Lainey Wilson Says ‘Country’s Cool Again’ in New Song: Listen

Back in 1981, Barbara Mandrell proudly professed her country music roots in her hit “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.” Forty-three years later, Lainey Wilson shares a similar sentiment in her new song “Country’s Cool Again.”

Released at midnight on Friday, the funky, slippery back-porch number is the Louisiana native’s first new release since her 2022 album Bell Bottom Country won Best Country Album at the Grammy Awards earlier this month. Wilson wrote “Country’s Cool Again” with frequent collaborators Trannie Anderson and Dallas Wilson, and her band leader, guitarist Aslan Freeman. In a move in line with what Waylon Jennings did back in the Seventies, Wilson recorded the song with members of her road band.

“I was born in boots on humble ground/These kind of roots they sure don’t grow out,” she sings to open the biographical song.

“This track is an ode to my upbringing and the story of my journey in this industry – where I have been and where I am now,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m feeling all the love from Country music fans, and I can’t wait to hear everyone singing this song back to me while we’re out on the road this year.” 

The title is certainly relevant: The genre has never been more in fashion, as cowboy and cowgirl attire is turning heads, artists are embracing a more wide-open Western sound, and stars from Beyoncé to Lana Del Rey are introducing country music to new listeners.

Wilson notices it, too, and welcomes it. “I can’t believe my eyes these days,” she sings in the track, “Hey everybody wants to be a cowboy.”