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.
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 safe keeping.
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
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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