Lainey Wilson Has Never Been In It For The Awards: ‘I Want To Feel Something & I Want People To Feel Something’

Nearly ten years ago, Lainey Wilson left her small farming community, got in a camper trailer and headed for Nashville to follow her country music dreams.

With a bright and commanding voice, songs inspired by Dolly Parton (she actually has a song called WWDD—What Would Dolly Do) and Lee Ann Womack, and a sound that blends her signature brand of country, which incorporates pop, southern rock, and contemporary and classic country, Lainey Wilson is the very embodiment of what one of her newest songs says: Country’s Cool Again.

Since we last caught up with Wilson—in April of last year—she’s gone on to dominate country music.

At that point, she’d made her first appearances in Yellowstone, taken home the Collaboration Video Of The Year with HARDY for Wait In The Truck and Female Video Of The Year for Heart Like A Truck at the CMT Music Awards, and had just won the Rulebreaker Award at last year’s Billboard Women In Music Awards. 

“That feels like forever ago,” Wilson says from her home studio, wearing her trusty cowboy hat and a fabulous blouse with a brooch attached to it. We’re discussing her new album, her highly anticipated fifth LP Whirlwind, out tomorrow (23 August) via BBR Music Group.

Whirlwind was created in an effort to help Wilson work through an intense couple of years.

Receiving critical acclaim and more and more fans is one thing, but Wilson has become one of the most celebrated country artists of our time, winning seven Country Music Association Awards (CMAs), including the top honour, Entertainer of the Year, last year. She won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album with 2022’s Bell Bottom Country and dominated last year’s Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs).

And then, earlier this year, Wilson received one of country music’s crowning achievements when she became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, an experience she describes as “unreal.”

“Everything from Reba [McEntire] asking me to be a part of the Opry family to Garth [Brooks] and Trisha [Yearwood] inducting me is kind of hard to wrap your head around,” Wilson shares.

“These moments take the cake for sure. Out of all the awards, accolades and hit songs we've had in the past few years, becoming a member of the Opry is really special. Thinking back to being nine years old, I remember where I was sitting at the Opry, and I was watching Bill Anderson and Crystal Gayle, Phil Vassar and Little Jimmy Dickens.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Man, I want to be up there.’ It did something that night that I got to be there when I dreamed of being up there when I was a little girl.”

It's been a lot. Any artist could have gotten caught up in the insanity, overwhelmed, and tempted to retreat into the spotlight. But that’s not Lainey Wilson. Instead, she’s gotten to work, pushed herself to experiment, retained her sense of humour, and created a stunning new album.

A sense of humour has been essential for the Watermelon Moonshine singer, who’s been subject to viral memes about her body and made headlines for wardrobe malfunctions. What could be used as a weapon to humiliate her is instead something she laughs off, with Wilson returning to asking herself, “What would Dolly do?”

Wilson says that she’s often approached things in life with a sense of humour. “When I think, like, what would Dolly Parton do if she split her pants on stage? I think she'd make a joke out of it. It won't be the last time I split my pants on stage, you know? At the end of the day, I thought, either I can make fun of myself or let other people make fun of me.”

That attitude has kept Wilson strong and focused on music.

To Wilson, receiving the accolades and appreciation from icons of the country music industry “definitely” gave her an extra boost of confidence that she could keep going and thriving in her career.

“It's a weird thing because I didn’t start playing music or writing music as a little girl because I wanted to win awards,” she admits. “I wanted to tell stories because I wanted to feel something, and I wanted other people to feel something.

“I definitely have to lead with that feeling and let those awards be notches on my belts and accept the gift, of course, and be appreciative, but not let it define me, because at the end of the day, it could be gone tomorrow, and that’s not going to stop me from sharing my gift.”

Wilson is telling a story with her new album – her most personal storytelling to date – and sharing her words in different grooves. There are fast-paced bangers (Keep Up With Jones, Hang Tight Honey, Ring Finger), but with some surprises, like the gorgeous title track and mid-paced love song 4x4xU flowing into the rambunctious Ring Finger.

Wilson says moments like that were intentional and were born in collaboration with her producer, Jay Joyce (The Wallflowers, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood).

“Jay Joyce, my producer, he's so good at that,” Wilson begins, explaining that she and Joyce are such huge fans of records, especially putting an album together that tells a story, allowing one end of one song to go into the next. “And if it was up to me, everybody would still listen to records from top to bottom, and I hope they do with this one to get the full effect.

“But yes, a lot of intentional moments. I mean, every downbeat, every little sprinkle of fairy dust that we put on this record, it all had intention behind it for sure.”

