Award-winning singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson has earned the enthusiasm and praise of the industry. Touted as “Entertainer of the Year”, the Louisiana native who's described as a “bona fide storyteller at work”, constantly defies traditional norms and conventions of the country music genre.
Her “rule breaking” achievements have brought her accolades aplenty and a diehard fanbase. Nearly 10 years after leaving her small farming community in a camper trailer to chase her dreams in Nashville, she earned her first platinum certified song with Things A Man Oughta Know, and won support for her signature sound, blending traditional country with a modern flare.
Wilson has headlined shows in Europe, the UK, Australia and more. With seven No1 songs to date, shee has become the lead female artist with the most No 1’s this decade, along with two Grammy nominations, nine ACM awards, seven CMA awards, and she’s an official member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Making her acting debut in season 5 of Paramount’s smash hit series Yellowstone, Wilson is conquering the industry, as a singer, songwriter, and actress. Fans can catch Wilson on her “Country’s Cool Again” headlining North American tour this Summer and listen to her studio album, Whirlwind.
Andrea Nagel spoke to her from Durant, Oklahoma just before she went on stage to do a show.
AN: I think you have the most Southern sounding voice I’ve ever heard.
LW: You’re not the first to say that.
AN: What drew you to the country music genre?
LW: I’m originally from northeast Louisiana. I’m from a town of 180 people, little town called Baskin. It’s actually called the Village of Baskin. And where I'm from people sleep and breathe country music. We feel like we know the people on the road, and they're telling stories, theirs directly or they’re telling our stories. When you're from a small town like that, your imagination has to be big. We’d sit around the kitchen table telling stories and I’d hear my parents' stories, the same old ones they've been telling for years, but it seemed like every single time they told it, the story got more interesting. That’s country music. At nine years old, when I started writing, I also wanted to make people feel things. My imagination was pretty wild as a child, so at 10 years old I was writing songs about tequila and cigarettes. I'm not sure where that came from.
AN: Which country stars do you love?
LW: There’s so many. Dolly Parton, of course. I finally got to meet her and get to know her. She’s everything she says she is; a goodhearted, hardworking lady shares her gift.
AN: You did a lot to get to where you are. You lived in a trailer in Nashville for a long time. What kind of personality traits enabled you to make it in this business?
LW: I moved to Nashville when I was 19 years old. I was a fearless girl with stars in her eyes and a big dream. My parents always told me, ‘work hard and be kind’, and that right there will take you further than anything. There were times when it’s important to shake people’s hands and get to know ’em and make sure they remember how you made ’em feel. But it’s also important to have that presence to take care of business. I moved there, and I was gonna do whatever it took to make it. l’ll be nice and and be your friend, but I also am not gonna take any shit.
AN: What’s your songwriting process?
LW: Songwriting keeps me on my toes. It’s different every time for me. And that’s what I love about it. Sometimes it falls from the sky, the idea, the melody, the hook. Other times I sit down with like a group of co-writers and we’ll talk about ideas — the best idea in the room wins. We figure out how to take bits and pieces of our stories and mix it together. I wanna be the worst writer in the room because I want to leave learning something about myself life in general. I truly think songwriting has made me a better person, more understanding and empathetic. It’s my therapy.
AN: Which is your favourite town or city to play in?
LW: I love playing overseas because I’ve realised we’re all actually a lot more alike than we think. Watching people connect and relate to country music written by a girl that’s from a town of 180 people is amazing. Never in a million years did I think that my stories would ping the hearts of people on the other side of the world.
For more information, please visit laineywilson.com.
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