Speaker 1: Pushkin. At just eight years old, Landy Wilson announced to
Speaker 1: her family that she was destined to become a country
Speaker 1: music star. There were northern musicians in her family to
Speaker 1: speak of. For five generations, her people had been farmers
Speaker 1: in a tiny northern Louisiana town with a population of
Speaker 1: only one hundred and eighty. But after graduating in high school,
Speaker 1: Laney stayed true to her promise and drove north to
Speaker 1: Nashville in a camper trailer that she lived in alone
Speaker 1: for three years. Success didn't come easy. In those first
Speaker 1: three years, Lanny wrote over three hundred songs, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't until her eighth year that she finally signed a
Speaker 1: record deal. All that hard work paid off in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one, when her debut single Things a Man Out
Speaker 1: of No raced up the country music charts. Several radio
Speaker 1: hits followed, and last year Lanny swept the award season,
Speaker 1: winning a ton of trophies, including the Grammy for Best
Speaker 1: Country Album and Entertainer of the Year at the Country
Speaker 1: Music Awards. In August, Laney scored her first crossover hit
Speaker 1: with the release of her latest album, Wharwind, which debuted
Speaker 1: at number three on the Billboard two hundred chart and
Speaker 1: became her highest selling album yet. On today's episode, Lea
Speaker 1: Rose talks to Laney Wilson about how her grit and
Speaker 1: determination developed into central pillars of her career. Laney also
Speaker 1: opens up about being physically objectified online and the reality
Speaker 1: of playing alongside some of her musical heroes like the
Speaker 1: Rolling Stones and Dolly Parton. This is Broken Record liner
Speaker 1: notes for the digital Age, I'm justin Ritchman. Here's Lea
Speaker 1: Rose's conversation with Laney Wilson. They recorded over zoom and
Speaker 1: to see the full video, you can visit YouTube dot
Speaker 1: com slash Broken Record Podcast.
Speaker 2: You're on tour right now, right like you're about to
Speaker 2: be out in California.
Speaker 3: I am smack dab in the middle of it.
Speaker 4: But I feel like we've been touring. We've been touring
Speaker 4: solid for for three years. I feel like the longest
Speaker 4: break of touring I had was I mean, it was
Speaker 4: during the pandemic, but other than that, I've really been
Speaker 4: touring since eighth grade.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, so is it a thing where if you actually
Speaker 2: get a day at home, you're like, what do I
Speaker 2: do with myself? Or do you have plenty that you
Speaker 2: can do well.
Speaker 4: Today it felt so nice, first of all, just to
Speaker 4: wake up like at my house with my dogs, drink
Speaker 4: my coffee, and I had my hairdresser come over here
Speaker 4: and dye my hair. So thankfully I have found people
Speaker 4: to like to make my life a lot easier, you
Speaker 4: know what I'm saying, Like just little things like that.
Speaker 4: If it just gives me even two extra hours at
Speaker 4: my house, I take it.
Speaker 2: Can you just give us like a sample of like
Speaker 2: two days, Like what have the last two days in
Speaker 2: your life been? Like? What time are you waking up?
Speaker 2: What are you doing? What is your schedule?
Speaker 3: Like this past weekend. I'll just tell you this.
Speaker 4: I have to kind of like go back a little
Speaker 4: ways to tell you, Yeah, we had a show in
Speaker 4: Salt Lake City. From there, I went to Boise, Idaho,
Speaker 4: and then I went to Missoula, Montana. I flew back
Speaker 4: to Nashville through the night. I got back to Nashville
Speaker 4: at about four thirty in the morning, slept into I
Speaker 4: guess about like nine thirty so I could enjoy the day,
Speaker 4: hung out with my dogs, and.
Speaker 3: Actually I cooked supper.
Speaker 4: I will tell you that's not my it's not my thing,
Speaker 4: but I give it my best shot.
Speaker 2: What did you make?
Speaker 4: I made It's like an Asian stirfry. So I did
Speaker 4: just like rice and chicken and peppers and onions, and
Speaker 4: I made something that I have not made in probably
Speaker 4: like fifteen years.
Speaker 3: I used to make it when I was in college.
Speaker 3: But it's called ooey gooey buttercake. I was like, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna come home. I'm gonna feel good, I'm gonna eat healthy.
Speaker 3: And I was like, I'm gonna have some mooie butter cake.
Speaker 2: And do you have friends over? Are you? Just like
Speaker 2: I am so sick of being around other people. I
Speaker 2: just want to be alone with my dogs.
Speaker 3: My boyfriend was here last night to eat supper around
Speaker 3: the kitchen table, so that was good.
Speaker 4: But I will tell you, like, for me personally, I
Speaker 4: think I won't be a like a introverted extrovert because
Speaker 4: I love people. I love like being around people, and
Speaker 4: I think that I do get like a lot of
Speaker 4: my energy from other people. But I also know that
Speaker 4: like when I need to really like refill my cup,
Speaker 4: I had to be by myself. I just need to
Speaker 4: like be sitting on my couch or sitting in my
Speaker 4: front yard with my feet in the grass, feel in
Speaker 4: the sun and wind on my face, and then I
Speaker 4: feel like I can go back.
Speaker 3: Out and do it again. But I'm realizing, like the
Speaker 3: deeper I get.
Speaker 4: Into this job, how important it truly is to make
Speaker 4: sure that not even feeling your cup halfway, I mean,
Speaker 4: you got to feel it to the so you can
Speaker 4: go out and just keep born out, poorn out, porn out.
Speaker 4: Because I love my job, but I always want to
Speaker 4: make sure that I'm the very best version of myself
Speaker 4: that I can possibly because.
Speaker 3: I don't want I don't want folks to get the
Speaker 3: shit version.
Speaker 2: You know, I appreciate that about you, Like I feel
Speaker 2: like you really get it. Like especially when I was
Speaker 2: preparing for this interview, I sat down one day and
Speaker 2: I watched six hours straight of interviews with you, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, this woman is such a hustler. And some
Speaker 2: of the interviews and they're not like red carpet interviews,
Speaker 2: they're like, sit down, deep, hour plus long interviews, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, this poor woman, Like sometimes you're wearing the
Speaker 2: same outfit, yeah she is, but you show up in
Speaker 2: every interview and you you really get it. And I
Speaker 2: appreciate that from you know, from my point of view, Thankee,
Speaker 2: How do you I know that I heard you say
Speaker 2: that you really soak up people's energy, like you're an EmPATH.
Speaker 2: What have you learned to like put up some sort
Speaker 2: of wall to protect yourself.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, it's so funny that we're talking about
Speaker 4: this because I just had this conversation with a few
Speaker 4: of my best friends. They came out on the road
Speaker 4: this past weekend and we wrote music together, and for me,
Speaker 4: that's just therapy. It's that's not work to me, you know,
Speaker 4: as a songwriter before as an artist. So I was
Speaker 4: telling them, I was just like, it is so endearing.
Speaker 4: You know, when people even come through my meet and
Speaker 4: greet line, they feel like they can tell me anything.
Speaker 4: And I appreciate that, Like it's it's very cool to
Speaker 4: be able to like to be that person and have them,
Speaker 4: you know, feel like that they have connected with my
Speaker 4: music so much that they know me, and truthfully, when
Speaker 4: I meet them, I.
Speaker 3: Feel like I know them too. It's like a it's
Speaker 3: an energy exchange. It's what it is, yep. But it's
Speaker 3: it's strange because I.
Speaker 4: Mean, in a meet and greet, it'll be like very
Speaker 4: short increments of like one person will be getting engaged
Speaker 4: in front of.
Speaker 3: Me, and I've been like the happiest moment of their life.
Speaker 3: And then the.
Speaker 4: Next person that comes through might be telling me a
Speaker 4: really tragic story and telling me how their music stopped
Speaker 4: them from doing something or like you know, help them
Speaker 4: kind of pull themselves back up by the bootstraps.
Speaker 3: And but I will tell you after moments like that
Speaker 3: because I can't help but feel it.
Speaker 4: I'm just that person, like yeah, like you said, it's
Speaker 4: just I am a very empathetic person. And I think
Speaker 4: because of that, it's made me a better storyteller, yes,
Speaker 4: like a better songwriter and really just a better person.
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm able to kind of put myself
Speaker 3: into a.
