Texas Music News — August 4, 2026
Miranda Lambert lent her voice to Stephen Wilson Jr.’s new single “Hardwired,” a working-class anthem that dropped July 31. The song lands like a callus turned into a chorus. Wilson wrote it with Lambert, Jesse Frasure, and Adam Hood, and together they built something that sounds like a shift-change bell ringing over a steel plant. Lambert has never drifted far from Texas, whether she is headlining Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas or singing about home on last year’s Postcards From Texas.
“Hardwired” tells the story of people who grind through long days and refuse to quit. The chorus lands like a hammer strike: “Head made of granite, heart made of stone / Toughest on the planet, got steel in the bones.” Wilson’s voice cracks against Lambert’s, and the two trade lines like coworkers trading shifts.
Miranda Lambert Adds Steel to a Working-Class Anthem
The track also hides a clever trick. Wilson wove in a melodic nod to the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”, stitching alternative rock into a country frame. He calls his sound “Death Cab for Country,” and “Hardwired” proves the label fits. The song follows his recent live cut of “Gary” from CMA Fest and continues a breakout year for the Nashville-based artist.
Lambert, meanwhile, keeps circling back to her East Texas roots even as her career keeps expanding. She grew up in Lindale, Texas, and still writes like someone who remembers what a long shift feels like. “Hardwired” gives her another chance to sing for people who clock in every day and rarely get thanked for it. That’s the kind of song Texas radio holds onto.
Details at 92.5 XTU.
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Texas wants nominations for its next official State Musician. The Texas Commission on the Arts opened nominations for the 2027-2028 Texas State Artists on August 3. Texans can submit names through October 15. Grapevine native Norah Jones currently holds the State Musician title, and three other categories are also open. Details at Glasstire.