Lainey Wilson is one of the biggest names in country music.
The American singer-songwriter and actress, 32, who hails from Baskin, Louisiana, has five studio albums under her belt and has even starred on the hit show Yellowstone.
More recently, she continued her phenomenal rise to the top with her very first Grammy win for Best Country Album, for Bell Bottom Country – an incredible milestone for any artist.
Lately, it’s been a bit of whirlwind for Lainey with her success, being on the road and releasing new music, and it’s part of the reason she called her latest album just that.
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Reflecting on Whirlwind, which was released in August and features hits including 4x4xU, Hang Tight Honey and Good Horses featuring Miranda Lambert, Lainey tells 9honey Celebrity she shows fans a new side to her with latest work.
“It’s called Whirlwind because that’s what my life has been like the last couple of years,” Wilson says.
“Truly, I do think it’s the best stuff we’ve ever done. I’m my own worst critic, but my band got to play on this record and I feel like this record is showing a side of me, that honestly I didn’t know existed and during a time of my life that’s constantly changing.
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“I feel like since I put out Bell Bottom Country, the pace of my life and everything has been flipped on its head in the best kind of way.
“I feel like writing and recording this music, it just kind of reminded me of who I am and where I come from and what this is really about. As much of a whirlwind it’s been, making this music has helped me keep my feet on the ground.”
Wilson, who says one of her favourite tracks on the album is Ring Finger, spoke about pouring her heart and soul into her songs and admitted showing her emotions in tracks can be “scary,” but “you’ve got to let those walls down, get vulnerable”.
“I would say I’m a songwriter before I’m an artist, but being a songwriter and having the opportunity to sit in those rooms and with other people and write music, I learned a lot about myself, other people and life in general, I’m a more understanding and empathetic person,” she says.
But Wilson’s success and rise to the top hasn’t been without a lot of hard work and determination.
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The artist used to impersonate Miley Cyrus’ character Hannah Montana years before hitting the big time, and lived out of a trailer parked behind a recording studio.
Wilson credits her family and support system around her for getting her through the tough times.
“I couldn’t have done it without my people’s support, guidance, tough love and help at times,” she recalls.
“Maybe it was four years ago, maybe three years ago and I texted my sister and I had too much pride to ask my parents for any money and I was like, ‘Would you mind Venmoing $100 bucks so I can like, eat this week?’
“That’s what family is for, to step in when they need you and when you need them. And then I found family in Nashville, my crew, my band.”
But Wilson also never waivered or gave up on her dream, which she had since she was a kid.
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“It was like faith, being naïve, a fear of failure, my parents belief in me,” she says about what kept her going.
“And it was so weird, I would go to meetings and met with every record label in town when I was 19 years old and they said, ‘You’re not ready,’ and in my mind, I was like, ‘I would never had had this opportunity if it was always going to be a no,’ so I was like, ‘How do I take this no and turn it into a not yet?'”
Lainey said she always knew she wanted to be a singer-songwriter from a young age.
No one knew she was country music royalty until she turned
“I sang in public for the first time at my kindergarten graduation… when I wrote my first song at nine years old, my parents had taken me for a trip to Dollywood and I had begged them to just drive through Nashville,” she says.
“I remember having this overwhelming feeling. It was the holy spirit, just laying on my heart even at nine years old, that I was supposed to be doing this. I told my family I’m supposed to be in Nashville and for some crazy reason they believed me to and they helped me get there when I was 19.”
Lainey, who now is an entrepreneur and business owner, having her own bar called Bell Bottoms Up, says she’s “proud” of herself for coming this far and being a “nice person”.
She says that one of her favourite things is performing and likens it to “therapy”.
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“I feel like I can get out there and all of my worries completely disappear,” she says.
She also has a special moment on stage at her shows, often “crowning a cowgirl” (a young fan) on stage and sharing empowering messages for her young fans. And the heartwarming moment is something that’s particularly important to Lainey.
“The deeper I get into this stuff, the more I realise, ‘okay, you got a lot of little girls watching you’ and I feel like it’s kind of my responsibility to teach them a few things and things I would have done a little bit sooner,” she sweetly says.
“I think it’s important to show these little girls that you are beautiful, you are talented and you can do it, I guess it’s just sharing that wisdom that’s been shared with me, I don’t want to keep that wisdom all for myself, it’s not fair.’
Lainey’s new album Whirlwind is out now.
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