Speaker 4: Lot of other people's shoes and write the kind of
Speaker 4: music that I'm supposed to connect with my audience. But
Speaker 4: when I get out of those meet and greets, there's
Speaker 4: been times where I have to literally physically like wash
Speaker 4: my hands, like it all me and be like, Okay,
Speaker 4: you know what, thank you Lord for like for giving
Speaker 4: me the opportunity to like take on some of these
Speaker 4: people's burdens. But I gotta lay it right here. I
Speaker 4: can't carry this into the show. I can't carry it
Speaker 4: into my day tomorrow. I gotta get up and I
Speaker 4: got to do my job again and be the very
Speaker 4: best version of myself that I can be.
Speaker 2: Have you talked to other artists, like I know you
Speaker 2: and Miranda Lambert are close friends. Does she have that
Speaker 2: same experience? Do you think that's an experience that's just
Speaker 2: sort of like singular for you or do your other
Speaker 2: artist friends have that same thing where people are just
Speaker 2: like pouring their heart out to you and telling you
Speaker 2: these like really emotional experiences.
Speaker 4: All of my brands in the business, I feel like
Speaker 4: go through the same thing to like something some like extent.
Speaker 4: If I'm remembering correctly, it might be Miranda that told
Speaker 4: me she does meet and greets after her show. So
Speaker 4: if something does kind of like to take her out
Speaker 4: of you know, get her mind out of the game
Speaker 4: or something like that, I think that was her.
Speaker 2: Oh so you do years before the show.
Speaker 3: I do mine before the show.
Speaker 2: That seems tough.
Speaker 4: I do, And then and then I take a minute
Speaker 4: just to like go back on the bus, do a
Speaker 4: vocal warm up, getting his own and really it's just
Speaker 4: about remembering that this ain't got nothing to do with me.
Speaker 4: It's a lot bigger than that, And I don't know.
Speaker 4: I guess like maybe that thought a long time ago
Speaker 4: felt like scary and maybe kind of made me feel
Speaker 4: a little bit like out of control or whatever. But
Speaker 4: there's a lot of freedom that comes along with that thought.
Speaker 4: It's just like all I gotta do is get up
Speaker 4: here and tell these stories and recognize and realize that
Speaker 4: it's just for like a bigger purpose.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like you're like a vessel? I've heard
Speaker 2: you say you feel like you have a calling?
Speaker 3: Yep, I do.
Speaker 2: But do you feel like you're a vessel for a message?
Speaker 2: How does that work in your mind? Where does it
Speaker 2: come from?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I really do feel like I am. I feel like.
Speaker 4: It's so strange the stories that I tell, and like
Speaker 4: even the collaborations that I've done with other artists, like
Speaker 4: I got to do a song with Harty called Waiting
Speaker 4: the Truck, and it's talking about something that a lot
Speaker 4: of people don't want to talk about about domestic abuse,
Speaker 4: and that kind of stuff happens behind closed doors a
Speaker 4: lot more than we'd like to admit.
Speaker 3: But that specific situation has never happened to me.
Speaker 4: But I still feel like, I'm very blessed to be
Speaker 4: able to speak for the people that maybe feel like
Speaker 4: they've never been spoken for.
Speaker 3: And I don't take that lightly.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you that, Yeah, how is your relationship to spirituality, religion,
Speaker 2: or God changed? Since you're in a position now where
Speaker 2: you've had a lot of success and this was sort
Speaker 2: of something that you always knew you were destined and
Speaker 2: for has your perception or your relationship with a higher
Speaker 2: power changed.
Speaker 3: It's definitely grown. I will tell you that. I mean,
Speaker 3: I grew up we want a church. Me and my parents,
Speaker 3: we went to basking Baptist Church in my hometown.
Speaker 4: I'm from a town of one hundred and eighty people,
Speaker 4: and so pretty much I think one hundred and fifty
Speaker 4: people went to that church. It was like that the
Speaker 4: town just met up every Sunday. That's pretty much, you know. Wow.
Speaker 4: And so I've always been a believer, always like had
Speaker 4: a relationship, I guess you could say. But it's so
Speaker 4: interesting because I feel like and maybe it's just you know,
Speaker 4: comes with like maturing.
Speaker 3: But I feel like, especially over the past couple of years.
Speaker 4: Like the places that I have gotten to go and
Speaker 4: the people that I have gotten to meet, and the
Speaker 4: experiences that I've been able to have, I've realized that
Speaker 4: we're all actually a lot more like than you think,
Speaker 4: and that gives me a lot of peace. But it
Speaker 4: also gives me like a different view of life in
Speaker 4: the world. And I know for a fact that, like
Speaker 4: when I was a little girl, you know, I knew
Speaker 4: I wanted to do this. I knew that, Like I
Speaker 4: had a weird sense of peace about knowing that this
Speaker 4: is what I was supposed to do, and that feeling
Speaker 4: has never gone away, that feeling of like I really
Speaker 4: do think that I was created to do this, but
Speaker 4: not just do this like I was created to be
Speaker 4: my sister sister, you know, I was like, like, I
Speaker 4: feel like I have a lot of different purposes and
Speaker 4: I feel like all of those things, I guess just
Speaker 4: like remind me that it's just it's.
Speaker 3: Just bigger than all of us. It is. But that's
Speaker 3: what I'm learning.
Speaker 4: And my relationship continues to grow and change, and I
Speaker 4: think for a while, maybe I feel like I needed
Speaker 4: to put more like pressure on it than it needed
Speaker 4: to be. But for me, where I can go and
Speaker 4: just turn it off for a minute.
Speaker 2: You know, growing up, would you say that your parents
Speaker 2: were surprised that you were so driven at such a
Speaker 2: young age, Like, did they also have a feeling about
Speaker 2: you that you were destined to be an entertainer, a songwriter,
Speaker 2: a performer, a singer. Did they see that in you
Speaker 2: as well, or was that just solely coming from you?
Speaker 4: I said when I was about nine years old, and
Speaker 4: it was actually the first time my parents told me
Speaker 4: to Nashville.
Speaker 3: We were driving back home to lose Inna.
Speaker 4: We had been to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and been
Speaker 4: to Dollywood, and I just had the time of my life.
Speaker 2: And what do you remember about Dollywood?
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, Like I loved Dolly before, but when
Speaker 4: I left there, I was like, I don't think I
Speaker 4: can love this woman anymore. I mean, it was just
Speaker 4: the happiest place on earth, you know. And it's really
Speaker 4: crazy how much that woman has taught me before I
Speaker 4: ever even knew her, Like knowing her now and getting
Speaker 4: to call her a friend and a mentor. It's crazy
Speaker 4: how much wisdom that she just has like pouring out
Speaker 4: of her all the time. But I remember driving through
Speaker 4: Nashville and I told my parents we were on I
Speaker 4: forty and I remember exactly where I was when I
Speaker 4: told them, I said, this is home, and I knew
Speaker 4: that I was supposed to be in Nashville even at
Speaker 4: that age, And thankfully my parents listened to me.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I think you know.
Speaker 4: Probably a lot of parents they might hear their kids
Speaker 4: say I want to be an astronaut or I don't
Speaker 4: want to be president or whatever, but like, my parents
Speaker 4: took me for real. They were like, Okay, well, let's
Speaker 4: figure out what.
Speaker 3: We can do to help her do that.
Speaker 4: You know, nobody in my area had dreams of doing
Speaker 4: stuff like this except for this one guy named Jerry
Speaker 4: Kupett back in the seventies. He's from basking and he
Speaker 4: was kind of like family to us, but not really,
Speaker 4: but like he was married to some at one point.
Speaker 3: That we were kin to. And that's some Louisyanna stuff
Speaker 3: right there.
Speaker 4: But he had a dream of moving to Nashville and
Speaker 4: being a producer, songwriter. And my grandfather, so my daddy's
Speaker 4: daddy just loved music, loved supporting music, was not musical himself,
Speaker 4: but had just like this, this feeling that he needed
Speaker 4: to help Jerry cupid. So he gave him a little
Speaker 4: bit of money to help him move to Nashville and
Speaker 4: get started, and as a favor in return, Jerry Cupid
Speaker 4: let me live in his studio parking lot in my
Speaker 4: camper trailer for the first three years that I was
Speaker 4: in Nashville. And so I think it goes back even
Speaker 4: before my parents. Yeah, it's just like my grandfather. He
Speaker 4: died when I was eleven years old. But oh wow,
Speaker 4: so he hadn't even been around to see any of this.
