Pistol Annies Songs Strung Together From Real-Life Stories

Last year, country fans got their first listen to the songs of Pistol Annies, the trio made up of Texas native Miranda Lambert, Tennessee-born Ashley Monroe and Kentuckian Angaleena Presley. The threesome's debut album, Hell on Heels, was a favorite with fans and critics in 2011, and perhaps found much of its success in the true-to-life lyrics of songs such as "Lemon Drop."

In an interview with Cowboys and Indians, Angaleena explains that that song's lyrics, which detail the real-life coal miner's daughter securing her car's muffler with a guitar string, were based on a situation she endured on her home state's Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway.

"My muffler was literally dragging the ground, but still attached," Angaleena tells the magazine. "So I just thought about it, clipped a string off my guitar, got down there and tied that sucker up."

Angaleena notes that she comes by her resourcefulness quite naturally. "I'd grown up as my dad's little helper. So I'm pretty handy around the house. He'd taught me how to fix things, make something out of nothing, solve problems."

Angaleena also contributed lyrics and vocals for "The Hunter's Wife" to the group's debut album. She tells the magazine she wrote the song, which includes references to squirrel gravy and coon stew, about her coon-hunting uncle. At the time of last year's album release, the trio shared their own personal experiences with those delicacies with The Boot:

Angaleena: I've eaten it many, many times.

Miranda: I actually killed a squirrel, and my dad made us put it in gravy and eat it. That's hardcore.

Angaleena: Squirrel gravy is more where I'm from in the mountains. We had squirrel gravy growing up every Easter. That would be the main dish because all the men would bring all the squirrels that they had killed, and we'd make a big batch of squirrel gravy with cornbread. You just dip cornbread in it. It's kind of like chicken and dumplings, that texture, creamy and liquid-y.

Miranda: It tastes like rat.

Angaleena: Hey, you have to eat what you can come by where I'm from!

Miranda: Where I'm from, if you kill it, you have to eat it.

Ashley: I just didn't eat. [laughs]

Pistol Annies will tour with Miranda this summer, and the ladies are also working on new music together. Angaleena, who also reveals that she has a solo record she hopes to release some time this year, notes that the trio have drawn comparisons to the three lead characters in the classic 1980 film, "9 to 5." To discover which one is which -- and for more of the interview -- click here.