“That’s How I Knew”: Miranda Lambert Reveals the Moment She Realized Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” Was a Hit

Miranda Lambert realized “Choosin’ Texas” was going to be a hit shortly after its release. In an interview with Billboard, the country singer, who co-wrote the smash with Ella Langley, Luke Dick, and Joybeth Taylor, recalled the moment she realized they had made something great.

Videos by American Songwriter

“The first week it was out, when we started seeing the numbers we were seeing, I was on the road and I started covering it. By the second weekend on the road, I moved it down to the end of my set,” Lambert told the outlet. “That’s how I knew, ‘Oh, this is a huge hit, and I gotta follow it with my old s**t nobody cares about.’”

That moment made Lambert realize, that she and her co-writers had “an instant classic” on their hands.

“It was not on my bingo card for ‘Choosin’ Texas’ to take over the world,” Lambert said. “… I’ve never seen anything like it. So when Ella calls and is like, ‘What does this mean?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. You might need to call Taylor Swift right now [and ask her], because this is, like, that kind of big.’”

Amid its success, Lambert said she feels “so proud” of the song, largely because of how unapologetically country it is.

“It’s country as s**t. I love it. It’s throwback country,” she said. “Ella’s influences are very much ’70s and ’80s country, and that’s what we were going for. And I feel so happy. I feel like more ears are on country music now because of it. I’m so thrilled about that.”

Miranda Lambert’s Relationship With Ella Langley

“Choosin’ Texas” isn’t the only project on which Lambert and Langley have teamed up. Rather, Lambert has become something of a mentor for the breakout star, even producing her sophomore album, Dandelion.

Even so, Lambert told the outlet that she considers herself “just kind of a hype girl” for Langley.

“I’m either talking her off a ledge or hyping her up, because she knows exactly what she wants,” Lambert said. “We’re girls. We talk each other off the ledge all the time.”

For her part, Langley is immensely grateful.

“There’s not a rule book to this job, so [it’s helpful] to be able to have someone like her to ask questions [like], ‘Should I be doing this?’ She’s like, ‘Hell yeah, you should be doing this!’” Langley said. “It’s just a cool time for the both of us.”

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for ACM