Country music super star Lainey Wilson is all about authenticity.
She leaned on her own authentic self even when it wasn’t directly translating into success. Believe it or not, it took the “Heart Like A Truck” singer over 10 years to finally break through into the country music industry. Once she did though, Lainey never looked back.
Though she has looked out for other women in the industry. Wilson recently took some time to talk about female country artists in the industry, and how more and more are starting to enter into country music and have success. The country singer even went as far to say that women in country music have tremendous staying power, and she can say that from experience.
Lainey can also talk from experience when it comes to feeling at home and comfortable in her own skin. Wilson has noticed that as of late, there are a lot more people walking around in cowboy garb, and she thinks there’s one big cultural phenomenon outside of country music itself that contributed to that.
Yellowstone.
The 32-year-old singer-songwriter was lucky enough to both have her music featured in the western drama and make her acting debut in the show. Wilson portrayed country singer Abby in Yellowstone, but before she was a part of the cast, she was a fan like everyone else who appreciated everything that Sheridan had done for cowboys, cowgirls and Western culture.
She tells Vanity Fair:
“It’s crazy to see how the Taylor Sheridan world has really contributed to everything happening. It really did something for country music, and it did something for the Western culture in general.
Growing up that way, and even putting my cowboy hat on now and putting my jeans on and being around horses or rodeo or whatever it is, I feel at home. People are so sick of things that make them feel anything other than at home. People are craving that authenticity. I think they’re just over the bullsh*t.”
Lainey is right in saying that. Everyone is over the bullsh*t.
Wilson is grateful for that shift, just as she’s thankful that Taylor Sheridan allowed for her to be a part of his hit television program. Lainey was excited to star in the show, but the impact that it had on every part of her career was something she could have never dreamed of:
“I just didn’t even realize how important it really was or how beneficial it was until a couple of my songs ended up on the show. Then people would come to shows, even if it was a handful of them. They’d be like, ‘I found you through ’Yellowstone.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, these placements are doing something.’”
And if you were wondering how Wilson ended up on the hit western drama, it was an authentic run-in with Sheridan that led to the pair working together.
Lainey and the Yellowstone show runner became friends, and their connection led to Sheridan writing a part specifically for her:
“Long story short, Taylor Sheridan and I just became friends. We met at a horse-reining competition that he does out in Vegas, and we really bonded over horses…. he called me a couple years later and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea. I want to create a character specifically for you. We’re going to name her Abby. And you’re going to pretty much just kind of be yourself…
It was such a blessing because it really put a face to a name. Especially during a time when people might have known the song on the radio, but they just didn’t know who sang it or what they looked like. That’s what ‘Yellowstone’ did for me.”
And the rest is history…
Watch Lainey perform at the Dutton Ranch: