Lainey Wilson has taken the country music world by storm. The singer/songwriter has amassed four No. 1 songs in the past two years. Meanwhile her current single, “Watermelon Moonshine,” is Top 15 and rising at country radio. While the Louisiana native writes her music, she also prides herself on penning songs for other artists.
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“It’s also a big goal of mine to write music for other artists because I would say that I’m a songwriter before anything,” she tells American Songwriter.
[RELATED: Lainey Wilson’s Long Road to Success Is Paved in Authenticity and Heart]
While we already covered three of the prolific songwriter’s other cuts, she detailed four more songs she’s written for other artists. From Thompson Square’s 2022 single “Country In My Soul” to Luke Combs’ “Sheriff You Want To” from his 2014 EP Can I Get An Outlaw, here are four more songs you didn’t know Wilson wrote.
“Country In My Soul,” Thompson Square
Lainey Wilson, James McNair, Daniel Ross
“Me, Daniel Ross and James McNair, we wrote Thompson Square’s ‘Country In My Soul.’ We were on a writer’s retreat down in 30A with Tree Vibez. We wrote it on a tour bus that they had sent down there. We were honestly writing for me at that point in time. I was getting ready to cut my first record, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ and it was just a fun song for us.
“It was one of the songs that didn’t make the record, but we knew that it was gonna find a home at some point in time whether that meant on a project of mine later on down the road, because sometimes it just doesn’t sonically fit. It’s not necessarily because it’s not as good of a song. But we knew that it deserved to have its moment and I’m so glad that Thompson Square picked it up. I’ve been a fan of them for years. I remember jamming out to their stuff when I was living in my camper trailer and it’s a full circle moment because the guy who wrote the song with, James McNair, he used to come over to my camper trailer, and we’d write music together too. So it always goes back to the camper.”
“What Are You on Fire About,” Ashley Cooke featuring Jackson Dean
Lainey Wilson, Jason Nix, Luke Dick
“‘What Are You on Fire About,’ I’m so glad that it landed with Ashley Cooke. I can tell that she takes her job very seriously. I root for people like that. Jackson Dean is doing the song with her and I’m one of Jackson Dean’s, biggest fans. I think that he is cool. He is unique, he ain’t trying to be like anybody else. What you see is what you get with that guy.
“Their voices together for this song, it was perfect. My goal is to, of course, write all of my own music. I’m not opposed to ever cutting any outside songs. The best song wins in my opinion, but it’s also a big goal of mine to write music for other artists because I would say that I’m a songwriter before anything.”
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Lainey Wilson Wrote for Other Artists]
“Meantime,” Flatland Cavalry and Hailey Whitters
Lainey Wilson, Cleto Cordero
“I wrote ‘Meantime’ with Cleto from Flatland Cavalry during the pandemic on Zoom. We had never even met in person. … I love Flatland. I think that they are unapologetically themselves. I think that they’ve got this Texas country thing going on that is very unique to them. When we wrote ‘Meantime,’ it was a hook that I had had a long time and I actually pitched it to a lot of people and those double entendre titles like that, a lot of people were like, ‘I don’t know if I’ve got enough brain power to do that today,’ because those can be hard. But I like that challenge. I think it’s like putting a puzzle together.”
“Sheriff You Want To,” Luke Combs
Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs
“I believe it was 2014 or 15. Me and Luke Combs wrote a song called ‘Sheriff You Want To,’ and he put it on his EP before he got a record deal. I actually sang on it too. My name wasn’t out next to it but if you listen to it, you can hear it.”
For more from Wilson on the four songs above, watch the video below.
(Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic)
