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Lainey Wilson spent her first years in Nashville feeling too country for country, as she has becomefondofsayingininterviews.
Finally, one took a chance: Broken Bow Records, which signed her in 2018.
In just a few years, she would release a full-length album and earn her first country No.
Today, shes one of the biggest stars in the genre.
On her new album,Whirlwind, she marvels at how the landscape has changed since her arrival.
Everybody wanna be a cowboy, she sings, before smirking mentions of John Deeres and cold beers.
Doggone, dadgum it, didnt see that comin / Countrys cool again.
Yes, by some metrics, countryis cooler than its ever been.
The two biggest hits of the year are country singles on top of the four that went to No.
1 on the Hot 100 last year and stars likeBeyonceandPost Malonehave released their own successful country albums.
Malone and Morgan Wallens I Had Some Help is just as slick as Malones prior solo No.
From the beginning,Whirlwindmakes its intended audience clear.
The opening song is Keep Up With Jones, a jaunty track full of references to George Jones.
In Wilsons songwriting, cowboys and horses arent just country signifiers; theyre what she knows best.
And theyre always part of a bigger message.
But it largely sticks to the expected road anthems and love ballads.
Compared with peers like Wallen, Wilson always seemed to have her sights set on stardomwithincountry music.
(She was also inducted into the Opry over the summer.)
WilsonsWhirlwindfeels of a piece withPlatinum, the albumMiranda Lambertreleased at bro-countrys peak in 2014.
It was clear what the country musicians voting on the award were actually listening to.
Now, Wilson is putting herself in the same spot withWhirlwind.
He never had any pop hits either.
