Miranda Lambert pours out emotions at Knoxville concert

Miranda Lambert has never shied away from being true to herself with her songwriting, and her live shows are no different.

During her Knoxville concert at Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday, she showcased sass, vulnerability and most of all, relatability, as she sang about her quirks, flaws and passions, and how she's accepted them. 

Lambert, along with opening acts Jon Pardi and The Steel Woods, performed to a packed arena as part of her Livin' Like Hippies Tour. She played an hour and a half of hits including "Automatic," "White Liar," "All Kinds of Kinds" and others. 

Lambert wants fans to feel

Lambert went through a range of emotions throughout the show. She showcased spunk and energy in songs like "Kerosene," "Little Red Wagon" and "We Should Be Friends."

Then she expressed vulnerability and heartbreak in tracks including "Vice," "Over You" and "The House That Built Me."

As open as Lambert was during her performance, she said she wanted the audience to experience those feelings during the concert too before her solo acoustic performance of "Tin Man."

"I make it my mission every single time I step on the stage that no matter what, no matter where I am, I want to make you feel everything you could possibly feel," said Lambert. "I want you to feel sad, mad, happy and nostalgic and really pissed sometimes. That's my favorite. And part of feelings is also heartbreak unfortunately, but fortunately for me, I can use it for my art or whatever. I like to write sad songs. I like to listen to sad songs, so I want to sing y'all one. It's called 'Tin Man.' "

Lambert achieved her mission. She has an exceptional talent of expressing her feelings through music, and those emotions also reached thousands at the arena. 

Ashley Monroe joins Lambert

Lambert invited a special guest on stage for a song during her Knoxville concert. Knoxville native and country singer Ashley Monroe joined her to sing Lambert's track, "Heart Like Mine."

Lambert said Monroe was her best friend, and the two playfully looked at each other as they sang during the performance.

Monroe, Lambert and Angaleena Presley make up the country music group, Pistol Annies, who collaborate together in addition to their solo careers. 

Going beyond country pop

While Lambert's music has elements of country, rock and pop, her set included several instruments found in more traditional country music including the steel guitar, banjo and mandolin. 

It was refreshing and a recurring theme throughout the concert. Both opening acts drifted away from the cookie cutter country pop style that's always playing on country radio stations.

Pardi's music featured the steel guitar and fiddle. Donning a cowboy hat, he belted out his hit songs including "Head Over Boots," "Heartache on the Dance Floor," "Up All Night" and others. 

His performance was solid, but The Steel Woods outshined him with their talent and southern rock sound. 

They did everything the genre's known for including grooving guitar riffs, impressive solos and song lyrics that tell stories to draw you in, and they executed them all with great skill.