Lainey Wilson recently released her stellar new sophomore album, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin,’ and the self-proclaimed purveyor of bell-bottom country absolutely knocked it out of the park on this project. Right off the bat, one of my favorite songs from the album is “Keeping Bars in Business.”
It feels kind of ironic to listen to right now since so many of them are still closed, but it will immediately put you back on a stool at your favorite dive bar the second you hear it. Admittedly, when I first read the title before the album came out, I wondered if it would be some sort of anthem in support of the local bar during COVID times. It’s not, but it’ll definitely hit home if you miss going to your most loved bar as much as I do.
Written by Lainey, Matt Rogers and Jordan Schmidt, she details all of the happenings that help keep a bar in business, hence the title. From break-ups to celebrations, every person that walks through the door is there for a different reason.
For a lot of us, this song takes you to a place that has seen you at your best, worst, and pretty much every state in between. In the chorus, she says:
“If you’re on cloud nine or you’ve been knocked down
There’s a neon light on the edge of town
So if the world just keeps on spinning
We’ll be keeping bars in business.”
It perfectly describes the ever-revolving door of life changes, and how for better or worse, there’s always a reason to go back.
Lainey says it best to close the song,
“Yeah, ain’t that how life goes?”
Lainey recently stopped by the podcast and we had a blast talking about her new album Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’, working with Jay Joyce, navigating the world of TikTok, earning your hat, “bell bottom country” and more.