Something else worth noting about Wilson’s new LP is the use of pianos scattered throughout the tracklist, shining on the title track and Broken Hearts Still Beat.

“I'll tell you—when we were writing these songs, they were very stripped back,” Wilson explains, noting that the early demos of her new songs were performed just by her, singing and playing the guitar.

She sent Joyce many of the songs, adding that those “very stripped-back demos” were “nothing super beefed-up.” Wilson and her band had a blank slate to work with.

“These are the guys that ran a truck with me, travelling up and down the road, and then we finally got a van,” she says warmly, recalling the early days in the truck that saw their musical equipment strapped to the back of the truck.

“They've sacrificed a lot to help me chase my dream, and this is a part of their dream, too. But having them on the record, it's almost like they brought to the table what they thought was missing without even really talking about it. Because we played so many shows together in the past couple of years, it was just like we were all on the same page about what we needed and hearing a lot of their influences come in.”

She continues, “Some of my guys are from the pop world, the punk world, the funk world, blues and jazz, Americana. And then my producer, Jay, he's rock and roll. So, there’s a little bit of all those things, but the messages are still country, and my voice is still country, and I think we found a sound.

“I don't think it's straying too far away from what we've done in the past, but I think it's just kind of levelling up.”

While Lainey Wilson has become a role model for modern country, she hasn’t forgotten to give back to those who influenced her. On Good Horses, she teamed up with an idol of hers: Miranda Lambert.

“Oh, my goodness, we knew that song was special on the day we wrote it,” Wilson gushes, adding that Lambert has become a “dear friend” who frequently checks in on her.

“It's important to keep those kinds of people around. I had this song idea for quite a while, and I actually brought it up in several different writing scenarios, and nobody wanted to write it. And looking back on it, I'm glad they didn't because we were supposed to write it together: me, her and a guy named Luke Dick.

“We wrote it out at her farm, and we were sitting on a balcony of one of her cabins, and three bluebirds flew up, and they landed on the balcony. I saw Luke and Miranda look at each other, and they said that when they were writing her hit song Blue Bird, three bluebirds had flown up and landed in the exact same spot.”

Wilson has described Whirlwind as the most “cathartic and personal piece of art” she’s made to date, and she credits being able to get through the real-life whirlwind of her career over the last few years to her partner, former NFL player Devlin “Duck” Hodges.

Since the release of Bell Bottom Country in October 2022, Wilson’s music has taken her around the globe. She’s met “a lot of people” and been to “a million places” – including Australia – and “done a lot of soul-searching.”

“I feel like I've learned things about myself in the past couple of years that I didn't even know existed,” she says. “And one of those things is being in a happy, healthy relationship and being with somebody who cheers me on and is my best friend. And it's exciting to be able to share that part of me because it is one of the main things that gets me through this whirlwind.”

Speaking of Australia, Wilson made her long-awaited debut down under by headlining this year’s CMC Rocks and playing headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Those sideshows were met with such demand that she had to add extra concerts; in Melbourne, Wilson was described as a “warrior queen.”

On her performance at CMC Rocks, Wilson states that it “could not have been better”.

“I think it [Australia] is definitely my favourite place that I've ever been, and I've gone and played country music in a lot of different places. It definitely did help that it was summertime when we came, but more importantly, the people that I got to meet. It was awesome; good people who like to have a good time. I just felt a connection.”

She’s also found a connection with one of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest exports, Keith Urban, featuring on his track Go Home W U, which is set to appear on his upcoming album, High.

Explaining how Urban has impacted her life, Wilson says, “When I think about his career, I just think that he's done it the right way.

“He makes it about the people, the fans and the music; he keeps it about that, and he has never strayed off that path. You can tell that he still loves it as much now as he loved it when he first started. I think you can tell that about people, and I don't think he takes any of it for granted.”

She continues, “But there was one day I had come off the road, and I was on Music Row [record label offices, radio stations, and recording studios in Nashville], and I ran into him, and I think I told him, ‘I'm tired. Like, I can hardly keep my head up.’ And he told me, ‘Just remember, no whining on the yacht.’ And I was like, I like that! So, I remember that when I feel like I can't go anymore, I'm like, ‘Remember what Keith Urban said?’”

Is Wilson preparing to come back to Australia soon? “For sure. I already miss y'all, and I'm ready to come back,” Wilson says. “I truly did feel like a kindred spirit kind of connection when I was out there, even some of the people that I got to meet and become friends with that I still stay in touch with. So, I'll keep showing up as long as y'all do.”

Whirlwind will be released on Friday, 23 August, via BBR Music Group/BMG. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here.