She’s Texas to the core.
Last night, Miranda Lambert took the stage in Thackerville, Oklahoma at Lucas Oil Live inside WinStar World Casino, and fans got a special surprise. During the show, Miranda debuted a song she co-wrote and co-produced for Ella Langley — Ella’s current single, “Choosin’ Texas.”
The track was written by Miranda alongside Luke Dick and Joybeth Taylor, with Miranda also lending background vocals. Her signature style is woven all through the song, which helps explain why it’s quickly become one of the strongest releases of Ella’s career. It’s soaked in steel guitar, steeped in heartbreak, and tells the story of a love lost to a Texas girl — leaving Ella’s narrator picking up the pieces back in Tennessee.
Ella has shared that the song came together during a writing retreat with Miranda, Luke, and Joybeth about a year ago.
“I had the amazing opportunity to sit down in a room with Miranda, Luke, and Joybeth on a writing retreat,” Ella explained. “We wrote a bunch of songs, but the second one really stuck with me.”
She said the idea sparked when Miranda, a proud Texan, started telling one of her famously wild stories.
“Miranda started telling us this ridiculous story about drinking and doing something crazy, and I said, ‘Well… she’s from Texas, I can tell.’ We all just looked at each other like, yeah — that’s the song.”
Miranda later said it was important to her that Ella’s voice and personality stayed front and center throughout the process.
“Ella may have grown up in Alabama, but she has that fiery, rowdy side that Texas women recognize instantly,” Miranda said. “She’s a true artist, and I wanted her artistry to shine from the writing all the way through production. I’m incredibly proud of this song and excited for people to keep discovering Ella through it.”
The inspiration behind the song gets even better.
Ella previously revealed that the phrase came after Miranda told a story involving a pet kangaroo, a dog, and a traffic stop.
“She told me she had a pet kangaroo in the back seat, the dog up front, and she got pulled over on a dirt road,” Ella said. “I was like, ‘This story is exactly as wild as I hoped.’ And of course she had Texas plates.”
Ella joked that the officer probably didn’t need much explanation to know where Miranda was from.
That’s when the lyric clicked.
“I said, ‘She’s from Texas, I can tell,’ and I started humming it while walking to the bathroom. Miranda stopped and said, ‘Wait — the girl he went with… she’s from Texas, I can tell.’ And from there, the whole song came together in about 30 minutes.”
Out of a kangaroo story and a throwaway line, a honky-tonk heartbreak anthem was born.
During the Oklahoma performance, Miranda put her own stamp on the song by adding a final line after the chorus:
“Dang right he is!”
It fit perfectly.
@jlga456 #choosentexas #mirandalambert ♬ original sound – jlga456
She’s a Texas girl, unapologetically proud, and that moment felt inevitable. It’s easy to imagine that line becoming a permanent part of the live version. While “Choosin’ Texas” belongs to Ella Langley, it carries Miranda Lambert’s DNA too — and that’s exactly what makes it hit so hard.
Somewhere between a writers’ retreat, a traffic stop with a kangaroo, and a live show in Oklahoma, a modern country classic found its footing.