Lainey Wilson is climbing the charts with her current single, “Watermelon Moonshine,” which has cracked the Top 10 of the Mediabase country charts in just 13 weeks.
It’s now at No. 9 on the chart, and that achievement makes the nostalgic track the fastest-rising single by a solo female in five years since Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” in 2018.
“Watermelon Moonshine” is a wistful evocation of young love accompanied by a little bit of alcohol, painting a picture of two teenagers in love parked out in the country with some watermelon moonshine on hand. Wilson penned the tune with Josh Kear and Jordan Schmidt.
“This song is about the young, wild, crazy love that we all hope to experience,” Wilson previously shared in a statement. “From locking eyes for the first time, to playing spin the bottle with an Ole Smoky mason jar, to being too crazy about each other to tame it.”
Inspired by Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine”
The Louisiana native told American Songwriter that she and her co-writers were inspired by Deana Carter’s 1996 hit “Strawberry Wine.”
“A lot of folks have compared it to ‘Strawberry Wine,’” Wilson said. “There will never be another ‘Strawberry Wine,’ but this could be the modern take on it. Maybe we need to do a little mash-up or something, I don’t know.”
She also explained that the song helps remind her of a simpler time.
“During this busy season of life that I’m in, I want to write about things that make me feel grounded,” she said. “You can’t help but listen to ‘Watermelon Moonshine’ and think about that one person you were madly in love with.”
“You had that bottle of something in the backseat, you drank it and hoped your mom and dad didn’t smell it on you when you walked through the house,” she continued. “It makes me shake my head and laugh. It was a naive love but, there’s something really beautiful about naive.”
Bell Bottom Country
The song appears on Wilson’s 2022 album Bell Bottom Country, which won Album of the Year at the 2023 ACM Awards. The project has plenty of famous fans, including Kelly Clarkson, who recently covered Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck” during one of her Las Vegas residency shows.
Speaking to the crowd at the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood, Clarkson shared that she “fell in love” with Wilson after the country singer visited The Kelly Clarkson Show in March. “I’m in love with her,” Clarkson said. “I think she’s so cool.”
The mom of two added that she had been spinning Bell Bottom Country at her Montana ranch all summer and was “really into” “Heart Like a Truck.”
She also noted that she had to make a small lyric change. “I did change one line. She says Chevy, and I’m a Ford girl,” Clarkson said before nailing the song, as she does with every cover she tackles.
Lainey Wilson “Freaked Out” When She Heard Kelly Clarkson Performed Her Song
Wilson told ABC Audio that she “freaked out” when she heard that Clarkson had performed her song.
“I got some news the other day. And the news was Kelly Clarkson covered my song ‘Heart Like A Truck’ at her residency. And I’m not gonna lie, y’all, I freaked out,” she recalled before praising Clarkson.
“When folks like Kelly, who you look up to on and off the stage, become fans, it makes you feel like you really can do this,” Wilson said. “She is such a beautiful soul and she has cheered me on for a while now. I look up to her and I think she’s the bee’s knees.”
Wilson Set To Hit The Road With HARDY
Additionally, Lainey Wilson recently wrapped her stint alongside Luke Combs on his 2023 World Tour, which came to a close at the end of July after making stops at stadiums across North America, including in cities such as Nashville, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Later this year, the “Heart Like A Truck” singer will join Eric Church and HARDY on the road. Wilson will serve as support on select dates of Church’s The Outsiders Revival Tour. She will also join HARDY for the second leg of his the mockingbird & THE CROW tour, presented by Ebay Motors, which kicks off on August 31 in Knoxville, Tennessee at Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
To close out the year on a high note, Wilson has her own set of performances lined up at The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, dubbed “Lainey Wilson: Wildflowers & Wild Horses.”
For more information on Lainey Wilson’s music and upcoming tour dates, visit her official website HERE.
