Country sure is cool again.
Thanks in large part to Miss Lainey Wilson herself, superstar pop artists like Post Malone and Beyoncé want in on the mainstream popularity of country music at the moment, and while I’m open to seeing what they have to offer, there’s not a person on this planet more qualified to talk about “country” than Lainey.
Born and raised in the very small town of Baskin, Louisiana, Lainey lived in a trailer for years in Nashville while cutting her teeth and trying to get something going with her music career.
In 2023, she won the coveted CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year, and earlier this month, she took home her very first Grammy award for Country Album of the Year with Bell Bottom Country.
“Country’s Cool Again” was co-written by Lainey along with Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson (the trio who wrote her hit “Heart Like A Truck”), along with Wilson’s band leader Aslan Freeman, and was produced by Jay Joyce.
Lainey says it serves as a welcome to anyone who wants to be part of the Western way of life she grew up in:
“I’m so excited for everyone to hear ‘Country’s Cool Again.’ This song is a welcome to everyone who’s wanting in on the Western way of life.
For a lot of us, Country music isn’t just a genre, it’s our livelihood. Thank you to my amazing collaborators and my producer for helping me bring the idea of this song to life. Country’s Cool Again y’all!”
While obviously, being “country” or liking country music never went out of style, I think Lainey’s larger point about how it’s suddenly really cool to be country in the mainstream media is kind of funny:
“Everybody wanna be a cowboy
Drive a jon boat, whip a John Deere
Everybody want a backwoods front porch
With a tub full of iced-down beer
Must be something in the water flowing out of the holler
Blue collar musta caught a new wind
Doggone, dadgum it, didn’t see that coming
Country’s cool again”
With a groovy, throwback-style production Lainey tends to lean into, it fits in well to her larger catalog and will be fun to hear at a live show:
“Country’s Cool Again”
In addition to an extensive headlining tour set to kick off in Nashville this May, named for this new song, Lainey was featured in a Super Bowl commercial last weekend, which she starred in alongside LL Cool J:
Country’s Cool Again 2024 tour dates:
May 31, 2024 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater
Jun 14, 2024 Camden, NJ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion – WXTU Show
Jun 15, 2024 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion
Jun 20, 2024 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
Jun 21, 2024 Syracuse, NY St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
Jun 26, 2024 New York City, NY Radio City Music Hall
Jun 28, 2024 Bridgeport, CT Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
Jun 29, 2024 Bangor, ME Maine Savings Amphitheater
Jul 19, 2024 Twin Lakes, WI Country Thunder Wisconsin
Aug 08, 2024 Huntsville, AL The Orion Amphitheater
Aug 09, 2024 Southaven, MS BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove
Aug 10, 2024 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP
Aug 22, 2024 Prescott Valley, AZ Findlay Toyota Center
Aug 23, 2024 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Aug 24, 2024 Concord, CA Toyota Pavilion at Concord
Sep 01, 2024 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre
Sep 13, 2024 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
Sep 14, 2024 Boise, ID Ford Idaho Center
Sep 15, 2024 Missoula, MT University of Montana – Adams Center
Sep 19, 2024 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
Sep 20, 2024 Lake Tahoe, CA Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys
Sep 26, 2024 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Sep 27, 2024 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre
Sep 28, 2024 Ridgefield, WA RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Oct 10, 2024 Lubbock, TX United Supermarkets Arena
Oct 18, 2024 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater
Oct 19, 2024 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Oct 20, 2024 Wilmington, NC Live Oak Bank Pavilion
Oct 24, 2024 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
Oct 25, 2024 Oshawa, ON Tribute Communities Centre
Oct 26, 2024 Pittsburgh, PA Petersen Events Center
Oct 27, 2024 Little Rock, AR Simmons Bank Arena
Nov 02, 2024 Evansville, IN Ford Center
Nov 03, 2024 Charleston, WV Charleston Coliseum
Nov 07, 2024 Oklahoma, City, OK Paycom Center
Nov 08, 2024 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center
Nov 09, 2024 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford Premier Center
Nov 15, 2024 Monroe, LA Monroe Civic Center