Speaker 4: But it's so crazy, like what you do in this
Speaker 4: lifetime can affect your people generations from now.
Speaker 2: And it isn't that crazy.
Speaker 3: I see that.
Speaker 2: Were you the type of kid who was constantly singing
Speaker 2: and performing and getting up in front of the family.
Speaker 3: And I'm not proud of it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I was probably breaking out in song and
Speaker 4: dance when it wasn't even appropriate. But yeah, my parents
Speaker 4: in the middle of Walmart, they'd be like, Laney, sing
Speaker 4: them that song that you wrote last week, and I
Speaker 4: was singing about the Quelan cigarettes and like it was.
Speaker 3: It became a part of me. It was like they said, hey,
Speaker 3: mon dance and I do it because I wanted to
Speaker 3: and they knew that. Like I loved it.
Speaker 4: I loved it so much and my parents' day even
Speaker 4: as a little girl, if they found out about a
Speaker 4: talent show that was happening or anything like that. Of course,
Speaker 4: they never forced me to do anything. I was knocking
Speaker 4: on the door saying I want to do this and that,
Speaker 4: and my mama would sign me up and my daddy
Speaker 4: would figure out how to get us there.
Speaker 2: Would you win?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: Were you good?
Speaker 3: Every time?
Speaker 4: Every time I'm talking about homey Cook, Talent Search, Country,
Speaker 4: Colgate Showdown, you name it.
Speaker 3: If I was in it, I was gonna win it.
Speaker 2: Wow, what were you singing? Were you singing original stuff?
Speaker 2: Or you were doing covers?
Speaker 3: Sometimes it was it was originals.
Speaker 4: But I remember trying to sing a lot of like
Speaker 4: Martina McBride songs and hit those high notes and it
Speaker 4: was just kind of like a challenge for me. And huh,
Speaker 4: the truth is, like I did not have any business
Speaker 4: singing a Martina McBride song. But and too, like I
Speaker 4: say that I won these competitions, I think it was
Speaker 4: just because it wasn't that I was the best singer.
Speaker 3: It wasn't that like that I was the most seasoned.
Speaker 4: Because I was doing these competitions with people who were
Speaker 4: twice my age and everything like that.
Speaker 3: But I think they probably saw how bad I wanted.
Speaker 2: It, saw the drive early on.
Speaker 3: They didn't where do you get.
Speaker 2: That drive from? Is that also something that you can
Speaker 2: see in your family life or is that feel like
Speaker 2: it's just kind of your thing?
Speaker 3: It's in my family. It can be a blessing and
Speaker 3: a curse.
Speaker 4: I'll tell you that it uh, but at least I'm
Speaker 4: aware of that, you know, at least I'm here of that.
Speaker 4: Like it comes from both sides of my family. But
Speaker 4: my daddy has always had like four or five jobs farmer, brinker, horsetrader,
Speaker 4: He had a dirt haul and business like buying equipment,
Speaker 4: selling it, like anything that he could possibly do, just
Speaker 4: to give us something that his family couldn't give him
Speaker 4: m hm. And he would always just remind us, like,
Speaker 4: it's so funny because it kind of goes back to
Speaker 4: like playing a show like this.
Speaker 3: Has nothing to do with me. It has something to
Speaker 3: do with them and everything to do with them. He
Speaker 3: would remind us of that. He's like, this ain't got
Speaker 3: nothing to do with me.
Speaker 4: This has got to do with like your kids and
Speaker 4: their kids and their kids. And he just plant those seeds,
Speaker 4: and and my mama.
Speaker 3: Is a go getter.
Speaker 4: She gives one hundred and ninety percent with everything she does,
Speaker 4: like it don't matter what it was like even if
Speaker 4: we were having a rummage sell, she would just go
Speaker 4: all out and like and just give it her best shot.
Speaker 3: So I got a double whammy of that.
Speaker 2: How many generations back to your family, how many generations
Speaker 2: lived in Louisiana.
Speaker 4: I believe it was five Basking, I think was five generations.
Speaker 3: Wow, like farming.
Speaker 2: So they know the Wilsons. The Wilson's like a big
Speaker 2: name in Baskin.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean there's not many names in Baskin, but
Speaker 4: but they definitely know the Wilsons. They definitely know the Wilsons.
Speaker 4: And we're proud of We're proud of where we come
Speaker 4: from for sure.
Speaker 2: And Duck Dynasty was filmed like the town over right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so Duck Dynasty was filmed in pretty much the town.
Speaker 4: I went to college in so West Monroe, Monroe, and
Speaker 4: my sister lives in that area right now.
Speaker 3: So it's not many people leave.
Speaker 4: Not many people leave Basketing. Like if you're from Basking,
Speaker 4: you'll stay in Basking. It's kind of random that, like
Speaker 4: even my sister went thirty miles down the road.
Speaker 2: Why do you think so many people stay?
Speaker 3: I think it's family. I think people really are a
Speaker 3: creature of habits. My daddy for sure.
Speaker 4: My mama, I think she kind of has more of
Speaker 4: that like gypsy spirit, Like she seems like I mean,
Speaker 4: she's just she loves people and she loves like going
Speaker 4: and experiencing things. But I'm telling you, my daddy could
Speaker 4: get up every single day and go to the same
Speaker 4: convenience store and eat the same.
Speaker 3: Biscuit and do the same thing and be happy as
Speaker 3: could be.
Speaker 2: That's so nice.
Speaker 3: I know, I'm like lovely nice.
Speaker 4: I like that.
Speaker 2: It's just like he's content.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I didn't get that. I didn't get that from him.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Now that you've been out in the world and
Speaker 2: you've done so much explore and you've been international, does
Speaker 2: it make you want to go back home and pull
Speaker 2: people out and be like you need to see more
Speaker 2: of the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah? It does.
Speaker 4: And first of all, I think you were killing this
Speaker 4: because you were asking questions that a lot of.
Speaker 3: People don't ask. Me. Thank you, and it kind of
Speaker 3: feels like therapy right now. I feel like I should
Speaker 3: know you after this or something.
Speaker 4: But it's funny because I was even facetiming my little
Speaker 4: cousin and she's in college right now, back home in Louisiana,
Speaker 4: and I was just reminding her.
Speaker 3: I was like, just so, you know, like there's so
Speaker 3: many different.
Speaker 4: Types of people everywhere, Like there's a lot of ISSI
Speaker 4: to see, Like, I want you to realize how special
Speaker 4: you are and how much love you got to give,
Speaker 4: and like, don't feel like this is your only option.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm, because I think maybe some people do feel
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 2: Well, it's scary. I mean what you did leaving home,
Speaker 2: going to Nashville by yourself, that's not something that people
Speaker 2: normally do. Yeah, you know, that's really scary. And you
Speaker 2: were with the mister cupid cherry keep it. Yes, so
Speaker 2: you had him, but still it's I mean, that's a
Speaker 2: really really big deal, especially if you come from a
Speaker 2: small town where everybody is just staying put.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I don't think like my mama, I don't think
Speaker 4: she had like even driven on the interstate until she
Speaker 4: was married with kids, you know, and we're twenty minutes
Speaker 4: from an interstate and a lot of like the other
Speaker 4: parents would be like, aren't y'all scared to let Lane
Speaker 4: go do that, and like aren't.
Speaker 3: Y'all ye like let her drive eight hours and live
Speaker 3: in a camper trailer when the weather's bad and like.
Speaker 4: And of course, like they would call me in and
Speaker 4: they would get concerned at times, but like they knew
Speaker 4: that I was going to do this no matter what.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I think that's another thing. They were just like, Okay,
Speaker 4: let us know. I mean, they helped me.
Speaker 3: Buy my camper, they helped me haul it to Nashville.
Speaker 4: And I think it too, was a way for for
Speaker 4: them to see like just how bad did I really
Speaker 4: want this?
Speaker 2: Do you think they were expecting you to turn around
Speaker 2: and come home?
Speaker 3: No, I don't.
