Miranda Lambert gets real about male-dominated country scene in 2010s

Miranda Lambert says she and Carrie Underwood should "get a ribbon" for surviving a time when country music was dominated by men.

The 42-year-old singer made the suggestion on The New York Times' Popcast, which aired Thursday, as she looked back on her early days in Nashville.

 When she started in the early 2000s, she said, she wanted to be known for her songs, not for being "the pretty girl or wearing crop tops." Back then, she said, the message to women was to dress sexy and be pretty.

Things got harder in the 2010s. Many women came out in 2004, when she started, but by 2010 she felt "there were no females at all." Underwood, 43, who won American Idol in 2005, was one of the few who broke through. 

“Carrie Underwood and I made it through pretty much a solid, at least, seven years of only guy artists coming out of country music,” Lambert said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, this is really off-kilter a little bit.’”

Because there were so few women, Lambert and Underwood rarely worked together or played the same shows. They only saw each other's Las Vegas residencies about three years ago. "There were only two girls for so long," Lambert said.

“I feel like we should get a ribbon for surviving that,” she said. “Like, that was a hard time, honestly.”

The hardest part, she said, was not just the fight for radio play. It was the loneliness. She had no female artist who had been through it all to call on, whether for the highs or the lows.

“Carrie and I went to each other’s residencies in Vegas, and it was a really cool bonding moment because first of all, her show was incredible, and we had never seen each other,” Lambert said. “You know why? There were only two girls for so long. We weren’t playing the same shows ever.”

Today, she sees a better landscape. Thanks to streaming and social media, she said, "all the voices can be heard," and the power now sits with the fans, not "one guy picking our fate."

Her new country disco album, "Crisco," is out Friday, October 2.