"I Was Writing About Tequila And Cigarettes." Lainey Wilson Opens Up About Small-Town Roots and Early Songwriting on The Late Show
- All Country News
- Sep 25
- 2 min read
When Lainey Wilson takes the stage, there’s an authenticity that immediately connects, rooted in her small-town Louisiana upbringing and a lifelong devotion to storytelling. This week, the Grammy-winning country star brought that charm to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, reflecting on the songs she wrote as a nine-year-old and the winding road that led her to Nashville’s spotlight.
Hailing from Baskin, Louisiana, a town of just 157 people, Wilson’s early life was anything but ordinary. “Country music is just life where I’m from,” she told Colbert, smiling at the memory. “We eat, sleep, and breathe it. It was about the storytelling.” She recalled writing her first song at nine, inspired by voices on the radio that seemed to speak directly to her. “I was writing about tequila and cigarettes and everything else,” she laughed, a mischievous glint in her eye.
Her small-town beginnings didn’t slow her down. Wilson earned her first $20 performing a cappella at the grand opening of a convenience store and that $20 bill still rests in her father’s hands as a cherished memento. She and her sister also grew up riding horses and performing at PRCA rodeos, with Wilson singing the national anthem while mounted, a precursor to the fearless performer she would become.
When the country music dream called, Wilson answered, relocating to Nashville with nothing but a 20-foot Flagstaff camper trailer and a fierce determination. “I knew this was my calling and I was going to do whatever I had to do,” she said. For three years, she lived in that camper in a mentor’s studio parking lot, embodying grit and perseverance that would define her career.
Wilson’s dedication has paid off. With chart-topping hits like "Things a Man Oughta Know", "Heart Like a Truck", and "Watermelon Moonshine", her latest deluxe album reissue, Whirlwind, captures the intensity of a life fully lived and fully devoted to country music.
“I’ve been in Nashville for 14 years,” Wilson shared. “The last few years, it feels like country music has finally started to love me back as much as I love it. It has been a whirlwind.”
Closing her Late Show appearance with a heartfelt performance of "Somewhere Over Laredo", an interpretation of the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", Wilson transported viewers to the reflective, road-worn spaces that inspire her songwriting. “I spend a lot of time in a plane headed to the next town, the next show… It’s where a lot of song ideas happen,” she said.
From a nine-year-old writing about tequila and cigarettes in Baskin to a Grammy-winning artist commanding stages nationwide, Lainey Wilson’s journey is a testament to faith, grit, and the enduring power of storytelling in country music.
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