Speaker 4: I think well, especially after the first year that I
Speaker 4: was there. Yeah, I think they realized, like, Okay, she's
Speaker 4: living in a camper trailer, eating Ramen noodles every night
Speaker 4: and hitting up the Little Caesars when she's got some
Speaker 4: extra cash, Like, she's not coming home.
Speaker 1: We have to take a quick break and then we'll
Speaker 1: come back with more from Laney Wilson and Leah Rose.
Speaker 1: We're back with more from Laney Wilson.
Speaker 2: Did you have anything kind of like any creepy meatwish
Speaker 2: type moments happened when you were first out there, before
Speaker 2: you really had like a network of people.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: What's really cool is, no, I don't know how I
Speaker 4: dodged that bullet, because there's that kind of stuff just
Speaker 4: happening all around. Yeah, but I will tell you, like
Speaker 4: in in co writes and in meetings and in anything
Speaker 4: that I was involved with like that, I definitely was
Speaker 4: aware of, like, okay, like what kind of like don't
Speaker 4: miss on me attitude?
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 4: I knew that it existed so much that it definitely
Speaker 4: had to be something in the back of my mind
Speaker 4: of like these people need to know that you ain't
Speaker 4: playing yep. I'm not saying that that's why things happen
Speaker 4: to other people, but I think that is why I
Speaker 4: have gotten pretty lucky at times.
Speaker 2: Well, it's such a vulnerable position to be in because
Speaker 2: you're there trying to get some sort of foothold, and
Speaker 2: if there is somebody who could possibly I mean, you
Speaker 2: don't know what anyone can do for you, but if
Speaker 2: there is somebody who could possibly have an opportunity for you,
Speaker 2: I mean, it can just happen so easily.
Speaker 4: I know, and it's easy to not even recognize at first. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and then it's just like what just happened?
Speaker 3: Right? Because you want it bad?
Speaker 4: And then it's just you know, you think somebody genuinely
Speaker 4: wants to help you.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, that's good. I'm glad to hear that. I
Speaker 2: was wondering that.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 2: So when you got to Nashville, what was your plan?
Speaker 2: Like what were you trying to do? Did you have
Speaker 2: steps that you wanted to follow? Like how did you
Speaker 2: even know what to do or where to go?
Speaker 4: I knew that I needed to get better at my songwriting,
Speaker 4: and I knew that, and I was like, really, the
Speaker 4: only way for me to do that is like start.
Speaker 3: Getting tips from other people.
Speaker 4: And I always said, like, I want to be the
Speaker 4: worst writer in the room. For several years, I would
Speaker 4: walk from my campor trailer into the studio into Jerry
Speaker 4: keep it studio and we'd write music. So we wrote
Speaker 4: three hundred plus songs together, and wow, he really taught
Speaker 4: me how to write a song. And even when I
Speaker 4: was little, like he would stop by my house when
Speaker 4: I was nine years old write music and be like like,
Speaker 4: let me hear that song you wrote, and I'd sing
Speaker 4: it and he'd be like, okay, but like if you're
Speaker 4: if you're singing about a truck, like why'd you put
Speaker 4: this line here?
Speaker 3: And like let's talk about it. He's like, you know,
Speaker 3: well what color is the truck?
Speaker 4: You know, like coaching me through it, and he's like, well,
Speaker 4: how does that truck make you feel?
Speaker 3: And and really just like asked me a.
Speaker 4: Lot of questions that I started asking myself when I
Speaker 4: sat down to write a song. So I will say
Speaker 4: for the first few years, I was pretty much just
Speaker 4: writing with him, because the thing is like you move
Speaker 4: somewhere and you think you have it kind of like
Speaker 4: slightly figured out, and the truth is you just have
Speaker 4: no damn clue.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I just didn't know what to do.
Speaker 4: I didn't know where to start, and so that felt
Speaker 4: safe to me. That felt comfortable. And then once he
Speaker 4: passed away, I will never forget like he walked down
Speaker 4: the stairs one day and I just kind of had
Speaker 4: this feeling. I was like, he's not gonna make it.
Speaker 4: He was only fifty nine years old, and wow, he
Speaker 4: was like my second daddy. I mean, when you write
Speaker 4: three hundred songs to somebody, you get.
Speaker 3: To know them totally. They get to know you.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I just remember him coming down and he was like,
Speaker 3: if something happens to me, basically, don't let this stop you,
Speaker 3: Like I need you to keep going, and like I
Speaker 3: need you to like kind of carry on carry on
Speaker 3: what I've taught you pretty much. And the business had.
Speaker 4: Changed a lot, a lot a lot from the time,
Speaker 4: like he had a lot of success in the nineties,
Speaker 4: by the time I got there twenty eleven, the business
Speaker 4: had already started changing, meaning like you know, he wasn't
Speaker 4: really aware that like me actually being out and about
Speaker 4: was a good thing, you know, like me going and
Speaker 4: doing writers nights and writers' rounds and like going places
Speaker 4: and meeting people, because I think in the nineties it
Speaker 4: was more of like a you're right and you like
Speaker 4: record a record and then you just kind of like
Speaker 4: come out of nowhere kind of thing. Oh wow. And
Speaker 4: so at that point, once he passed away, I thought, Okay, well,
Speaker 4: you know, my security blanket or whatever you want to
Speaker 4: call that is gone, and I got to figure it out.
Speaker 4: So there's been a lot of moments for me where
Speaker 4: I've had to like switch gears, and I just remember thinking, Okay, well,
Speaker 4: I know that the strongest thing about what I do
Speaker 4: is my songwriting. I thought, Okay, well, how how can
Speaker 4: I just write with as many people as I possibly can?
Speaker 4: How can I become friends with everybody? And so it
Speaker 4: wasn't like I was like faking being friends with people.
Speaker 4: I just knew that, like I realized quick that relationships
Speaker 4: in this town matter, and I knew that they might
Speaker 4: not remember the song I wrote or the show that
Speaker 4: I played, but they.
Speaker 3: Might remember the way that I made him feel. And
Speaker 3: so I just led with that.
Speaker 4: I was like, I knew that my time would come
Speaker 4: and just like fashion goes in and out, and I
Speaker 4: knew that like what I do would maybe be cool again,
Speaker 4: you know, Yeah, And I think timon is everything.
Speaker 2: While you were working with Jerry, was the goal to
Speaker 2: write songs and then pick the best out of the
Speaker 2: three hundred and put together a demo and shop that around.
Speaker 3: And we did.
Speaker 4: We actually we went into the studio because he had
Speaker 4: like a studio, like a super cool setup, and we
Speaker 4: would get in there and we made this record and
Speaker 4: we shopped it. We shopped it around to quite a
Speaker 4: few major labels. I know that I definitely met with Sony,
Speaker 4: I met with Warner, and I remember sitting there and
Speaker 4: just thinking, like I kind of knew in my gut
Speaker 4: that these folks are not gonna sign me.
Speaker 2: Why do you think that I just knew?
Speaker 3: Like I just knew. I was like I wanted to
Speaker 3: believe it, you know.
Speaker 4: I wanted to believe that when I got here at
Speaker 4: nineteen and I could just write to.
Speaker 3: Music and be on the route.
Speaker 4: But yep, it's like the more that I got to
Speaker 4: know the business and the more that I got to
Speaker 4: know really how this machine works, and it's a crazy
Speaker 4: one that that's not how my journey was gonna be.
Speaker 4: And I kind of just like swallowed that pill, and
Speaker 4: I was like, Okay, well here's the thing.
Speaker 3: What you gonna do? Like, if it don't happen when
Speaker 3: you want it to, does that mean going home?
Speaker 4: Will know?
Speaker 3: You know? Does that mean that you're gonna stop doing
Speaker 3: what you love? We'll know.
Speaker 4: I just figure out how to make ends meet. I
Speaker 4: was still traveling, playing shows. Like I said, I've been
Speaker 4: touring since eighth grade because I had impersonated to Hannah,
Speaker 4: Montana for five years, and then after that I was
Speaker 4: in a band in Louisiana, and then once I moved
Speaker 4: to Nashville. I would every single weekend, I would travel
Speaker 4: wherever would let me come play four hours anywhere and
Speaker 4: say yourself by myself, by myself and just me and
Speaker 4: a guitar, singing a bunch of covers, and every now huh,
Speaker 4: I would throw in original just to see if people
Speaker 4: liked it or not.
