Lainey Wilson took a long, winding path to country-music stardom, beginning with a high school stint as a Hannah Montana impersonator. That path led the Louisiana native to a Grammy for best country album earlier this year — for her terrific 2022 breakthrough, Bell Bottom Country — and it continues with Whirlwind, which dropped Friday.
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Just days before the new album’s release, Wilson took yet another victory lap at the Tiny Desk, where she performed three songs from Whirlwind before closing with the first single from Bell Bottom Country, “Heart Like a Truck.” Though she and her band opened the set with two killer songs about romantic devotion, the show’s grabbiest moments — and the ones likeliest to go viral — came during the irreverent “Ring Finger,” a kiss-off song for the ages. (How we made it to 2024 without a banger containing the words “I got the ring / He got the finger” will have to remain a mystery.)
The whole deeply charming set announced Wilson as a star with staying power. She’ll maintain a presence at the Tiny Desk, too: She left us her hat for safekeeping.
SET LIST
“Hang Tight Honey”
“4x4xU”
“Ring Finger”
“Heart Like a Truck”
MUSICIANS
Lainey Wilson: lead vocals, guitar
Aslan Freeman: guitar, vocals
Tommy Scifres: bass, vocals
Kevin Nolan: keys, electric guitar, vocals
Matt Nolan: drums, vocals
Sav Madigan: violin, guitar, mandolin, vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Director/Editor: Kara Frame
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Mitra I. Arthur
Audio Engineer: Andie Huether
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Alanté Serene
Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Hazel Cills
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins