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Lainey Wilson (Academy of Country Music)

CMA and ACM entertainer of the year Lainey Wilson admits she does a little too much sometimes in the studio — but she doesn’t regret it. 

Take, for example, the big note in her latest chart-topper, “Somewhere Over Laredo.” 

“I’ll be honest, this song is not easy to sing,” she said at the #1 party for the hit. “And for some reason, like when I get in the studio, I think I’m Superwoman and I think I can get in there and just hold these notes like I did with ‘Heart Like a Truck.’ And I feel like I just let it all go when I’m in there. And it kinda just rolled out of me.”

The Louisiana native also sees it as a bit of a dare for the devoted.

“I like giving the fans something to kind of try to do,” she reveals. “I think it’s like a fun way for them to, like, be in their car driving down the road and … they see how long they could hold it.”

Ultimately, Lainey sees it as a stroke of inspiration.

“It was a moment for me, at least, like the different parts that I chose to go up and down and pullin’ back and goin’ for it was really just kind of led by straight emotion,” she reflects. 

“Somewhere Over Laredo” is up for song, single and visual media of the year at the 61st Academy of Country Music Awards May 17 in Las Vegas. 

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