NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lainey Wilson's first paying gig as a singer was the grand opening of a convenience store in her tiny hometown of Baskin, Louisiana. She was 9 years old, and the job paid 20 bucks.
"My daddy took me up there — no guitar, no microphone, no nothing — and I just sang a cappella," Wilson, now a country star with a pair of No. 1 radio hits to her name, recalls in her thick Louisiana accent. Later she'd sing in the aisles of Walmart after her parents would stop fellow shoppers to show off their gifted daughter with the preternaturally soulful voice. These days you can imagine a video of one of these performances going viral à la Mason Ramsey's famous Walmart yodel. But this was the early 2000s, before every human with a smartphone became an amateur talent scout.
"Where was TikTok when I needed it?" Wilson asks with a laugh. "Would've saved me a lot of damn time."
