Lainey Wilson lives by words Ashley McBryde once told her. McBryde, whose 2018 freshman Girl Going Nowhere album came out three years before Wilson’s Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin‘ debut, told Wilson something that became a driving force in how she looks to other artists coming after.

“Ashley McBryde a long time ago told me that we got to help pull each other over that wall, whatever that looks like,” Wilson tells Country Living. “And she said, ‘If I can grab your hand and I help pull you over this wall, you got to promise me that you do the same for other people.’ And I said, ‘Deal.’ That’s how I was raised anyway. When I think of the way that my parents treated people, if there was a farmer down the road that got stuck in a ditch, my parents are the first ones to them, to go pull them out. This is a team effort, and there’s room for everybody. It’s cool to be able to lock arms and do the thing together.”

Wilson could by now have her pick of acts to join her on the road. But for her Whirlwind World Tour, her rotating list of opening acts include ERNEST, Muscadine Bloodline, Kaitlin Butts, Maddox Batson, Drake Milligan, Lauren Watkins and Zach Meadows. They are mostly artists who are still finding their way, with Wilson happy to help guide them.

The Louisiana native wants to help anyone, even if they may seem to be in competition with her, including Ella Langley,. Langley had more nominations than Wilson at the recent ACM Awards, also walking away with more wins than Wilson.

“I could not be more thrilled,” Wilson told Everything Nash and other outlets, ahead of the 2025 ACM Awards. “I could not be more excited to see it happening to a girl that just knows who she is. She shows up, and she rolls her sleeves up, and she is ready to kick down barn doors. You gotta have that spirit in this business. If you don’t have that spirit, there’s somebody behind you that’s going to have that spirt, and they’re going to knock down that barn door for you. So, she’s one of those.

“I would not be surprised if she comes in there with her broom and starts sweeping it up,” she added. “And I’d be behind her with a dustpan … I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ I’m glad to see the community really taking notice in somebody who’s just got it. That’s a good feeling, especially as a female in the business. It’s good to see.”

 

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Wilson currently has a Top 40 hit at radio with “Somewhere Over Laredo.” The song is from her forthcoming Whirlwind Deluxe album.

“I’m finding out the Whirlwind never stops,” Wilson saysof the record. “The more I walk through it, the more my feet stay planted on the ground and my eyes to the sky. In honor of the one-year anniversary of Whirlwind’s release, I will be dropping my Whirlwind (Deluxe) album on August 22.”