Hi Lainey! The last two years have been a ‘Whirlwind’. What do you think your younger self would think of everything that you’ve accomplished?

L: I think my younger self would be very proud. She would be proud of where I'm at and what I'm doing. But I think more importantly, she would just be proud of the way that I've carried myself. I try to be kind to anybody and everybody that I meet. I try to work hard and I try to do what I say I'm going to do. And that's what that little girl was taught to do. So I think I've kind of held up my end of the deal.

You toured Australia for the first time this year. What did you think?

L: Australia is one of my favourite places I have ever been. Of course, it's beautiful, and the weather was nice because when we were over there, it was summertime. But I just connected with the people. I really did… I got to go on a horse-riding trail with some people outside of Sydney called Darkes Forest, and we had the best time. I just connected with them. What I realised is we're actually a lot more like than you think.

Let’s talk about Whirlwind. What song was the easiest to write?

L: ‘4x4xU'. I wrote in like 30 minutes. I don't think I've ever actually released a song that I wrote in that amount of time – but it was one of those that we just didn't overthink it. It just kind of fell out and it was just like a gift from above. It's kind of crazy how easy that song was to write.

Was there a song that you were really excited about when you finished it and knew that it had to go on the record?

L: Oh, I think it would have to be ‘Good Horses’ that I wrote with Miranda Lambert. I knew that we had to do the song together too. It just felt natural. Her and I both love the western way of life and anything like that. We love horses. We love running the roads, but we know that home is where the heart is, and so I kind of had a weird feeling about it. I knew that the song was special. And as we were writing the song, three blue birds flew up and landed on the balcony of her cabin. And she told me that when they were writing her hit song, ‘Bluebird’, that three blue birds had flown up and landed in the exact same spot. So I believe in signs like that.

That's so cool! At your shows you have a special segment called ‘Cowgirl of the Night’. What inspired that and how do you pick who's going to be the Cowgirl of the Night?

L: It's hard trying to figure out who's going to be Cowgirl of the Night because if it was up to me, I would crown all the little girls Cowgirl of the Night. My mama for a long time, she's told me, ‘you gotta speak it to believe it. You gotta speak it to believe it’. And I am a firm believer in that. What comes out of your mouth is what you think about yourself. So, if you're talking negatively, negatively to yourself, then you're going to think that way. There's days that are hard for me and I have to get up and I have to tell myself ‘you're beautiful, you're smart, you're talented, you can do it.’ And I want to be able to share that wisdom with other little boys and little girls too. If that's something that can help them and they can put that in their back pocket and it kind of helps them get out of that slump, then why not share the good news?

You were nine when you first wrote your first song, which is the age of some of our TGs. What inspired your first song?

L: Oh, goodness. First of all, I grew up listening to Britney Spears and Shania Twain. I remember just jumping on the bed and pretending I was both Britney and Shania. As a little girl songwriter, I was writing about things that I had never experienced. I was writing about love, but it's because I was listening to other people's conversations and from watching the Disney movies that I've seen and things like that.

Speaking of Disney, you were a Hannah Montana impersonator back in the day. Which song was a crowd pleaser for you and which song do you think is the most underrated?

L: Crowd pleaser, of course ‘Best of Both Worlds’. Anytime it would come on, even the parents at the birthday parties would be excited to hear that one, so it was cool. I mean, I got to open up the show at a lot of the time. So Lainey Wilson would open up the show for Hannah Montana. I think a song that should have been maybe a little more popular was ‘See You Again’. I love that one.

Whirlwind is out now! 🌪️��

Check out more of our interview with Lainey and our review of Whirlwind in the new October 2024 'Level Up' issue of Total Girl, out now in Australia. 🐴

Plus, check out Lainey's special shout out to TGs here! 🤩