As Lainey Wilson herself has stated many times, she never quite thought that she would make it to London. Hailing from a small town of around 300 in Louisiana, she moved to Nashville, living in a camper trailer, for many years before her calling came from the musical industry. Now, it is her time, and having written with artists like Luke Combs, she has recently released her self-titled debut EP in April of this year with Broken Bow Records/BMG and is working on her debut album with producer Jay Joyce. Many – flocking to see Chase Rice for the second night of CMW 2018 – would maybe not have heard of her, however the set she gave at Bush Hall would have dispelled that for those there. With just an acoustic guitar, Wilson gave one of those sets that are as memorable for the personality of the artist as for the songs themselves, starting her set joking about her Louisiana accent from the off.
The set read like a dream, starting with the gorgeous rock-edged ‘Workin’ Overtime,’ that the audience responded well to from the get go. Inspired by the slogan on a key ring this song showed off the raw power of Wilson’s voice, making everyone stand up and take notice.
Proving how her EP is jam-packed with quality material, Wilson followed up the single, with ‘Waste of Good Whiskey,’ showing the way she has honed her craft as a songwriter, having written for some time as a staff-writer at Sony ATV. It is clear from the songs she performs how comfortable she is in her own skin as a performer. This performance was memorable, getting the audience to clap along, picking up the lyrics remarkably quickly – their response proving how Wilson is sure to be a hit in the UK country scene.
Showing her more vulnerable side was the emotional ‘Dreamcatcher,’ that I feel sure has hit the hearts of many fans who could use this track to get through difficult times – beautiful and poignant in equal measure. This was a personal highlight.
Bringing the tempo back up just a touch, Lainey followed the single up with ‘Middle Finger,’ telling the story fo her grandma’s reaction to the song – as you can probably tell, less than positive about her granddaughter writing an entire song about putting up her middle finger. It is a mark of a true star when they can get the audience both to sing along, laugh and participate in your sets, but that’s just what Wilson did with the audience putting up their middle fingers loud and proud to the song.
The even less heard ‘Two Story House’ was next in the set, talking about Wilson’s relationship with her sister – complete opposites even though they were brought up in just the same way. Her love for her sister shone in the song, and the tonality of her voice made the performance a beautiful moment in the middle of the set.
Rounding out her set, Wilson finished with ‘High on Somethin’ – a catchy new single that had the audience stomping and swaying along in equal measure.
As if proof were needed, the cheers from the crowd at the end of the set proved that Wilson is bound to be a popular artist over here, winning over the entire room to her cause. Fingers crossed for a C2C performance later this year!
Setlist
Workin’ Overtime
Waste of Good Whisky
Two Storey House
Middle Finger
Dream Catcher
High on Somethin’