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Lainey Wilson shared the word of advice she would share to up-and-coming female country artists, including her “buddies,” Ella Langley and Megan Moroney.
The Whirlwind hitmaker credited other well-respected women in the genre — particularly, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Dolly Parton — with choosing “to pour into me.” Parton, for example, shared with Wilson, “‘I make dang sure I am passionate about every single thing that I do,’ she said, ‘even if it means I am doing a million things, it means that I have to love every single one of them,’” Wilson recalled of the conversation. She also emphasized the importance of keeping “my people close,” including “Good Horses” duet partner Lambert, who advised Wilson to “put your feet in the dirt, and saddle your horses, and scoop the horse sh*t,” in order to stay grounded.
“I feel blessed that that’s even an option,” Wilson said of receiving advice from powerhouse women in country music. “Those ladies have had such unique and long careers, and I think it’s because of the wisdom that was passed along to them, and now they’re passing along to me. So, I try to make dang sure that if the opportunity presents itself, that I’m also passing on that knowledge and that wisdom, especially to the females on the up-and-up right now.
“I’m buddies with Megan Moroney (and) Ella Langley, and to watch their stars just soaring, it’s really, really cool to see,” Wilson continued. “And at times, I wanna just pour out as much as I possibly can to them and be like, ‘don’t you miss this moment,’ you know? ‘Be present. Do whatever you gotta do to soak it in and celebrate these times, and then get ready for the next one because it’s going to be right around the corner quicker than you can even realize it just happened.’ So, my advice to them is really just to keep your head down and work hard, but also…acknowledge that their hard work has gotten them to this point…and not letting the voices of the world get them down.”
Wilson spoke about Moroney’s and Laingley’s accomplishments and her advice to them shortly after the Academy of Country Music revealed nominations for the milestone 60th ACM Awards next month. Reigning Entertainer of the Year Wilson is up for several awards again this year (including the coveted EOTY honor), Moroney is up for Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year (Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine)), and Langley is the most-nominated artist with a whopping eight nods. The first-time ACM nominee is up for Female Artist of the Year, New Female Artist of the Year, and more.
McEntire is returning to host the ACM Awards for her 18th time, more than any other artist. So far, Wilson, Blake Shelton and Eric Church have been announced as performers. Additional performers and presenters will be announced at a later date. The ACM Awards will return to the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. See the full list of nominees here.
The 60th ACM Awards will kick off at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, May 8.