Loretta Lynn Says Yes to ‘Feisty’ Miranda’s Writing Proposal

Loretta Lynn knows a thing or two about talent after fifty years in the music business, so it's no wonder she can easily smell success for young singers coming up through the ranks. Take Miranda Lambert, for example. The Texas songbird had the chance to collaborate with Ms. Loretta and Sheryl Crow on a remake of the country legend's signature hit, 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' for last year's Loretta Lynn tribute album, and apparently she's eager to work with Loretta again -- this time on some new material. Miranda has appealed to Loretta to co-write a new song with her, and it sounds as if Loretta is definitely on board.

"She is feisty! That girl's something else," Loretta tells the Toledo Free Press. "She wrote me a letter the other day, and she said it's time we start writing. And she sent me the idea for the song, so I'm going to have to call her and tell her let's get with it."

Currently struggling with a slow recovery from surgery to repair torn cartilage in her knee, Loretta had to cancel several upcoming concerts and her planned appearance at the recent ACM Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country concert in Las Vegas, but the icon never slows down for long. She is planning on several new projects for the coming year, including an album with her sister, Crystal Gayle, and some new recordings of her previous material.

"We've been trying to pick the songs and stuff for quite a bit," says Loretta. "Me and my sister Peggy Sue, my other little sister, she's singing backup for Crystal right now. So we're going to record an album. And I'm going to record all the No. 1s and then the Top Fives. And I'm doing a Christmas album, a religious album -- I've got some of them already recorded -- and another album of new stuff."

And as if that weren't enough to make anyone tired, Loretta also spends some of her down time with a new hobby -- painting.

"Piddlin' and painting, that's what I'm doing right now," she says. "I'm trying to paint some flowers, which I've never done before. Just playing, but I've got paint all over and all over me. I'm just starting. I'm afraid to try to paint anything more than a flower, because if I make a mistake, I can just make the flower bigger! [laughs]"

Though she was absent from the recent ACM Girls Night Out tribute to the women who have made country great, her spirit was definitely present during the show's finale, when the honorees, including Miranda, the Judds, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles, all took the stage to perform a rousing rendition of 'Coal Miner's Daughter.' The special is set to air on April 22 on CBS.