Lainey Wilson's 'fun whirlwind' from small town roots to superstardom

Growing up in a town of 220 people wasn't going to get in the way of Lainey Wilson's dreams.

She had a humble childhood in Baskin, Louisiana, where country music was a way of life.

She cut her teeth as a Hannah Montana performer at kids parties before taking the leap to Nashville, where the now Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter, actress and composer has reached success she never imagined possible.

Tasked with the theme of "songs that keep you grounded" for her Take 5 with Zan Rowe, Wilson took time to revisit her home, dive into her connection with mentor and friend Dolly Parton, and how Tim McGraw inspired her ambition in music.

"There was always music playing in the background," Wilson says, reminiscing on her childhood.

"My daddy can play a little bit of guitar by ear and piano by ear. My mama sings the loudest in church, but that don't mean she's good."

Growing up in the Deep South Bible Belt of the United States of America, music surrounded Wilson from an early age, especially country.

"You just couldn't escape country radio," she says.

"We just felt like they were singing directly to us. I didn't even realise that country was a genre, I just thought it was a way of life."

For little Lainey Wilson, the country stars she heard on the radio and in her home were a connection to the world outside of Baskin. She loved the thrill of being whisked away by the music and storytelling — and she knew she wanted to do that for others.

"I got to the point when I wrote my first song," she says.

"I was like, 'I wanna make people feel that way. I wanna tell a story. I wanna take them somewhere. I wanna take them back.'

"I'm just so thankful that I listened to that little thing inside of me, even at nine years old, because this is my favourite thing to do."

Lainey Wilson had a lot of firsts at the age of nine. First song, first pair of bell-bottom jeans, but most importantly, her first trip to Nashville, Tennessee.

For Wilson, it felt like home, so she got to work on making that her reality.

As a teenager she cut her teeth performing at kids' parties as popular TV character Hannah Montana — played by Dolly Parton's goddaughter, Miley Cyrus — and would "open" for herself as Lainey Wilson.

"It spread like wildfire, I did it for five years and three or four parties a week," Wilson says.

"I did Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee. I was in eighth grade and a lot of the time I would open up for Hannah Montana, so Lainey Wilson would get up there, because they're gonna hear these songs I've been writing too."

At 19, Wilson moved eight hours north-east to the epicentre of American country music , starting her residence in the "10-year town" in the car park of a recording studio her grandfather helped create.

"I packed up a little 20-foot Flagstaff bumper-pull camper trailer, which I think y'all call a caravan, and hauled it to Nashville," she says.

"I got to park it in a studio parking lot of a guy named Jerry Cupid. Jerry was actually from Baskin, and my grandfather back in the 70s believed in him and thought that he could be a songwriter-producer and gave him a little bit of money to move to Nashville.

"So, as a favour in return, he let me park my camper in his parking lot for free for the first three years I was there."

Nashville stayed true to its ethos and 10 years later, Lainey Wilson found success with her track Things A Man Oughta Know.

Though she had moments where she was ready to "pack it up and get the hell out of Dodge", she kept her inspirations — Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Lee Anne Womack and other country women — in her sights.

These women achieved anything they set their minds to, while staying grounded and true to themselves. They planted the seed in young Lainey Wilson's mind that she too could reach her dreams without losing her small-town personality, even if she must take the long route to get there.

"They sang about what they wanted to sing about," Wilson says.

"I feel like they held onto that thing that made them real."

"All these little girls and little boys at my show, I want them to know that this is not an overnight success for me," she says.

"I want these little kids to know even if you're not moving to Nashville to be a country singer-songwriter, whatever it is, things might not happen when you want them to.

"As long as you keep showing up and you keep being a good person and working hard, then you can't go wrong."

Dolly Parton remained a constant throughout Wilson's life — first as a north star and influence, then as a mentor, and finally as a collaborator and friend.

She sees her relationship with the late country music icon as one that blossomed from a fan in the crowd to "a side stage view", witnessing her shifting from a larger-than-life persona to a down-to-earth human.

Wilson's Take 5 was filmed before the devastating loss of Dolly Parton in August, but her read of both the persona and the person remains true in her death.

"She's a hoot, there's nobody like her — the way that she holds herself, the way that she loves people," Wilson says.

"I'm so thankful that I got to watch it growing up, but now I feel like I've got a little side stage view. I'm seeing that she is a real human, because the way that Dolly holds herself is just like, is she even real?

"But she is. And she is exactly who she says she is."

To bring her back home, Lainey Wilson loves to listen to Tim McGraw.

His 2016 song Humble and Kind from the album Damn Country Music, written by award-winning Americana singer Lori McKenna to her children, is a "blueprint on how to stay grounded".

Especially for Wilson, who has a family connection to McGraw.

"Tim McGraw actually grew up down the road from me,"

"My step-grandmother used to babysit him. Every single time we would pass by this certain house, my mum would be like, 'That's where Tim McGraw was brought home from the hospital.'"

It was in McGraw's career that a young Lainey Wilson saw her own possibility.

"I felt like, 'This guy is from here and he did it.' And if he did, I can do it too."

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