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Lainey Wilson’s Tim McGraw Ties Run Deep

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Lainey Wilson and Tim McGraw have a connection that goes way back. In a new sit-down interview with country icon Garth Brooks, Lainey said of McGraw, who is also a native of her home state of Louisianna, “Tim grew up right down the road from me. My step-grandmother used to actually babysit him. But I’ve never met Tim.”

She hails from Baskin, Louisiana and McGraw is a native of Start, Louisiana. Wilson and Brooks also touched on her influence in country music, and talked about the impact that ’90s country had on her.

When he asked her what her musical heroes were, she didn’t namecheck him. Instead, she shared her love for Dolly Parton. She said, in part, “She’s one of the people that I go to that I’m like man, how has she — she’s done it all.” She added that Parton has kept songwriting “the main focus,” but she has not been scared to step outside the box and try new things.

See that post here.

RELATED: Lainey Wilson: How She Finally Impressed Her Family

After playing the big stage at CMA Fest on Saturday (6/9), Wilson will be back on the road on her first headlining trek, “Counry’s Cool Again.” The country superstar posted a fun video clip checking out her new stage setup before last weekend’s Nashville show.

She captioned the clip on Instagram, “One of the coolest parts of this job is having a vision and finding the people that understand that vision and watching folks come together to bring it to life. I’ve got a team full of dreamers who aren’t afraid of a little elbow grease. It makes dreaming a lot more fun to do it together. The Country’s Cool Again tour is off to the races.”

See that post here.

In a recent interview, Lainey told us what she saw in her audience at the 2023 tours before she got back on the road. She said, “A little bit of everything. I’m excited about that. I truly am. At one point in time, I thought that my crowd of people would be like me and talk just like me and maybe be from a town of 200 just like me and blah, blah, blah and ride the tractor with her daddy, and you know, that kind of stuff.”

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

The Youngest Superstars in Country Music Today

  • HARDY - 33

    HARDY has made quite a name for himself in country music as one of the most successful songwriters in Nashville, later becoming a headliner. In 2023, his opener was Lainey Wilson, who will kick off her headling “Country’s Cool Again” Tour this summer. HARDY’s “Wait In The Truck,” which won numerous awards in country music in 2022 and 2023, catapulted him to stardom.

    Before his star rose as an artist, he was best known for writing hit songs for Blake Shelton (“God’s Country”) and Morgan Wallen (“Sand In My Boots”).

  • Lainey Wilson - 31

    Lainey is country music’s biggest star right now, having won the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award in November, with the likelihood she will win the same honor from the ACM in 2024. He star shot straight up as her hit songs started to pour out of her with the release of her album Bell Bottom Country. That album was named Album of the Year by the CMA and the ACM and a GRAMMY for Best Country Album.

    Wilson can do no wrong as she readies her 2024 headlining tour, “Country’s Cool Again.” Recently, she has appeared on every national talk show, late-night show, and many TV tapings, including an Elvis Presley Christmas special in December from Graceland and a recent Pet fashion show on NBC with Dolly Parton to raise money for pets.

    Lainey moved to Nashville before she was out of her teens and worked hard for eleven years before her country music dreams started to come true.

  • Morgan Wallen - 30

    It’s hard to believe how much success this guy has had since he did NOT win or even make the finals on NBC’s The Voice (he only made the Top 20). Even with some controversy, Morgan managed to top record charts and break records at Billboard.

    Wallen embarked on a stadium tour in 2023, and even though he had to cancel many shows because of vocal problems, fans still came out to fill stadiums after he returned to the road and to the stage.

    In 2024, he has set his sights on playing Hyde Park In London after a successful run in Great Britain in December of 2023. That same month, he recorded songs at the famous Abbey Road Studios, which he had just released to rave reviews.

  • Kane Brown - 30

    Kane is a young father of two with a baby boy on the way. Making his way to Nashville for Chattanooga a few years ago, he quickly became a superstar and is headlining the “In The Air” tour in 2024. One of the tour’s openers is Tyler Hubbard, a guy Brown opened for early in his career for Florida Georgia Line.

    Tyler told us, “It was incredible to watch him take on the challenge and grow a ton on that tour. Now, it’s full circle. Now I’m getting to open up for him, and I watch him play, and I’m just like, ‘Wow, he’s really grown into something special.’ He’s just an awesome dude; he’s a great artist. I think he has really found himself and knows who he is and what he wants to be.”

    Brown is working on new music, and a new album is coming soon. There is no stopping this guy from continuing to rise in country music and beyond.

  • Kelsea Ballerini - 30

    Kelsea has had a few amazing years, including 2023, when she released her album Rolling Up The Welcome Mat after her divorce from fellow country singer Morgan Evans. That album, which she didn’t tell her record label about until just weeks before she released it, was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2024 for Best Country Album.

    She has become one of CMT’s favorite hosts, signing on to host the popular award show again this year, making it the fourth time she has hosted the show in a row.

    Ballerini also played her first headlining arena tour in Knoxville, her hometown, late last year, proving herself to be quite the performer. In 2023, she was also named in Time Magazine’s 100 Next list. She has graced the cover of many fashion magazines in the last few years and even started her own makeup line at Cover Girl.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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