As the EOTY balloons float behind her, it's clear there's a lot of winning in the world of Lainey Wilson. The Entertainer of the Year is coming off an acclaimed night hosting the CMA Awards, celebrating a trio of GRAMMY nominations including two for her song, "Somewhere Over Laredo," and she's planning her wedding to Devlin “Duck” Hodges. Somehow she managed to slow down long enough to check in with Katie Neal to talk about it all.
LISTEN NOW: Superstar Power Hour with Lainey Wilson
Never one to rest on success, Lainey tells Katie & Company that she's already hard at work writing the next album. "Honestly, before the deluxe was even out, I was already working on the next project. That's kind of how I do it," she shares. "I want to make sure, because this job comes with a lot of different parts of it, I want to make sure that I'm always keeping the writing, the songwriting at the forefront. So no matter what, I put co-writes in there and try to just have time where I just like brainstorm and think of ideas and think about what direction do I want to go next, what have I not said, what part of me am I discovering that I feel comfortable sharing with other people."
"I feel like I'm constantly soul searching, and digging things up, and so it's important for me to be writing while I'm doing that soul searching."
2026 is already set to be another massive year for Lainey, with a headlining slot at Stagecoach, the possibility of new music, and a trip down the aisle with Duck. "I sat down this past weekend and we started kind of trying to brainstorm, so we'll see," she says of the preparations for the big day. "I mean, we gotta get on it, but I told him I was like, 'you gotta come home from the woods long enough for us to plan this thing.'"
To hear more about Lainey Wilson's holiday plans and her experience hosting the CMA Awards, check out the full conversation above.