Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' is packed with other important messages, and when she finally released the project, she explained to fans on social media, "This is the day I’ve been dreaming and praying about for years. I get to share a piece of me with y’all and that’s pretty dang special. I hope people can listen to this record and feel understood, accepted, and inspired to be unapologetically themselves."

It's been a long road to get to this point for Lainey, but a life-long dream she was determined to make come true. Originally from Baskin, Louisiana, her goal to move to Nashville to pursue music was ignited the day she visited the Grande Ole Opry as a kid. She explained, "We were sitting on the bottom floor, back row, stage right when my family and I saw Little Jimmie Dickens, Bill Anderson, Crystal Gayle, Phil Vassar, and Jeannie Seely at the Grand Ole Opry. I remember having this overwhelming feeling even at 9 years old that I was going to stand in that circle one day. The fire that was lit that night has never gone out.... it just keeps getting bigger."

Ten years later, Lainey found herself making the move to Music City, and just last year made her own Opry debut. And even though she describes the process as "terrifying," she never gave it a second thought. She tells iHeartRadio, "The move from Nashville to Louisiana was terrifying, especially for a 19 year old girl who had never really gone a whole lot of places. But there was never a moment where I thought twice about making the 500 mile move. I bought a Flagstaff camper trailer, hauled it to Nashville, and that’s what I lived in the first three years I was in town. I’m a firm believer in doing things that scare the hell outta you, because those are the things that lead to the moments that mold you and give you the strength to keep growing into the person you’re destined to be."

Amy James