Speaker 3: They did not care. We definitely glowed up. I'll tell
Speaker 3: you that we glowed up. We did. But it's been a.
Speaker 4: Journey and it's still a journey. Yeah, it's constantly changing.
Speaker 4: I mean there for a long time. Like I was
Speaker 4: in town for seven years before I got a publishing deal,
Speaker 4: and it was year eight I got a record deal.
Speaker 4: But I knew then that like, okay, just because you
Speaker 4: got a record deal, I don't mean shit that means.
Speaker 2: So how did you know that though? Because I feel
Speaker 2: like everyone thinks once you get the record deal, you're good.
Speaker 3: Because I saw.
Speaker 4: I would like to sit back and just watch what
Speaker 4: was happening with other people, and I saw that the
Speaker 4: people would sign, because people would move to.
Speaker 3: Town and be here a month and just pass me
Speaker 3: right on up.
Speaker 4: Sign a published a deal, sign a record deal, and
Speaker 4: then a year or two would go by and I'm like, okay,
Speaker 4: well I hadn't heard anything, you know, like what's going
Speaker 4: on or are these are they putting these folks on
Speaker 4: a shelf or is it something that they're not doing
Speaker 4: on there? Like it was just a lot of thoughts,
Speaker 4: and I think it really is probably a combination of
Speaker 4: both of those things.
Speaker 3: But I just knew.
Speaker 4: I was like, Okay, these years that I put under
Speaker 4: my belt, and they definitely started before I even moved
Speaker 4: to Nashville. That was me just kind of like preparing
Speaker 4: the grip. Yeah, and then like signing my record deal
Speaker 4: is when I really just kind of like entered the race.
Speaker 4: And then I knew that even years after I signed
Speaker 4: a record deal, like there was going to be some
Speaker 4: work that I had to do, meaning like I knew
Speaker 4: especially during that time it was well, like I said,
Speaker 4: I signed my record deal in twenty eighteen, I had
Speaker 4: noticed that a lot of people knew the songs that
Speaker 4: were on the radio, but they didn't know the artist
Speaker 4: and they didn't know who sang it.
Speaker 3: That you could start singing I know a few things
Speaker 3: and then ought to know and you'd be like, who's
Speaker 3: sang that? And they're like, I don't. I don't know,
Speaker 3: but I know the song.
Speaker 4: And that's what happened after our first hit, and I
Speaker 4: will tell you I was shocked. It just reminded me
Speaker 4: that that was actually a thing in this business that
Speaker 4: like the songs are the are the like are the
Speaker 4: popular things.
Speaker 3: But I have seen a transition.
Speaker 4: I think after like the pandemic, I started seeing people
Speaker 4: really start like connecting to the artist and wanting to
Speaker 4: know more about more about the artist and their story,
Speaker 4: and like being invested in the artistry rather than just
Speaker 4: a song.
Speaker 2: Who are some artists that you think that first started
Speaker 2: to happen with.
Speaker 4: I definitely think it was like Luke Holmb's uh huh.
Speaker 4: I think that's where the shift started happening. And he
Speaker 4: and I have been friends since twenty fourteen. He used
Speaker 4: to come over to my camper and we'd write music together.
Speaker 4: But you know, he's like a good old boy and
Speaker 4: he and hewheared Wilumbia shirts and he drinks out of
Speaker 4: woke up and like, I think a lot of people
Speaker 4: felt like, well, he's simple, just like me.
Speaker 3: You know. It's just the way that they can connect
Speaker 3: to the person to.
Speaker 2: So did you know back then when you were you
Speaker 2: guys were writing music in twenty fourteen. Did you recognize that, like,
Speaker 2: maybe his story could be part of his appeal?
Speaker 3: I knew it. I knew it.
Speaker 4: There was something about him, and that's why I walked
Speaker 4: up to him the very first night I met him
Speaker 4: at a place called Tin Roof on Demumbrian It's called
Speaker 4: ten Roof Revival, and they had a church pew and
Speaker 4: people would get up there and tell their stories and
Speaker 4: sing their songs. And he had not made like a
Speaker 4: writing trip to Nashville just yet, but I remember like
Speaker 4: walking up to him and tapping while.
Speaker 3: He was sitting on the pew and being like, I
Speaker 3: want to write with you, and he's like, who is
Speaker 3: you know? Who are you? Or whatever?
Speaker 4: And so the next time he made a trip to Nashville,
Speaker 4: he came over my camper and we wrote and I kind.
Speaker 3: Of just felt like like I knew him.
Speaker 4: And Yeah, there's something really special about that when you
Speaker 4: can sit down with somebody and you don't even have
Speaker 4: to like sit there and like really get to know him,
Speaker 4: you just feel like you just kind of do.
Speaker 3: I think that's what makes him so special with his fans.
Speaker 2: At what point did you realize that you have an
Speaker 2: incredible story and that your story could be part of
Speaker 2: your like part of the full package. Was that something
Speaker 2: you knew on your own or was that when you
Speaker 2: got with your manager or with the label.
Speaker 3: So my manager and I have been working together about
Speaker 3: nine years and she's my best friend, and it's a
Speaker 3: funny story because neither one of us had anything going on.
Speaker 3: She was working for an entertainment lawyer, and she kind
Speaker 3: of felt sorry for me because she's like, like, I
Speaker 3: think she's.
Speaker 4: Kind of good, but like, why is nobody wanting to
Speaker 4: write music with her? And why is like, you know,
Speaker 4: why are these things happening for other people but not
Speaker 4: for her? Like she was kind of just like she
Speaker 4: felt bad for me. And so she would get songwriters'
Speaker 4: email addresses from this company that she was working for.
Speaker 3: You would send them my music and a lot of
Speaker 3: times nobody, nobody would even respond. I mean, she's like, hey,
Speaker 3: would you like to write with this girl? Blah blah
Speaker 3: blah blah blah.
Speaker 4: But if anything, it just started kind of like my
Speaker 4: name started circulating around town a little bit more, and
Speaker 4: then I think eventually people were like, why do I
Speaker 4: keep hearing this name? And it was because of those
Speaker 4: friendships that I had made, and I had never really
Speaker 4: asked anybody for anything. There were a lot of songwriters
Speaker 4: that I had relationships with that we had never written,
Speaker 4: but I never wanted to abuse.
Speaker 3: Our friendship and our relationship.
Speaker 4: I felt like they had been here longer than I had,
Speaker 4: and like they had a few you know, songs under
Speaker 4: their belt and stuff like that, and we were gonna
Speaker 4: write when we were supposed to. I realized once Mandolin
Speaker 4: and I my manager really just like that down and
Speaker 4: started brainstorming.
Speaker 3: Uh, during the pandemic is when I realized, Okay, this
Speaker 3: don't have to be just about the songs.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: We knew that our story basically just showed a lot
Speaker 4: of like determination and yeap in grit, and I noticed
Speaker 4: that a lot of like even when I went on
Speaker 4: radio tour, a lot of the radio pds, they were
Speaker 4: like wanting to hear about my story, and they were
Speaker 4: wanting to know if I, you know, if I basically
Speaker 4: meant everything I said in that song mm hmm. And
Speaker 4: I think that's probably where I realized that this is
Speaker 4: gonna get fun.
Speaker 2: How important is it in country music that the stories
Speaker 2: that you telling your songs are true. How important is
Speaker 2: authenticity in country music?
Speaker 4: Our first single, the first verse says, I can change
Speaker 4: the tire on the side of the road.
Speaker 3: And I wasn't even thinking twice about writing that line.
Speaker 4: But then if everybody didn't want to talk about it,
Speaker 4: and I want to want to know if I could
Speaker 4: really do that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, it's fun.
Speaker 4: But I will tell you the songs that I end
Speaker 4: up recording and the ones that I put on my
Speaker 4: record are definitely who I am, and they tell like
Speaker 4: my story to the core, and that has seemed to
Speaker 4: like work the best for me. But like I said,
Speaker 4: you know, songs like I did, like with Hardy about
Speaker 4: the domestic abuse. Like I said, I didn't go through that,
Speaker 4: But I think back to like nineties country music, and
Speaker 4: I think about like that storytelling aspect of it, and
Speaker 4: so sometimes I don't think it has to be your story.
