Lainey Wilson is one

Lainey Wilson is one of the hottest women in country music right now. She was named CMA 2022 Female Vocalist of the year, CMA 2022 New Artist of the year and ACM’s 2022 New Female Artist of the year. She has also been featured in the TV series Yellowstone as a new character named Abby. I had the pleasure to talk to Lainey about her upcoming headlining tour and all things Country.

I asked how has touring with other artists prepared her for her first headlining tour, “Country With A Flair.” She said, “I’ve been able to stand side stage and be backstage and see first-hand all the things that it takes to keep this wheel turning and moving. And it takes a whole lot. It takes a team of people and they all have to be moving at the same speed and in the same direction. And I’ve learned so much from Morgan Wallen in 2019. We were playing clubs, a thousand capacity clubs and I got to see the way that he interacted with the clubs that size. And now I get to see the way he interacts with people in arenas. It’s really cool to see that the shows have to change. The way you interact with the audience has to change.

You have to adjust your settings and your surroundings. And the show is just different. I’ve picked up those little nuggets and put them in my back pocket. I feel lucky to feel as prepared as I do.”

I asked Lainey, ‘What is the biggest difference that you’ve noticed from being an opener to headlining your own show?’ Lainey responded, “It feels way different when people actually purchased the ticket to be there to see you. That’s a good feeling. It’s a strange feeling, but it’s a good feeling. A lot of times it would just be me and my guitar up there opening the show and nobody knew my songs or knew my name. But I will say it’s a different feeling now. Everybody is singing every single word to the record, and they’re excited to be there. I feel welcomed with open arms. I feel loved. I feel accepted. I feel respected. I feel so many different things. When you’re up there with just your guitar and nobody knows you from Adam, it’s scary. But in my heart, I’ve always known that timing is everything and that if I just kept my blinders on and my head down, that eventually I’d be at the right place. I’ve always known that I would get to that point. And that’s not coming from a big-headed way. I’ve had a weird sense of peace in my heart. Even at 9 years old when my family took a trip to Gatlinburg and on the way home to Louisiana, my mom and daddy drove through Nashville. I begged them just to drive through there. And I remember exactly where I was on the interstate in the backseat. I was starring at the Batman building on I-40, and I told my parents, ‘This is home.’ I just knew it. I knew in my heart that I was going to be a part of the country music family. I didn’t know how in the world I was going to get there, but I felt like the Lord had placed this on my heart, and dang it I was going to do it!”

Lainey said, “I didn’t know what it was going to look like. I didn’t know if that meant I was just going to be a songwriter or if I was going to be able to do both. But I know that I loved it. And I knew that it was one of the very few things that made me feel alive. And I wanted to feel that way the rest of my life.”

During the pandemic, Lainey wrote more 300 songs and she had released her latest album this past year called, “Bell Bottom Country.” I asked Lainey how did she pick the songs that were on the album. She replied, “I feel like I’m stocked up for the next few records. But, “Bell Bottom Country,” those are the words that we’ve used to describe my sound or my look. But to me, “Bell Bottom Country” means country with a flare. It’s about finding whatever it is that makes you you and different and leaning into it as much as you possibly can. It could be where you’re from, the way that you look, the way that you dress, the way that you were raised, the way that you talk, your story in general.

It’s just about being that unapologetically. And I feel like every song that we choose for this record made sure that that’s what it stood for. I feel like I pulled back the layers a little more than I did with the first record. And I truly feel like I didn’t even do that on purpose. I think it’s just because I’ve lived more life. I’ve got my heart broke a few more times. I’ve even had more fun. I feel like I have grown so much as a singer and songwriter, but most importantly as a person. And I think every record is going to tell a different story, but that’s the story that this one told.”

One of Lainey’s favorite songs to perform right now, although she says that can change daily is, “Those Boots.” Which she says, “I wrote this about my daddy. And it’s a part of the show where I’m breaking it down and doing it just me and my guitar. And I get to tell the story about how my parents used to live in this uninsulated home. And instead of adding on like most normal people would do when they needed more space, they cut out the side of the house and they put a portable building on the side. And that’s what me and my sister lived in. And every morning before my daddy would got to work, he’s calling my name and I’d come running out of the portable building into the house. And I would help pull his blue jeans down over the top of his boots. And that was really my job as a child. Looking back at it,
I knew what he was doing. He was trying to give me a job. And he was trying to make sure that I felt important and special.

And it’s just a memory that I’ll never forget. And that’s what this entire song is inspired from. It’s inspired from that story. I love my family very much. I feel like I am who I am because of them. And it seems like no matter what, at some point in time, momma, daddy or Jesus is going to make it into a song even if I try not to.”

Lainey and HARDY won the CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year for, “Wait in the Truck.” And I asked her how that song came about and she said, ” HARDY and I have been dear friends for a long time and I laugh every time I tell this story. But every time his truck breaks down, he calls me to use mine. And yeah, I throw him under the bus. He texted me last summer. I was in the Nashville Airport, we were headed out to a show.

And ‘Heart Like A Truck’ was already on the radio. And he texted me and said, ‘Lainey, I think I wrote the best song I’ve ever written,’ which was hard for me to believe, because I think everything that the guy writes is great. I think he can literally write anything. He puts his own spin on it. Whether it’s a rock song or a country song. There is no doubt that he is one of the best writers on the face of the earth. But when I listened to it, I knew what he meant by, ‘This is the best song I’ve ever written.’ It reminded me of why I fell in love with country music to begin with. It reminded me of songs like ‘Whiskey Lullaby,’ ‘Thunder Rolls,’ ‘Goodbye Earl.’ It reminded me of 90’s country, those storytelling songs. And Country Radio has not played anything like that in a really long time. I will say it was a big old risk. I didn’t know if radio would ever play it. But I had the feeling that if this song touches one person, and it never gets played on radio, then we’ve done our job. And the song has done more than touch one person. I had a lady on the front row of a show the other day just literally saying, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ The entire time I was singing the chorus to that song. And right there is really what it’s all about. And sometimes you get caught up in the rest of it, that you forget that. But moments like that remind you.”

I asked Lainey if she could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why and she said, “I would love to do something with Eric Church or Chris Stapleton. It’s a tie for me. I feel like both of those guys just go against the grain. They do it how they want to do it. And I respect that. I respect folks who aren’t trying to be like everybody else, who’ve got their own thing, their own sound, their own style. And I look up to that. I strive to be that myself. I think I could learn a lot from them. I think that would be the dudes. Maybe we could do something together, all three of us, how about that?” I said, “We should share her interview and tag them until they see it.” And Lainey agrees! So fans, do your thing and help Lainey out and tag Eric Church and Chris Stapleton!!

Lainey tells me her greatest musical accomplishment to date is, “So far I would have to say the CMA’s
this past year, winning both new artist and female vocalist. I know that’s something that is not been done a lot. I think the last time that was done was 2007 with Carrie Underwood and 1995 with Alison Krauss. Those are two very big shoes that I’m going to have to fill. But I’m excited to take on the challenge. Of course, you hear new artist, and I don’t feel like a new artist at all, but to a lot of people I am. And it’s all right. I’ve been in Nashville for 12 years. I feel the complete opposite of a new artist. But I’m proud to carry that torch for sure!”

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