Miranda Lambert brings a group of musical friends, including Little Big Town, Dan+Shay, Lukas Nelson, and HARDY, to attend “Mutts Music” at Ascend Amphitheater on Saturday (October 5) in Nashville “Charity Concert.
The concert, presented by Tractor Supply, is Lambert’s latest effort to support a cause she has long advocated: rescuing often forgotten shelter pets and helping shelter pets in need of supplies.
“I’m so happy to be here,” Lambert told the audience at the start of the show. “We’re singing for dogs—all dogs!”
The concert helps continue the work of the MuttNation Foundation, which Lambert and her mother, Bev, started 15 years ago and has raised more than $10 million to promote adoptions, support shelters, help transport animals during natural disasters and more. Prior to the show, a public dog adoption event was held at Ascend Park, with participating pet shelters including Crossroads Campus, Nashville Humane, Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary and Wags and Walks.
The concert kicked off with a double shot of Texas country, with Jack Worthington serving as opening act, followed by Miranda’s headlining performance. Worthington grew up in LaPorte, Texas, just over an hour away from George Jones’ hometown, and his voice imbues him with the same honky-tonk, deep Texas accent that emanates from his hair. Effortlessly singing heartfelt ballads like “The Next New Thing,” or “The State You Left Me in.” Of course, there are plenty of nods to chip floors, neon lights, and the Lone Star State in songs like “Honkytonk Crowd” and “Honkytonks in Texas.”
From there, as a gleaming saddle hung above the stage, Lambert began her “Miranda and Friends” segment with two high-octane songs, “The Fastest Girl in Town” and “Kerosene” .
She has welcomed a host of guests, performing solo and with Lambert, Worthington, Hardy, Lucas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Riley Greene, Dan + Shay and Little Big Town, among others Switch between partner’s collaborative performances.
“I work and then I go to concerts,” Lambert quipped while watching other musicians perform.
Lambert called him “biscuit country” and invited Worthington back to the stage. Worthington recently moved from Big Loud Records to Lambert’s label, Big Loud Texas, and worked with her on the acerbic ballad “Hello S—ty Day.”
Throughout the night, she performed many fan favorites including “If I Were a Cowboy,” “Mama’s Broken Heart,” “Gunpowder and Lead,” “Build My House” and “Automatic” (several of which were shown on the screen song).
Lambert wore a bright black and neon pink outfit, which Lambert told viewers was hand-embroidered and appropriately featured images of each of her dogs on the garment. All night long, the screen behind her was filled with images of fiery galloping horses, cacti, and a star-studded sky on the desert horizon.
Lambert also offered up songs from her new album Postcards from Texasincluding “alimony”. Lambert acknowledged MuttNation’s work helping dog shelters and dogs in need, then introduced another song from her new album, Dammit Randy. “Speaking of dogs, I wrote this one for my new record about a guy named Randy’s dog. So if you have a Randy in your life and you have one you just have to flip the bird People, then this is for you.
She welcomed Nelson to sing a Mere Haggard classic “Silver Wings” in honor of the late singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, noting, “Because we know Kris loved Mel…we love you. , Chris.
Back in June, Lucas Nielsen and his band The Promise of the Real announced that they would be taking a break from performing while many of the band’s members would continue to pursue various creative endeavors. During the “Mutts Music” performance, Nelson delivered a ferocious solo on the band’s “Find Yourself,” spearheaded by Nelson’s heart-pounding guitar riffs and his gritty, soul-grinding vocals.
From there, Lambert welcomed another guest, Riley Greene. Lambert noted that after one of his recent concerts near the East Coast was canceled due to Hurricane Helene, Green called to ask if he could help with a “Mutts Music” show. Green, delighted with the success of “You Look Like You Love Me” with Ella Langley, performed his 2019 release “I Wish Grandpas Never Died” to the attention of a predominantly female audience , they stood up, waved and filmed the performance with their phones.
Lambert welcomed her frequent co-writer and Pistol Annies bandmate Ashley Monroe to write “Heart Like Mine” with her. She was joined by another of her frequent songwriter collaborators, Nashville songwriter celebrity Natalie Hemby, who co-wrote the song “Bluebird,” as well as Lambert/Jack A rendition of the song “Geraldene” co-written by Ingram/Jon Randal.
From there, Lambert welcomed Dan + Shay to the stage, who performed hits “Tequila” and “Speechless,” led by Shay Mooney’s flawless vocals. Meanwhile, his bandmate Dan Smyers said they were extremely proud to take part in the night given their shared passion for helping animals. Smyers and his wife, Abby, helped open a Nashville location for animal rescue group Wags & Walks.
One of the most impactful moments came from HARDY, who performed an elaborate, unreleased song called “Year of the Dog,” which was sung from the perspective of looking back on an old dog’s life and being grateful for the “Year of the Dog.” He notes that the song helped him get a music publishing deal early in his career, which does make one wonder why it was never released, considering the song brought some viewers to tears.
Vocal power and camaraderie on stage continue to reach new heights, thanks to vocal group Little Big Town (with whom Lambert played on The Bandwagon Tour in 2022), who joined forces with Lambert to create a Songs from the series include Little Big Town’s “Boondocks” and “Little White Church,” as well as Lambert’s “White Lies” and “Little Red Wagon.” The night ended with a “full chorus” and the entire lineup returned to the stage to perform “(Drunk) I Don’t Want to Go Home.”
“Thank you for spending your hard-earned money on country music and helping puppies,” Lambert said, waving to the crowd.
