Miranda Lambert turned her husband’s birthday tribute into a musical joke about his enthusiasm for gambling in Las Vegas.
The country singer, 42, celebrated Brendan McLoughlin’s 35th birthday on October 14 with an Instagram carousel of photographs and videos.
The collection included a Whataburger stop, fishing and a clip of McLoughlin helping lace up Lambert’s sneakers.
“35 looks good on you!” she wrote, according to PEOPLE. She added that his smile was her favorite and told him she loved him.
A Gambling Joke Set to “Choosin’ Texas”
View this post on Instagram
The final video showed McLoughlin fixing his hair while Lambert sang a homemade version of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” which she co-wrote. Her new words described a husband eager to leave the room and try his luck.
According to Taste of Country, Lambert joked that he could end up gambling until he was drinking Jack alone. McLoughlin laughed and snapped his fingers through the performance.
“That’s true,” he answered during the song. By the end, he was grinning and responding, “Damn right I am.”
Lambert also co-produced Langley’s original recording. In an interview published October 5 by The Wall Street Journal, she said the song emerged from a relaxed porch writing session. She explained that she preferred those informal gatherings to working against a fixed deadline.
McLoughlin Learned Songwriting Was Harder Than It Looked
Lambert told Apple Music’s Kelleigh Bannen that McLoughlin began writing with her during the COVID pandemic. His first recorded cut, “Dammit Randy,” appeared on Postcards From Texas and drew on a difficult situation he had watched her navigate.
According to Whiskey Riff, he later boasted that songwriting was easy, prompting Lambert and producer Jesse Frasure to book a session for him.
He arrived in golf clothes and became nervous when he discovered Frasure already had a track ready. Lambert said they wrote a good song, but McLoughlin left admitting, “This is hard.”
A Napa Writing Session Led to Five Album Credits
View this post on Instagram
For Crisco, released October 2, Lambert invited Frasure and songwriter Natalie Hemby to join her during a stretch of California shows. They rented a house to work on the unfinished record, and McLoughlin came along because he was traveling with his wife.
He sat down with a pencil and asked whether anyone minded him joining in. Lambert recalled that he contributed several strong lines, surprising the experienced writers around him. “It gave me a new energy to watch somebody get so excited about when the line landed,” she told Bannen.
McLoughlin’s credits include the Langley duet “Snakeskin Boots,” plus “Cowgirl Curtsy,” “Two Things Can Be True,” “Till the Going’s Gone” and “Right Where We Left It.”
In his own Instagram post celebrating the release, he thanked the three writers for welcoming him into their Napa session. He also celebrated earning his first radio single and praised Lambert and Frasure’s partnership producing the album.
Seven Years Married and a New Home Together
Lambert and McLoughlin met in November 2018 while she was appearing on Good Morning America with the Pistol Annies and he was working security as an NYPD officer.
She later told ABC‘s The View that bandmates Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley spotted him first and invited him to a show without telling her.
They married on January 26, 2019, at a farm outside Nashville and announced the wedding the following month. For their seventh anniversary, the couple shared photographs from horseback rides, wine dates and a fishing trip.
In her conversation with Bannen, Lambert said they had finally moved into the house they built after a lengthy process. “It just feels like I’ve landed,” she said, describing her happiness with her marriage, family and friends.