For the title track to her Grammy-winning 2022 album Bell Bottom Countryall Lainey Wilson had to do was look at the whirlwind around her life.
Tornadoout Aug. 23 (Broken Bow/BMG), reflects on the country star's life over the past two years as she's become one of country music's fastest-rising stars.
“My life is constantly changing at a very fast pace,” says Wilson, who is on the cover Advertising sign2024 Country Power Players issue. “The truth is, there is no slowing down even if you tried. But through it all, in a crazy way I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.”
Amidst the frenzy of recent years since her breakthrough single, 'Things a Man Oughta Know', became her first No. 1 on Advertising signOn the Country Airplay map, Wilson noticed a pattern in her conversations. “Whether I meet someone and they say, 'dude, your life has been a whirlwind' — whether the word comes out of my mouth, or I open a book and see the word 'whirlwind,' it just seems to surround me,” he says. “Tornadoes cause turbulence that causes chaos. But at the end of the day, you figure out how to get back to center.”
Wilson, the reigning CMA Awards Entertainer of the Year, describes Tornado as “his Western sister Bell Bottom Countryand lyrically more “insider” than previous efforts: “I feel like it's got a little more character [and] cinematic narrative”. Wilson teamed up again with producer Jay Joyce, who produced Bell Bottom Country and its predecessor, of 2021 I say what I think.
Lainey Wilson, Whirlwind
Courtesy photo
Because Wilson's schedule has become so busy, there was no time for loose songs for the new album. Instead, he had to work with much more intention and focus. “I like being able to choose from 200 [songs] to have my 12 That didn't happen this year,” he says. “So I had to really focus on quality over quantity, which we did. And we understood what was working – it was getting people on the road to get it done – and I was pretty inspired.”
Wilson has written with well-known collaborators, including The Heart Wranglers — the songwriting trio of her, Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson, who co-wrote “Heart Like a Truck,” among other hits — as well as with young collaborators, such as Jon Decious.
Although he says time constraints meant he “didn't try a lot of new things for me”. Tornado, it was still very important to Wilson to work with people “who have experienced different things in life and make sure the music is well-rounded and coming from a lot of different angles. But, yeah, we kind of had to cut the st, to be honest with you. We had to get there.”
Wilson drew from her own life as well as her fans when it came to digging deep for song inspiration. “My experiences in recent years have made me more confident in who I am and my values. When I was writing for this record, I felt like I was writing something that needed to be written and it was something that meant something to me,” he says. “Because I've met so many of my fans and heard so many other stories over the years, I feel like I was writing this for them too. I'm the kind of songwriter who doesn't have to experience it first-hand to write about it.”
Much to her surprise, Wilson was undeterred by commercial and critical acclaim Bell Bottom Country — including winning album of the Year at the ACM and CMA Awards and Best Country album at the Grammys — while creating its successor.
“I thought maybe it would because I was like, 'Oh shoot, we're winning these awards and it's going to really scare me when I get ready to make this next batch of music?' I think it's just because I've accepted it, but I don't let it define me as an artist,” she says. While stressing that she is extremely grateful for the awards, and as a little girl dreaming of what she could say on the awards stage, “I never dreamed of looking at these trophies on my shelf. I dreamed of writing songs and playing shows — and that's what I have to keep doing. ”
In a sign of Wilson's growing influence, her street band plays Tornado instead of the cast of studio musicians usually featured on country albums. “We've played almost 400 shows in the last two and a half years. I knew they could do it,” explains Wilson. “I felt like that's where the magic was going to come from this time.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/country/lainey-wilson-new-album-whirlwind-1235677749/