Speaker 4: I think you're just telling a story for somebody and
Speaker 4: like stepping into the shoes of another character. And those
Speaker 4: are some of my favorite songs to write.
Speaker 2: What are some of your favorite nineties storytelling songs?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, like thunder Rolls and Goodbye Earl and
Speaker 3: Whiskey Lullabye.
Speaker 4: And there's so many songs like that that I didn't
Speaker 4: even know what I was singing about when I was that,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, Like I was over here
Speaker 4: playing the murder ballads.
Speaker 2: It's so funny.
Speaker 3: What did you grow up listening to?
Speaker 4: So?
Speaker 2: I grew up listening to mostly hip hop, R and
Speaker 2: B reggae, but then I had like a big grateful
Speaker 2: Dead era grunge of course, like Nirvana. Yeah, and I
Speaker 2: would I would just embarrassing to tell you, but I
Speaker 2: would tell people like be like, oh, what kind of
Speaker 2: music you into? And it'd be like, everything but country.
Speaker 3: I get it.
Speaker 4: I get it, though, because there's a time during country
Speaker 4: that like even my mama felt that way.
Speaker 3: Really yeah, my mama was like, I'm not a real
Speaker 3: fan of.
Speaker 4: Like that Debbie Downer stuff, you know, like won't won't won't.
Speaker 3: So I get it.
Speaker 2: Really, did you ever listen to anything else but country?
Speaker 3: I listened to rock and roll, like that's what you know.
Speaker 3: When the sun went down and the drinks came out, yep.
Speaker 4: Everybody wanted to hear something with a loud guitar and
Speaker 4: extra thomp, like whether it was Rolling Stones or Leonard
Speaker 4: Skinnyerd or Bob Seeger, and I think all those folks
Speaker 4: have influenced country.
Speaker 1: After another quick break, we'll be back with more from
Speaker 1: Laney Wilson. Here's the rest of Leo Rose's conversation with
Speaker 1: Laney Wilson.
Speaker 2: Is there anything with this new album with Whirlwind? Is
Speaker 2: there anything now that it's been out for about a month?
Speaker 2: Is there anything that you're just really surprised people are
Speaker 2: missing or aren't asking you about.
Speaker 3: That's a really great question.
Speaker 4: It seems like they're asking all the questions that I
Speaker 4: assumed they would, or like they're paying attention to the
Speaker 4: things that, like I was paying attention to when I
Speaker 4: was writing it.
Speaker 3: I think my fans are smart. You can't get much vibe,
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like when you think you do, somebody's still going
Speaker 4: to be like, I see what you did there, or
Speaker 4: I see why you did it.
Speaker 2: It seems like now that your relationship has gone public,
Speaker 2: people maybe are trying to dig and get more information
Speaker 2: about what's really going on or what you're thinking or what.
Speaker 4: It is so funny, It really is so funny, And
Speaker 4: that's kind of been fun too. Like my daddy used
Speaker 4: to always say, if you tell all your business, you
Speaker 4: ain't got none, and so to a certain extent, you know,
Speaker 4: I want to make sure that I keep our relationship
Speaker 4: like as closed off and like sacred as I possibly can,
Speaker 4: because like you involve social media and everything like.
Speaker 3: That and you can open a can of worms. Oh definitely,
Speaker 3: and we I mean we've been dating.
Speaker 4: Almost four years and people even know I had a
Speaker 4: boyfriend until about a year ago.
Speaker 2: Was that part of the plan, like to be Is
Speaker 2: it more attractive for you to be single? Do you
Speaker 2: think there is.
Speaker 3: A time definitely where it sucks to say, but like
Speaker 3: as a female.
Speaker 4: In the business, not even like that I needed to
Speaker 4: be like single, but I just needed to prove a
Speaker 4: point that like like I'm here, I'm here to show
Speaker 4: up and do business. Like I don't have anything like
Speaker 4: sidetracking me or anything, and I never have.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's been nothing but my biggest supporter and cheerleader.
Speaker 4: But like it is weird how people you know the thing,
Speaker 4: Oh she's all bowed up. Now next next thing, you know,
Speaker 4: she's gonna have a baby and get married, and like
Speaker 4: she's all washed, and that right there has got to change.
Speaker 4: I have some of the most talented friends who are
Speaker 4: gonna do so well and they have kids and ain't like,
Speaker 4: guess what us ladies, we can do it all.
Speaker 3: Hell, yeah we can.
Speaker 2: It seems like when your first single things a man
Speaker 2: ought to Know? Like when that did that become a
Speaker 2: number one song on country radio? Okay? And that was
Speaker 2: kind of a rare thing for a female artist in
Speaker 2: country radio at the time, right.
Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, it had been a minute for sure.
Speaker 4: I feel a shift that was Was it twenty one, Yeah,
Speaker 4: twenty one when I had my first hit, And it's
Speaker 4: so crazy to think that it's really only been three years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just gonna say, it's like, not that
Speaker 2: long ago, not.
Speaker 3: That long ago. And we had a lot of a
Speaker 3: lot of like radio hits since then.
Speaker 4: And I'm starting to see more females pop up, and
Speaker 4: it's good for me to see, like I have so
Speaker 4: many of the women who came before me to think
Speaker 4: and like, I know, the only reason I'm where I'm at,
Speaker 4: and the only reason that I'm on the radio and
Speaker 4: winning awards and all these other things is because of
Speaker 4: the work that they put in.
Speaker 3: And well it's not the only reason, it's not the
Speaker 3: only reason.
Speaker 2: Don't give them that much it's not that because of you.
Speaker 3: I busted my ass.
Speaker 2: For sure, and you're you're really good at it.
Speaker 4: Too, thank you, But like I know that. I mean,
Speaker 4: like you think about think about Dolly Parton, and you
Speaker 4: think about like every trail that she's had to go
Speaker 4: down and just like black over and over again, and
Speaker 4: then like here comes Reba and then she has to
Speaker 4: continue like blazing trails, and then the ladies of the
Speaker 4: nineties and then like Miranda Lambert and Carry Underwood and.
Speaker 3: Like those girls. There's there's not been a lot of
Speaker 3: girls in the mix, and.
Speaker 4: I think even now, like I'm gonna have to continue
Speaker 4: doing that? Are the ones coming up? They're I don't
Speaker 4: have to continue doing that for each other too.
Speaker 2: So you signed your record deal, you met your manager
Speaker 2: before the first single came out. When did your whole
Speaker 2: package kind of solidify and all come together with like
Speaker 2: the bell bottoms, the look, your story, the songs, Like
Speaker 2: when did everything kind of fit together? Was there a
Speaker 2: moment where you're like, all right, we have it, it's
Speaker 2: complete and it's ready to yeap push out there.
Speaker 4: So I started wearing bell bottoms twenty fifteen, so about
Speaker 4: nine years now, and even my old skinny jeans. My
Speaker 4: granny sewed fabric into the side and made them in
Speaker 4: the billbottoms.
Speaker 2: Why did you decide to do the bell bottoms? Because
Speaker 2: it was good with like because I look up on
Speaker 2: like Pinterest and stuff for like how to dress my
Speaker 2: body shape, and a lot of times it'll be yea
Speaker 2: like tell me to do the bell bottoms.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you got a bell bottom, you might want
Speaker 3: to wear beil bottoms. Totally, I'm telling you.
Speaker 4: I realized really quick that like I couldn't just be
Speaker 4: a decent singer songwriter mm hmm, like if I wanted
Speaker 4: to really cut through in this business and have people
Speaker 4: remember me, and even if it kind of made them
Speaker 4: like raise their eyebrows a little bit and be like,
Speaker 4: what in the world is she wearing? I remember thinking
Speaker 4: back to like, Okay, what can I do that makes
Speaker 4: me like stand out? But that is also like real
Speaker 4: to me? And I thought back to this pair of
Speaker 4: bell bottoms I got one same year wrote my first
Speaker 4: song the same year I went to Nashville for the
Speaker 4: first time, nine years old, and I remember how those
Speaker 4: bell bottoms made me feel, and I felt like I
Speaker 4: dance around the house and those things and sing, and
Speaker 4: my sister had this this spotlight and we turned all
Speaker 4: the lights out in the house and she followed me
Speaker 4: every step of the way, like, you know, pretend I
Speaker 4: was doing a show, and that's what it was. I
Speaker 4: just came down to like that memory and that feeling,
Speaker 4: and I thought, Okay, I'm gonna try this, and I
Speaker 4: just tried it and tried.
