Lainey Wilson’s meteoric rise to country fame came in large part from her determination to remain herself, whether that fit the typical country mould or not. On her 2021 major-label debut Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’, the Louisiana native branded herself a swaggering spitfire à la Miranda Lambert or Gretchen Wilson, with a gritty, Southern-rock-esque sound and honest lyrics to match. On Bell Bottom Country, Wilson is somehow even more herself, sharing family lore (“Grease”), personal stories (“Those Boots”), and her own personal ethos (“Hillbilly Hippie”). “I cannot imagine doing this for the rest of my life and pretending that I am something other than this,” Wilson tells Apple Music. “And that's what this record's about. It's about leaning into whatever it is that makes you you. I mean, Bell Bottom Country, country with a flare. It's about leaning into your story, your sound, where you're from, how you were raised, and being proud of it, and being unapologetically that.” Below, Wilson walks Apple Music through several key tracks on Bell Bottom Country. “Hillbilly Hippie” “That's it. It's a lifestyle. I just felt like that was the song that needed to be first on the record. I felt like it kind of sets the tone and, yeah, I think this record is a little more sing-along-ish.” “Watermelon Moonshine” “I feel like there's a little bit of something for everybody on this thing. I do. When we were writing 'Watermelon Moonshine,' it was one of those songs that, it just took you back to that young, wild, crazy love. All of us in the room had felt that at some point in time. It really has nothing to do with watermelon moonshine.” “Grease” “It's a saying that my mama used to say all the time: ‘Now we're cooking with grease,’ now we’re getting somewhere. I feel like those are little sayings that I cannot escape. Certain things that my family said growing up, it just somehow makes its way into my music. And if you listen to the record, you hear a lot of me talking about Mama, me talking about Deddy, me talking about the Lord. It somehow just makes its way into it, and I just can't even help it. Can't help it.” “Me, You and Jesus” “When I'm going through things like my daddy being sick, there's times where you're like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I don't even know what to do in this moment,’ and the only thing you can do is lean on your people and the Lord. That's it. There's nothing else you can do at that point. You got to throw your hands in the air and be like, ‘That's all I can do.’ That's what this song's about. It's about finding that person, whoever it is—it could be your boyfriend or your spouse or your best friend, your sister. It's about just leaning on them. That's what they're there for.” “Atta Girl” “It was basically a letter that I wish people would've said to me when I was going through things. So we have ‘Weak-End,’ and that's talking about being on the weak end of a heartbreak, and you got to go through it in order to see the other side of it. And I feel like once you are starting to see the other side of it, that's when you're telling yourself, ‘Atta girl, you got this. Move on.’” “Those Boots (Deddy’s Song)” “It was just a true story. What really sparked the song is growing up, me and my family, we lived in this uninsulated house, and instead of adding on like a normal person would do, they bought a portable building and cut out the side of it and attached that thing to the house. So me and my sister were living in the trailer. I remember every morning before Deddy would go to work, I remember he would holler my name, and I would run from the portable building into the house, and I would help him pull his blue jeans down over the top of his boots. And that was just my job as a little girl. It made me feel like I was doing something. It made me feel special, like I had a job. I've just always kind of thought back to that memory, and we ended up just coming up with this idea around Deddy's boots, and it's going to take a very special person to fill them.”