Country Music Star Talks ‘Dark Days’ Before Career Exploded

Country music star Lainey Wilson opened up about what she called the “dark days” she went through before her music career finally took off.

Speaking to the Associated Press, the 32-year-old country singer talked about living in a bumper-pull camper trailer off her mentor’s studio for three years and freezing during the winters before one of her songs hit number one, 13 years after moving to Nashville to make her dream a reality.

“It’s been a journey,” Wilson said. “I’ve been in Nashville for 13 years and I tell people I’m like, it feels like I got there yesterday, but I also feel like I’ve been there my whole life.”

“I had always heard that Nashville was a 10-year town,” she added. “And I believe ‘Things a Man Oughta Know’ went No. 1, like, 10 years and a day after being there.”

“I should have had moments where I should have packed it up and went home,” Wilson continued. “I should have went back to Louisiana. But I never had those feelings. I think there’s something really beautiful about being naive. And, since I was a little girl, I’ve always had stars in my eyes.”

Speaking to “Good Morning America” in 2022, Wilson said returning to that parking lot where she lived in a trailer brought her a “sense of hopefulness,” but also a “little sadness.”

“There were a lot of dark days for me,” Wilson said at the time. “I was very lonely. I didn’t know hardly anybody in town.”

Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.

“The winters were cold. I had to sleep in three or four jackets, three pairs of socks just to stay warm,” she added. “When I look back, honestly, if I had known it was going to be this hard, I don’t know if I would go and do it again. And that sounds crazy, but it has been hard, but this is my only option.”

On Friday, she released her fifth studio album, titled “Whirlwind,” and said she’s gone through a lot after making that trip from her small hometown of Baskin, Louisiana, to becoming a country star. In February, she took home her first Grammy.

“The word that I could use to describe the last couple of years is ‘whirlwind,'” Wilson told the AP. “I feel like my life has changed a whole lot. But I still feel like the same old girl trying to keep one foot on the ground.”

“And so, I think it’s just about grasping on to those things that truly make me, me and the artist where I can tell stories to relate to folks.”

The country singer previously told Fox News that she’s convinced all the adversity she went through was just part of her “story.”

“And I think the Lord kind of wanted me to live a little bit more life, so I could have more stories to tell, so I could relate to more people,” Wilson said. “That’s what it’s about when you kind of zoom out and you think about all of this. It’s important to remember and realize, why are we doing this? And what are we doing this for?”

“It’s just because we all want to feel something. And, I think, because of that rejection, I think people can relate to some of my stories,” she added.