Miranda Lambert, along with her friends Riley Green, HARDY, Lukas Nelson, Little Big Town, Dan + Shay, Natalie Hemby, Ashley Monroe and Big Loud Texas newest signee Jake Worthington, came together for “Music For Mutts,” a benefit concert presented by Tractor Supply at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville to raise funds for The MuttNation Foundation.
Donning a hand-embroidered custom black and pink sparkly rhinestone outfit, designed by her stylist Tiffany Gifford, that feature pink fringe and images of her dogs, Lambert allowed her star power to shine with an electrifying 27-song set that featured her hits and fellow dog loving artist friends that began at approximately 8:40 PM.
“I’m so happy to be here! Tonight, we are singing for the dogs, all the dogs in the world,” Lambert said. “Y’all this is going to be an awesome night. We have so many surprises up our sleeve… We have amazing artists in this town that showed up. I sent out messages, I called and said ‘come sing for the doggies,’ and there was no hesitation. So I’m so excited y’all are here. Thank you for spending your money on some really good causes tonight.”
Throughout the 2-hour concert, Miranda Lambert performed her fan-favorite hits such as “Fastest Girl In Town,” “House That Built Me,” “Automatic,” “Kerosene,” “If I Was A Cowboy,” as well as songs from her latest album, Postcards From Texas, including “Dammit Randy,” “Wranglers” and “Alimony.”
Star-Studded List Of Guests Joined Lambert On Stage
She also welcomed friends to the stage such as Jake Worthington to deliver the live debut of their new duet, “Hello Shitty Day,” and Lukas Nelson to honor the late Kris Kristofferson with a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings.”
“I work, and then I get a concert,” Lambert joked throughout the evening while welcoming some of her friends to the stage.
Lambert also surprised the audience with Riley Green to perform “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” while Ashley Monroe joined her for “Heart Like Mine” and Natalie Hemby took the stage with Lambert to perform “Bluebird,” a song she co-wrote.
HARDY Debuts Unreleased New Song, “Dog Years”
HARDY joined Lambert and debuted a brand new unreleased track titled “Dog Years.”
“This was about three or four years ago… My manager sent me a song, and she said ‘I got this song today and I thought you would love it, and it’s called Dog Years,’ and I said ‘well, I already love anything about a dog, I love anything about a song about a dog’ and I listened to it and I of course balled… And I just was blown away, and this artist has blown up and just has taken over the world since then, and I’m so proud to call him a friend. So I asked him to come out here and sing an unreleased song tonight. You never heard it, but it’s so damn good,” Lambert said, introducing HARDY to the stage to perform the heart-wrenching tune.
“I wrote this song in 2013, and it’s the song that earned me my first publishing deal, so I owe a lot to this song. What an honor it is to play this song for you guys tonight and with you Miranda, so thank you so much,” HARDY shared before going into the performance as a slideshow of photos of Lambert’s late dogs were displayed behind them.
Dan + Shay Praised Lambert And MuttNation
The award-winning country star also gave several of the artists their moment in the spotlight, stepping off the stage to let Nelson, HARDY, and Dan + Shay each perform their own hit songs. Surprise guest Dan + Shay performed several of their chart-topping hits, including “Speechless” and “Tequila,” while Nelson and HARDY got to deliver one song each, including “Find Yourself” and “Truck Bed,” respectively.
Dan + Shay, composed of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, dressed up for the occasion and wore black suits emblazoned with rhinestone designs.
“This is a complete honor for us. We have been longtime fans of Miranda Lambert, we truly truly truly think she is one of the greatest country music singers of all damn time. When she asked us to do this, it was an immediate yes,” Dan Smyers said from the stage. “Animal rescue is very, very near and dear to our hearts if you guys don’t already know my wife, Abby, is in charge of a shelter here in town, who is actually onsite today called Wags & Walks Nashville. I see it day in and day out the work that goes into animal rescue and you guys buying a ticket and coming out to support this incredible cause and supporting everybody at MuttNation. MuttNation does absolutely incredible things for animal rescue. You guys are doing the right thing, you’re saving lots of pups out there. This is truly one of the greatest honors of our lives to sing with Miranda Lambert.”
Little Big Town And Star-Studded Encore
Little Big Town later joined Lambert for a Bandwagon Tour reunion and to perform fan-favorite hits such as “Boondocks,” “White Liar,” “Little White Church” and “Little Red Wagon.”
Lambert closed out the MuttNation benefit concert with a star-studded performance of “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”
Jake Worthington Kicked Off The Benefit Concert
“Music For Mutts” kicked off with a 30-minute performance from Jake Worthington, a Texas native signed to Big Loud Texas, who performed songs such as “Next New Thing,” “Honkytonk Crowd,” “Honkytonks In Texas” and “State You Left Me In.”
The concert was also livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, powered by T-Mobile, which can be rewatched below until October 16.
Miranda Lambert’s “Music For Mutts” Concert Setlist
1. Fastest Girl In Town
2. Kerosene
3. Dammit Randy
4. Hello Shitty Day (w/ Jake Worthington)
5. Alimony
6. Silver Wings (Merle Haggard Cover w/ Lukas Nelson)
7. Find Yourself (Lukas Nelson Only)
8. If I Was A Cowboy
9. I Wish Grandpas Never Died (w/ Riley Green)
10. Automatic
11. Heart Like Mine (w/ Ashley Monroe)
12. House That Built Me
13. Dog Years (w/ HARDY – Unreleased New Song)
14. Truck Bed (HARDY Only)
15. Wranglers
16. Bluebird (w/ songwriter Natalie Hemby)
17. Geraldene
18. Speechless (Dan + Shay Only)
19. Tequila (w/ Dan + Shay)
20. Tequila Does
21. Mama’s Broken Heart
22. Gunpowder & Lead
23. Boondocks (w/ Little Big Town)
24. White Liar (w/ Little Big Town)
25. Little White Church (w/ Little Big Town)
26. Little Red Wagon (w/ Little Big Town)
27. Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) (w/ All Special Guests)
Pre-Show Adoption Event That Helped Over A Dozen Dogs Find Forever Homes
Ahead of the concert, MuttNation hosted a pre-show adoption event, which Lambert’s husband Brendan McLoughlin stopped by to visit with the dogs. The event, hosted at Ascend Park located next to the concert venue, featured several local pet shelters, including Crossroads Campus, Nashville Humane, Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, and Wags and Walks.
Each of the participating pet shelters had adorable pups available for adoption, and over a dozen dogs found their forever homes at the event.
“We had 7 local shelters bring pups to the adoption event. The people that work at shelters are my heroes. They work tirelessly day in and day out to rescue dogs from all kinds of situations with all kinds of needs,” Lambert wrote on social media following the event.
What Is The MuttNation Foundation?
The MuttNation Foundation is a nonprofit organization operating under the 501c(3) designation, founded by Lambert and her mother, Bev Lambert, in 2009. The foundation’s primary goal is to advocate for shelter pet adoption, promote spaying and neutering, and raise awareness about the positive impact of these practices. MuttNation also offers financial aid and collaborates with transport partners to aid and relocate animals during natural disasters.
Lambert’s MuttNation, in partnership with Tractor Supply, recently donated $100,000 to Hurricane Helene relief for pets via the MuttNation Tractor Supply Relief For Rescues Fund. To date, MuttNation has raised over $10 million in support of its mission to promote adoption, support shelters across the country, advance spay & neuter and assist with emergency response during times of natural disaster.