Speaker 3: It and tried it. I've always loved like Stevie Nick's
Speaker 3: fashion and.
Speaker 4: You know Bill Bottom, Arrow, Dolly and Janis Joplin and like,
Speaker 4: I don't know, like the outfits that just kind of
Speaker 4: told a story. And I saw all I've ever really
Speaker 4: wanted to do is just tell a story. So I
Speaker 4: did that straight for nine years now. But it all
Speaker 4: just kind of started making sense. I think once I
Speaker 4: got into the studio and I did my first record
Speaker 4: with Jay Joyce, yep, that's when it really started making sense.
Speaker 3: And I feel like he's somehow well.
Speaker 4: He got to know me, and he got to know
Speaker 4: my personality, my style and everything before I ever even
Speaker 4: played him any music. I hung out with him three
Speaker 4: or four times and we just got to know each
Speaker 4: other and each other's background, and.
Speaker 3: He somehow made my music sound the way that I
Speaker 3: look so cool, and I think that as a talent,
Speaker 3: I always said, I wanted it to be like fresh
Speaker 3: but also kind of familiar.
Speaker 2: It's rocking too. So you sought him out, right, Jay Joyce,
Speaker 2: you wanted to work with him? What was it about
Speaker 2: his sound that you loved?
Speaker 4: So I remember just like listening to the radio, and
Speaker 4: I really at that time was not when I first
Speaker 4: got to Nashville, I wasn't really paying attention to producers.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I always thought Jerry was gonna be the one that
Speaker 4: produced my stuff, and yeah.
Speaker 3: And that was it.
Speaker 4: But I started listening to like Eric Church, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 4: there's something about his stuff that just cuts through and
Speaker 4: it's different, but it still sounds country, but it's got
Speaker 4: this like rocking edge and.
Speaker 3: Got like little bells and whistles. It almost seems like
Speaker 3: a little.
Speaker 4: Fairy dust was sprinkled on it, and it just sounds different.
Speaker 4: Like I noticed that, like the tone of the instruments,
Speaker 4: it just was like interesting and a little left footed.
Speaker 4: And that's what I love about Jay is that like
Speaker 4: he's not trying to be perfect. He'll walk up to
Speaker 4: a guitar while we're playing it and untune it a
Speaker 4: little bit. And I think that's what makes us work
Speaker 4: so well together because I'm not trying to be perfect either,
Speaker 4: and we're not scared to like color outside of the.
Speaker 3: Lines a little bit.
Speaker 4: Now if it goes too far, we can reel it
Speaker 4: back in, but rather color outside of the lines and
Speaker 4: then have to you know, real it back in instead
Speaker 4: of just never go in there. So I noticed like
Speaker 4: Eric Church's music I loved, and then Brothers Osbourne there
Speaker 4: was something out There's stuff too, and and then Ashley McBride,
Speaker 4: and then there was a record that Miranda did that
Speaker 4: I thought, man, this this record just some magic in it,
Speaker 4: Like I just felt it. And then it was like
Speaker 4: all of these songs and all of these artists that
Speaker 4: I'm kind of like obsessed.
Speaker 3: With, work with this one dude.
Speaker 4: And then it's so crazy because I kind of thought, well,
Speaker 4: I was like, I don't have a record deal, so
Speaker 4: there's no way that I can even probably be friends.
Speaker 3: With this man, you know, right. And I was writing
Speaker 3: with a friend of mine, Frank.
Speaker 4: Romano, who has played on a lot of different things,
Speaker 4: incredible guitar player, but he lived like a a couple
Speaker 4: of blocks away from Jay and they were friends, and
Speaker 4: he said, I've been randomly.
Speaker 3: I didn't even tell him how much I liked Jay Joyce.
Speaker 3: He just said, I've.
Speaker 4: Been mentioning your name, but Jay and he said eventually
Speaker 4: he just said, who is this girl?
Speaker 3: And why do he keep talking about her?
Speaker 4: He said, so, if you'd like to like, I'll I'll
Speaker 4: set you up and you can just go over to
Speaker 4: a studio and meet him.
Speaker 3: And I did.
Speaker 4: I went and got him coffee, and when I walked in,
Speaker 4: he has this old, like renovated church, like stained glass windows,
Speaker 4: but he's got like these interesting like coun creep figures
Speaker 4: on that kind of looks like a gravestone. So it
Speaker 4: was like a little dark, and I was like, what
Speaker 4: am I getting help into? And then he opens the
Speaker 4: door and he's like smoking a cigarette inside of the church,
Speaker 4: and I thought, these are my kind of people.
Speaker 2: I did.
Speaker 4: I was like, I fit in here like this, this
Speaker 4: is where I fit in, like just unapologetically hisself.
Speaker 2: Yeah. How high profile of a producer or was he
Speaker 2: in Nashville at the time?
Speaker 3: He was high profile.
Speaker 4: There were tons of folks that wanted to work with him.
Speaker 4: I had just signed a record deal, right when I
Speaker 4: met him and my label would ask me to like,
Speaker 4: who do you.
Speaker 3: Want to do your first project? And I said, well,
Speaker 3: Jay Joyce and they're.
Speaker 4: Like really, they said, Jay Joyce don't just like work
Speaker 4: with anybody. And then, like I said, Mirank hooked us up.
Speaker 4: And the next time I had a conversation about who
Speaker 4: I wanted to produce my stuff with a label, I
Speaker 4: told him I said, well, I've already talked to him
Speaker 4: and he wants to do my record, so we got
Speaker 4: to figure out how to come up with the money
Speaker 4: and do it.
Speaker 2: And you just started gofund me whatever I.
Speaker 3: Eliminate stand I'm not playing.
Speaker 2: So once you once things started to finally take off
Speaker 2: and you you know, your name was known around town
Speaker 2: and first album is out, You're getting a bunch of opportunities.
Speaker 2: How is it different than what you thought it would be?
Speaker 2: Because if you wanted this your whole life, since you're
Speaker 2: in fourth grade, now you're actually in it, was it
Speaker 2: anything like you thought it would be?
Speaker 4: That's that's an interesting question because at times I feel
Speaker 4: like it's better than I thought it would be, but
Speaker 4: also just different than I thought it would be, meaning
Speaker 4: I feel like my life has changed a lot, like
Speaker 4: my day to day life is is a lot different,
Speaker 4: even like just having to like having an assistant and
Speaker 4: you know, like things like that because I just can't
Speaker 4: get it done unless I have help, and that part,
Speaker 4: right there has been an adjustment, even like having to
Speaker 4: have security and and things like that.
Speaker 2: And good, I'm glad you have security.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and we got security probably about like a year
Speaker 4: and a half ago. And yeah, I mean it's not
Speaker 4: easy to like get used to somebody like following you
Speaker 4: around kind of in your shadow or whatever, but which
Speaker 4: you get used to it. And so I guess those
Speaker 4: are the things right there that I just you don't expect,
Speaker 4: like the things that come along with it, certain feelings
Speaker 4: that I've had, meaning like the incredible feelings that I've had,
Speaker 4: like you just don't even you can't wrap your head
Speaker 4: around it until it happens, but also the bad feelings
Speaker 4: I've had.
Speaker 3: You have high highs and low lows, and I know
Speaker 3: that I heard so many people say that for years.
Speaker 2: Yes, and it makes no sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you're just like yeah, yeah, yeah, you know
Speaker 3: how high is low lows? And but I get it.
Speaker 2: Can you explain it to me? Because I don't get it,
Speaker 2: Like I feel like if you had money, Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: the money piece for me.
Speaker 4: Like money makes better, I'll tell you that. Yeah, like
Speaker 4: for me because I feel everything to my core. It's
Speaker 4: like the social media thing. It's like it's like people
Speaker 4: talking about every little thing about you, meaning like your body,
Speaker 4: and that can get weird. I'm like, whether I gain
Speaker 4: twenty pounds or lose twenty pounds, that ain't gotten nothing
Speaker 4: to do.
Speaker 3: With my music.
