Lainey Wilson is paying tribute to her parents on her new album, Bell Bottom Country, which released on October 28.
Wilson shared more about how she honored her parents on Bell Bottom Country via Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen on Apple Music. The “Heart Like A Truck” singer discussed how her songs, “Grease” and “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song)” are dedicated to her mom and dad.
In describing “Grease,” Wilson told Bannen that the song was inspired by one of her mom’s sayings.
“It’s a saying that my mama used to say all the time, like, ‘Now we’re cooking with grease. Now we’re getting somewhere,’” Wilson explained. “I feel like those are little sayings that I cannot escape. Certain things that my family said growing up, it just somehow makes its way into my music. And if you listen to the record, you hear a lot of me talking about Mama, me talking about Daddy, me talking about the Lord. It somehow just makes its way into it and I just can’t even help it… It’s [taken] me a long time to feel [like I’m a grown woman], but I am feeling it.”
“I’m like, ‘You dang right, I’m grown. I can say what I want to say. This is it.’ It’s just a fun song. To me, it’s just a blue-collar couple love song. It’s kind of almost like Dirty Looks 2.0… With a little more heat on it,” she added.
“Those Boots (Deddy’s Song)” was the result of memories Wilson has of helping her dad get ready for work in the morning as a child.
“What really sparked the song is, growing up, me and my family, we lived in this uninsulated house, and instead of adding on like a normal person would do, [my parents] bought a portable building and cut out the side of it and attached that thing to the house. So me and my sister were living in the trailer. We’d run in the house. Anyway. I remember every morning, before Deddy would go to work … I remember he would holler my name and I would run from the portable building into the house, and I would help him pull his blue jeans down over the top of his boots,” Wilson said.
“That was just my job as a little girl. It made me feel like I was doing something. It made me feel special, like I had a job. I’ve just always kind of thought back to that memory, and I was telling it to Trent and Terry, Joe, and we ended up just coming up with this idea around Deddy’s boots and it’s going to take a very special person to fill them.”
Wilson has previously talked about her close-knit relationship with her family, and in particular her dad after he experienced some health issues this past summer.
The fast-rising singer/songwriter and Yellowstone Season 5 actress recently announced her first-ever headlining tour, dubbed the Country With A Flare Tour. The trek, which is presented by Stella Rosa, features support from Ben Chapman, Meg McRee, and Leah Blevins on select dates.
The 27-date Country With A Flare Tour kicks off on January 4 in Spokane, Washington at The Knitting Factory and continues through March 31, where the trek will wrap up in Columbus, Ohio at The Bluestone.
Bell Bottom Country is Wilson’s sophomore album.
