She finally found a keeper.
Lainey Wilson is gearing up to release her Whirlwind album tomorrow, and it stands to be different from any of her previous efforts simply for the fact that there will be several love songs, which is something new to the Louisiana native.
She’s mentioned here and there before that ever since she started dating her boyfriend Devlin “Duck” Hodges, former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, she has a completely new perspective on love… and we’ll all get to hear it very soon.
Hodges was a four-year starter at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Steelers in 2019. He was named the starter during the 2019 season when Mason Rudolph went down with an injury, going 3-3 as a starting quarterback before being waived by the Steelers and signed to the practice squad prior to the 2020 season.
Hodges then played one season for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League before retiring from college football.
He shares pictures of the two of them occasionally online, though in general, they keep their relationship pretty private, understandably:
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 ahead of the album release, Lainey gave some rare insight into her relationship with Hodges, saying that part of the reason it works with Duck is that he gives her “a run for my money,” and is her biggest cheerleader:
“I finally found a guy that gives me a run for my money. And he’s my biggest cheerleader. He’s just a good person. And he knows how important chasing down a dream is because even when he was a little boy, football was his life.”
She explained that there’s elements of their relationship embedded in the album, but more specifically on the title track:
“‘I Love You’ has been said in a million different ways and we’re all just trying to find ways to say it different, but I don’t think I’ll ever be the love song writer that’s super mushy gushy.”
And in terms of how they met, Lainey says they got together when Duck was still with the Steelers, and Lainey’s career was just starting to take off when he was let go from the team. So yeah… not exactly ideal for a new relationship, but they got through it and are clearly very much in love:
“And he did it and he tried out for the Steelers and made the team. And so he achieved what he set out to do. And so he knows. We met at a time where he was still playing with them, but then it all changed.
So it was weird. It was like his life was changing as my life was changing and we were going different directions but… it was wild. You would think that somebody couldn’t handle that.
Of course, they live a very different lifestyle than most people, but they make it work:
“That’s right. So yeah, life for us is a whirlwind. I mean, it’s not normal. We don’t get to see each other as often as some couples do, but we also know that have is very special. And so yeah, for the most part it’s hard, but it’s easy.”
I love hearing Lainey so happy and in love, and I can’t wait to hear more of this side of her in what’s promising to be an amazing record, Whirlwind.
You can watch the entire Apple Music interview below.
She has already release two songs that seem to have been inspired by her man, “Hang Tight Honey” and “4x4xU.”
“Hang Tight Honey”
“4x4xU”
Whirlwind tracklist:
1. Keep Up With Jones (Lainey Wilson, Josh Kear, Wyatt McCubbin)
2. Country’s Cool Again (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Aslan Freeman)
3. Good Horses (feat. Miranda Lambert) (Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Luke Dick)
4. Broken Hearts Still Beat (Lainey Wilson, Dallas Wilson, Josh Thompson, Blake Pendergrass)
5. Whirlwind (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
6. Call A Cowboy (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
7. Hang Tight Honey (Lainey Wilson, Driver Williams, Jason Nix, Paul Sikes)
8. Bar In Baton Rouge (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Kasey Tyndall, Jason Nix)
9. Counting Chickens (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Josh Kear, Dallas Wilson, Jon Decious)
10. 4x4xU (Lainey Wilson, Jon Decious, Aaron Raitiere)
11. Ring Finger (Lainey Wilson, Aaron Raitiere, Marti Dodson, Jon Decious)
12. Middle Of It (Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson)
13. Devil Don’t Go There (Lainey Wilson, Abram Dean, Lance Miller, Joe Fox)
14. Whiskey Colored Crayon (Lainey Wilson, Josh Kear, Wyatt McCubbin)
