blend so well. So why not?”
The ACM Awards stream live on Amazon Prime Video May 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
