Rolling Stone just released their list of the 40 best country albums of 2016, and coming in at number-one is Maren Morris‘ HERO. Right behind Maren at number-two is Miranda Lambert‘s recently released The Weight Of These Wings. Dolly Parton made the list as well with the 43rd album of her career, Pure and Simple, coming in at 39.

  Maren Morris talks about the pride of making her album Hero. (:27)
“We created something that we thought was beautiful but you know I think even if no one is ever heard this album we’re still just as proud of it because we completed it and it’s something that we had to do for her own well emotional well-being. I don’t we’re just all…everyone, all the co-writers, busbee–my co-producer, Brad Hill, just the whole team were all excited. My parents especially.”

  Miranda Lambert shares where the title The Weight Of These Wings came from. (:47)
“The Weight of These Wings was a line my dad said to me…He’s a songwriter, he’s not written a song in probably 9 years now…but he mentioned the line to me one time at a show and it just stuck with me. It just felt really big and someways heavy and someways light, you know, it sort of makes you think about a lot of things just that one sentence. And so, we tried to write the song a few times and nothing really came of it and it just sort of going through this record process felt like it would tie everything together, being 24 songs I needed a title that would sort of round out the edges I guess, and The Weight Of These Wings felt right.”

  Dolly Parton describes how a tour idea sparked an idea for an album and a song called “Pure and Simple.” (:25)
“I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew we were gong on tour, and I knew I needed a CD, and I thought well, I’m calling like the tour Pure and Simple, because we were actually…had broken down the show to where we don’t have a lot of music, and a lot a big production things at all, and so that was a reason to call it Pure and Simple, I thought, well I need a CD so I need to call it Pure and Simple, I thought well now,  if I’m going to have a CD called Pure and Simple, I’m going to need a song called ‘Pure and Simple’.”