Miranda Lambert has recalled a startling encounter with a woman who claimed that "Gunpowder & Lead" gave her the courage to shoot her abusive husband.
Speaking on the October 27 episode of And the Writer Is..., Lambert told host Ross Golan that the woman approached her during a meet-and-greet in Indianapolis. Instead of asking for a photograph, the fan wanted to explain what the song had meant to her.
"I did shoot him, and I got off," Lambert recalled the woman saying.
Lambert said she initially struggled to process the statement before realising the woman was serious. The two then cried together, and the singer needed time to compose herself before continuing to meet other fans.
The encounter made Lambert reflect on the responsibility of performing a song whose subject matter connects so directly with listeners' experiences of abuse. She explained that the track represented something far more consequential than a character she portrayed onstage.
The account is Lambert's recollection of what the fan told her. The reporting does not identify the woman or provide court records establishing the circumstances of the shooting or its legal outcome.
Featured on Lambert's 2007 album Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, "Gunpowder & Lead" depicts a woman preparing to confront an abusive husband. Lambert co-wrote it with Heather Little, whom she described as a survivor of domestic violence.
The song also drew on Lambert's upbringing. Her parents worked as private investigators and opened their home to women and children escaping abuse, exposing her to the realities behind the story she would later tell through music.
Although the podcast has brought renewed attention to the encounter, Lambert previously recounted it during Country Radio Seminar in 2020.
