Lainey Wilson Is Writing Love Songs For The First Time

Lainey Wilson and her man, former Pittsburgh Steelers football player Devlin Hodges, made their red-carpet debut together at the May 2023 ACM Awards in Texas. The couple has been dating steadily for over two years.

Lainey talked with American Songwriter and revealed that the love in her life had changed her songwriting subjects quite a bit. Wilson told the publication that for the first time, she has been writing songs about love.

She said, "I'm in a very happy, healthy relationship right now, and I've never written a love song in my life until the last two and a half years." Lainey said that her boyfriend makes it "very easy" to write love songs adding that whatever the situation is in her life at the time, she is writing about it. At this time, the situation is love.

She explained that her songwriting process is about tuning in to "those true feelings" and that taking advantage of them is important and to not be "scared of them."

That "happy, healthy relationship" with Hodges and those many love songs she is writing could find their way onto her next album. Wilson did say that she is not sure which love songs will make the new album, but that Hodges is a fan of those particular songs. She noted, "The songs that I write about him are his favorite."

Lainey also said that her next record would show a "different" side of her and her songwriting. She said that it's really busy in her life right now, and she needs to "feel grounded" and make her feel like she's at home because she never is with her current schedule. Lainey revealed that she is starting to "completely let those walls down" in her writing. She noted, "I'm learning things about myself right now that I didn't even know was possible. I'm able to share more of my life."

Wilson said the forthcoming album she is working on "needs to be a step up." That could be a tall order as her current album, Bell Bottom Country, won ACM's Album of the Year honors in May.

As she celebrates her 31st birthday today (5/19), Lainey Wilson is the reigning Female Vocalist for the ACMs and the CMAs. She also won the ACM Album of the Year award for Bell Bottom Country, beating out albums by  Miranda Lambert and Luke Combs.

There is no doubt that Lainey is well on her way to becoming a country music superstar. She currently opens stadium shows for Luke Combs and gets a performance slot at the 2023 CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium in June in front of 65,000 fans worldwide.

As she celebrates her big day today (5/19), we count down what we believe are her six very best songs to date, with many more to come in the future.