Lainey Wilson says city people have wrong view of country towns as she defends her 'blue collar' roots
Lainey Wilson hasn't forgotten her roots.
Wilson, 33, reflected on growing up in her tiny farm town of Baskin, Louisiana — home to roughly 170 people — and the misconception "city people" tend to have about blue-collar towns.
"Where I'm from, it's really just like a big farming community," she said during an appearance on the "No Filter" podcast. "Like my daddy farms corn, wheat, soybeans, oats. Very blue-collar town. We don't even have a red light. We have a caution light."
The country music star noted that "everybody knows everybody," and it taught her the importance of community. "It's like, the best thing and the worst thing … it's like they're there when you need 'em, and they're there when you don't. They're just there."
Wilson's perspective sparked a broader conversation about how rural life is perceived.
"That's interesting because I think city people in particular like to have this view of country that it's kind of unaccepting but, in fact, when you are in a really small town, in a really small community — It's the opposite," host Kate Langbroek said.
"Oh, 100%," Wilson agreed.
"And my folks, especially, they're the kind of people who would get a call in the middle of the night, and they'd go help the neighbor," she added. "I mean, they would give you the shirt off their back. That's the kind of people that I'm from."
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Wilson also pulled back the curtain on the narrative that she achieved overnight success in the country music industry. Wilson spent 15 years building her career before her breakthrough, including three years she spent living in a 20-foot camper in Nashville. It wasn’t until year eight — after signing a publishing deal and having her music pitched to labels — that she felt the momentum shift.
"I knew that my storytelling was the thing that kind of set me apart at that time," she said. "And so that was the foot that I led with."
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The "Yellowstone" star noted it felt like she was pitching into the wind at times. Wilson revealed she took every opportunity to perform that she could.
"I tried out for ‘American Idol’ probably seven times," Wilson revealed. "Tried out for ‘The Voice’ a handful of times. And walked up and down Music Row, knocked on doors, passed out CDs."
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Despite never making it past the first round of the singing competition shows, Wilson said she is grateful for the failure.
"I'm so thankful that it worked out the way that it did," Wilson explained. "But there were definitely times where I was like, 'I must be absolutely insane to not be wanting to pack my stuff up and move home.'"
Wilson said she had a "weird sense of peace and faith" that everything would work out.
"I was just holding on … to that feeling of like, this is what I was supposed to do."
Wilson's "I made it" moment came after her career breakthrough. Wilson started to see momentum in 2021 when her single "Things a Man Oughta Know" reached No. 1 on country radio. She continued to see success, winning a CMA for best new artist in 2022 and landing a role on "Yellowstone." Wilson was later named entertainer of the year in 2024 and 2025.
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"It was one of those things where now I'm getting invited to the CMA Awards, the Country Music Awards," the "Heart Like a Truck" singer said. "Now I'm getting to sit with these people and sit at the same table as them. It's the craziest thing. And then they start treating you like you are one of them."
Wilson said she couldn't help but think back to her younger self watching the same award shows.
"I just remember being a little girl watching all these awards thinking, 'Man, it'd be really cool if I could be down there in the mix with those people.' Because I felt like I was one of them," she noted.
That feeling deepened once the wins started coming.
"It was one of those moments for me where I'm like, ‘OK, this industry that I have been working on my relationships for 15 years now, these people have come to bat for me,'" Wilson explained.
"And now, people like Keith Urban and all the other people in between that I've met — when your peers and the people that you look up to are proud for you and voting for you. It makes you feel like, 'OK, like that little 9-year-old girl wasn't that crazy.'"