Miranda Lambert's CMA Tribute to Loretta Lynn Was Personal: 'She Made Me Feel Just Like an Old Friend'

Miranda Lambert was honored to pay tribute to Loretta Lynn at the CMA Awards show on Wednesday night, and not just because of Lynn's place in country history. Lambert also has had a strong personal connection to the music legend.

"I spent some time with her, and you meet a lot of people in a career, but it's one of those memories that's forever burned into my heart," Lambert told PEOPLE on the CMA red carpet. "She was such a lovely human being and made me feel so at home. It's kind of intimidating to hang out with your hero all day, but she made me just feel like an old friend."

Lambert, 39, also holds dear the several times that she and Lynn got to sing together, "and I'm thankful for every time she held my hand and signed my guitar and told me about a memory and gave me advice."

That treasured guitar, she said, is now kept at her house: "I play it at home. I don't take it on the road, for sure."

The Loretta Lynn medley that Lambert shared with Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire on the awards show marked the first time the three superstars blended their voices, and Lambert said she definitely approved of the result. "We've got a Texan and two Okies," said the Lindale, Texas, native. "What could go wrong?"

The 14-time CMA recipient also rocked out with "Geraldene," a cut from Palomino, her nominated album. (She was nominated for female vocalist and entertainer of the year, as well.)

Check out PEOPLE's full CMAs coverage to get the latest news on country music's biggest night.

Seventeen years removed from her first CMA show appearance — an explosive "Kerosene" — Lambert said she still finds live TV "scary."

"I get butterflies," she said, "but I feel so lucky. I feel lucky to be here, to be nominated, and that my peers still respect what I do, and most important, the fans are still with me and still supporting every record."

Lambert has recently reached a new career milestone as the latest country star to undertake a Las Vegas residency, and though she still professes a "vagabond" spirit, she said she's warmed to performing while off the road.

"It's been awesome," she said of her "Velvet Rodeo" show, which is scheduled through March. "It's the first time I've ever stayed in one place to do my job, so it was an adjustment, but it's really been fun, and the crowd's been amazing."

Lambert also has been finding time to get together with her fellow Pistol Annies, Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe, whose last project, an original Christmas album, was released in 2021.

"We've been writing some and hanging," Lambert reported. "It's really hard to get the three schedules together because they are both moms, and I'm in Vegas doing the residency. But we find time to spend together, and that usually entails a guitar."

So are they still upholding their reputation for sass?

"Yeah, always," she said with a laugh. "Always!"