is a series in which the decade’s most innovative musicians answer our questionnaire about the people, places and things that shaped their decade. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December. ’s decade was defined by big radio hits like the smash ballad “The House That Built Me” and her power duet with Carrie Underwood, “Somethin’ Bad” — neither of which Lambert wrote.
, she kicks country music into the future with modern-rock sounds and radio-ready hooks, pairing them with her sharp, unrepentant but still classic songwriting . She also released one of the best albums of the decade —— with her side project Pistol Annies and has been leading the charge to give women in country music a leg up with her all-female Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour.