Lainey Wilson Credits Fiancé Duck Hodges for Keeping Her Grounded Amid Rising Fame

“He definitely helps me keep my feet on the ground.”

Lainey Wilson, Devlin “Duck” Hodges; Photo Courtesy Lainey Wilson

For Lainey Wilson, staying grounded while navigating a fast-moving music career isn’t always easy, but luckily, she has her fiancé, Devlin “Duck” Hodges to help her remember what truly matters.

“My fiancé Duck reminds me to be human. He definitely helps me keep my feet on the ground. Also just reminds me of what’s important,” she said while reflecting on her journey on an episode of Bobby Bones podcast, Bobbycast.
Lainey Wilson, Devlin “Duck” Hodges; Photo Courtesy Lainey Wilson

Never Losing Sight Of What’s Most Important

Wilson knows that her music career won’t last forever and because of that she strives to live in the present and take advantage to all the amazing opportunities she can. At the same time, she’s mindful of taking care of herself and the people around her, and trying to never lose sight of the fact that her personal relationships are just as important.

At the end of the day, the two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year can confidently say that while she’s proud of how far she’s come, she is also her own biggest critic.

“Them people on Facebook ain’t got nothing on me,” she said with a laugh, while referencing the amount of hate she receives online each day. “I’m like, ‘oh, you think you can hurt me? I can hurt myself.’ But I feel like that’s a part of the reason why I am even here is because I have been hard on myself and I’m like, ‘okay, this song is okay, but it’s not what I think it can be’ or ‘that performance was, it did the job, but what can I do to take it a step further?’ And it’s very rare when I walk off the stage and I feel like I did everything how I was supposed to do it.”

Acting As Her Own Biggest Critic

Wilson explained she is always taking mental notes and trying to think about how she can be even better for her loyal fans. There was period of time where she did so many shows in a row that she started to constantly beat herself up, thinking she wasn’t giving her all to the performances. The reality is, she was doing the complete opposite and just wasn’t able to see it. That’s where the support of her other half, Duck, and members of her team play a huge part in helping keep her afloat mentally.

“Duck, Mandelyn, my manager, all of them were like, ‘that was the best show that you’ve ever played.’ Like ‘that one right there is one that you better remember.’ And in my brain and in my heart, I was like, wow, I did not feel that way when I walked off the stage,” Wilson admitted.
Lainey Wilson; Photo by CeCe Dawson

Thinking From The Perspective Of A Fan

Part of the reason she finds herself battling so much of the self-inflicted pressures is because she knows what it feels like to be a fan and how much effort it took to attend a show with buying the ticket, the travel, the hotel, and the planning that went into it all.

“If there’s anything that I miss more than anything, it is being a fan out in the crowd. I miss that so much. But when I think about me as a fan, I think about how hard it was for me to buy that ticket and how hard it was for me to get to that show and make the arrangements and buy the hotel room,” she shared. “It’s probably coming from knowing how important those moments were for me, that I put a little bit more pressure on myself. I know that these people had come and worked hard to be there, and they came there to feel something, and I got to make sure that they do.”

Finding Healthy Ways To Manage The Pressure

Lainey Wilson continues to navigate her hectic life by leaning into the support of those around her and taking as much advice as she can from those who have been through it all before. She goes on to say that one of the healthier approaches she’s taken that has made a big impact is following the “80% rule” shared by award-winning artist Melissa Etheridge.

“She said, ‘get out there and instead of giving it 190% and feeling like you have to get up there on the stage and bleed out and just leave it all up there, if you do the 80% rule, it gives you that 20% window and wiggle room to not let yourself down so much.’”

That mindset is now guiding Wilson as she hits the road on her current tour, bringing her best shows directly to fans night after night. The Whirlwind Tour kicked off on August 14 and runs through November with special guests Muscadine Bloodline, Ernest, as well as a rotating lineup of opening acts, Lauren Watkins, Drake Milligan, Maddox Batson, Kaitlin Butts, and Zach Meadows.