Speaker 4: And I feel like in the beginning, like when that
Speaker 4: kind of stuff started happening, I thought, well, at least
Speaker 4: they're talking about me. But when I was really with myself,
Speaker 4: some of these things are just hurtful and words are powerful.
Speaker 4: That's why I became a songwriter, because I think words
Speaker 4: are powerful and people do not realize that. I mean,
Speaker 4: I learned my lesson about reading the comment, so I
Speaker 4: don't do that anymore. But no matter what, it's still
Speaker 4: it pings your heart and for a split second you
Speaker 4: might believe it about yourself, and then it's like you
Speaker 4: have to call your mama and FaceTime your nephews and
Speaker 4: do those things that reminds you that you're not just
Speaker 4: laying the artist, like you have a lot of other jobs.
Speaker 3: Too, And like I know who I am. The Lord
Speaker 3: knows who I am.
Speaker 4: My people know who I am, and that's really the
Speaker 4: only thing that matters.
Speaker 3: Because you put yourself out there, you put yourself on
Speaker 3: a platform.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and people are gonna love you, and people are
Speaker 4: gonna hate you. And sometimes people just hate you because
Speaker 4: other people love you. Yeah, that's hard for me to understand,
Speaker 4: like how people can just like say mean hurtful things.
Speaker 3: I'm like, who raised you? You know, I'm like, I
Speaker 3: don't get it.
Speaker 4: But also I've learned how to just like let it
Speaker 4: go in one air and out the other and just
Speaker 4: remember who I am, you know, like I am not
Speaker 4: who they say I am.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard. It's like an and it's not something
Speaker 2: that all of a sudden is a problem that you
Speaker 2: like figure out and it's fixed and then you're fine,
Speaker 2: you move on to something else. It's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 3: It's an ongoing thing.
Speaker 4: And I'll tell you what, I don't even think I
Speaker 4: have it as bad as some of my other friends
Speaker 4: in a business. Like when it comes to the amount
Speaker 4: of like hate or whatever you want to say, it's
Speaker 4: called I get some, but my heart goes out to
Speaker 4: a lot of my buddies. I'm just like, I hope
Speaker 4: I'm not raising this, you know.
Speaker 2: Especially as you get older too, And it seems like
Speaker 2: to me that you're someone who's in this for the
Speaker 2: long haul, Like this is just like you know, something
Speaker 2: that you're trying out for a little while, but it
Speaker 2: seems like you're gonna be one of these artists like
Speaker 2: you know, I know you've collaborated with the Rolling Stones.
Speaker 2: You opened up for the Stones, and they're still out
Speaker 2: there doing it and they're in their eighties. Yeah, you've
Speaker 2: been up on stage with Dolly Pardon, Like, do you
Speaker 2: see yourself in an advanced age still doing this on stage?
Speaker 3: I do, I one hundred percent, dude. I will tell
Speaker 3: you I'm not always gonna be as busy as I've been.
Speaker 3: Like I've been busy, busy, busy, busy main and there
Speaker 3: are big moments in my life when when I'll get
Speaker 3: married and have kids and like because when that happens,
Speaker 3: like that's that's gonna be my focus. And I mean
Speaker 3: I almost stop doing job because I need to always
Speaker 3: write music. But I'm gonna be around.
Speaker 4: I can't imagine my life without it, and then then
Speaker 4: watching folks like Mick Jagger and Dolly do their thing,
Speaker 4: it's just like you can do it, you know, But
Speaker 4: I got to take care of myself on the front
Speaker 4: end so I will have longevity like that.
Speaker 2: How has it been for you meeting these people? Like
Speaker 2: I know you've performed in front of like Springsteen and
Speaker 2: Paul McCartney and is the fan in you? Is it
Speaker 2: somehow disappointing meeting the people or do they seem like
Speaker 2: normal people to you at this point or what's that?
Speaker 4: Like? I think in my head I had it built
Speaker 4: up of what I thought it was gonna be like,
Speaker 4: and truthfully, after getting to know them, it's even better.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like you just realize that they're just real people.
Speaker 3: They put their breeches on the same way as I do,
Speaker 3: like one leg at a time, and I love it.
Speaker 4: A lot of people say, don't meet your heroes, but
Speaker 4: so far with my heroes that I've met, but they
Speaker 4: have not let me down. And even like becoming really
Speaker 4: close with why not a Judd? She is salt of
Speaker 4: the earth I'm talking about weekly will send me devotionals
Speaker 4: and say a prayer over me and just be like,
Speaker 4: how are you where you at And that's really cool
Speaker 4: for me to see.
Speaker 3: And they're sitting an example that, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2: What I want to be. You can be that to
Speaker 2: somebody else. Yeap. What was it like singing with Dolly
Speaker 2: on stage? You sing well, the clip that I saw
Speaker 2: you sang, I Will Always Love You with Dolly, that's
Speaker 2: a hard song to sing.
Speaker 3: That's a hard song to sing. Nobody, nobody has any
Speaker 3: business doing a Dolly Parton song, and especially that one.
Speaker 3: But when Dolly Parton asked you to do it, you
Speaker 3: figure it out.
Speaker 4: So the thought of it was terrifying until like I
Speaker 4: got down there and we like rehearsed it, and she
Speaker 4: just makes you feel so comfortable, and she's like, well,
Speaker 4: come on, Lennie, getna do this like you do that part,
Speaker 4: and I'll take this, and like you just seem like
Speaker 4: like you just knew her your whole life and she's
Speaker 4: even better than you could have imagine.
Speaker 3: So she made me feel comfortable. I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 3: like that and the Rolling Stones, I'm done. I'm done.
Speaker 3: It's crazy.
Speaker 2: What are you writing now? What are you writing about?
Speaker 3: This past weekend? I wrote five or six songs. I'm like,
Speaker 3: when can we put a record out again, They're like, hold.
Speaker 4: Up a minute, I am writing about about my life lately,
Speaker 4: I really do feel like I have to like live
Speaker 4: it to write it in two. Like even the songs
Speaker 4: that we wrote this weekend, I don't feel like all
Speaker 4: of them are for me. I want to help other
Speaker 4: people tell their stories too, Yeah, and too.
Speaker 3: I mean there's times when I'm like I'm talking. I'm
Speaker 3: tired of talking about me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, are you tired of telling your story? And like
Speaker 2: you do so many interviews and I think it's awesome,
Speaker 2: Thank you, cause it takes a lot of energy to
Speaker 2: sit here for so long.
Speaker 4: I remember a time when nobody wanted to talk to me,
Speaker 4: and I think that's probably where it comes from. Of
Speaker 4: just like, you know, I've got these opportunities now, and
Speaker 4: I feel like the interviews are starting to change though,
Speaker 4: Like for instance, this one today, I don't feel like
Speaker 4: I'm not having to sit here and sell myself. I'm
Speaker 4: not having to sit here and tell you like I'm
Speaker 4: Laney Wilson from Basking Losing Anna.
Speaker 3: My daddy farms corn wheats, we beans and notes.
Speaker 4: You know, It's like we're able to kind of like
Speaker 4: go there a little bit more, which I enjoy the
Speaker 4: time that has definitely felt robotic. You know, yes, when
Speaker 4: they're asking you the same questions. There's only so many
Speaker 4: different ways you can say it no.
Speaker 2: But you're a hustler and I love it. I love
Speaker 2: that you're getting recognized for it too.
Speaker 3: Thank you for that.
Speaker 2: Thank you for doing this. Good luck with everything. I
Speaker 2: hope you have a good time on the tour. I
Speaker 2: hope you stay healthy.
Speaker 3: Thank you, sister. I appreciate that. Thank you so much
Speaker 3: for this.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Lennie Wilson for sharing her incredible story persevering
Speaker 1: with us. You can hear a new album, Whirlwind, along
Speaker 1: with our other favorite Landy tracks, on a playlist at
Speaker 1: broken record podcast dot com. You can also watch the
Speaker 1: full video of this interview and some of our newer
Speaker 1: episodes at YouTube dot com slash broken Record Podcast. Also
Speaker 1: be sure to follow us on Instagram at the Broken
Speaker 1: Record Pod. Broken Record is produced by Leah Rose, with
Speaker 1: marketing and help from Erik Sandler and Jordan Kmillan. Ben
Speaker 1: Tolliday is our engineer. Broken Record is a production of
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Speaker 1: I'm justin Richmond.