![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-19-Lainey-Wilson-3738.jpg\")
Lainey Wilson\u2019s show-stopping outfit, complete with floor-length leather fringe. Credit: Jennifer Lake<\/p>\nTo the deafening roar of a nearly sold-out NRG Stadium, Lainey Wilson expertly rode past the front row on horseback. An extended version of \u201cHeart Like a Truck\u201d played the country star out. This was her exit, but it felt like a show all on its own.<\/p>\n
Long before her foray into the Nashville music scene, Wilson was learning to ride horses on her family\u2019s farm in small-town Louisiana, even occasionally competing in rodeos. On Thursday, March 19, as the singer circled the rim of the stadium\u2019s lower stands, waved to the crowd, and then thundered down the central field, out of the main entrance tunnel between the bucking chutes like a seasoned barrel racer, her riding skills were on full display. It was clear that Lainey Wilson was the real deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the performer\u2019s entrance was no less dramatic. Under the spotlight Wilson emerged in a striking ensemble. A black cowboy hat crowned her look, paired with a long tassel bolo tie and dark brown gloves adorned with sweeping, floor-length leather fringe. Metallic blue and bronze chaps layered over a pair of bell-bottom blue jeans matched a buttoned top of the same fabric. Every move sent the fringe swaying behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lainey Wilson\u2019s show-stopping outfit, complete with floor-length leather fringe. Credit: Jennifer Lake<\/p>\n
The Louisiana songstress strummed an acoustic guitar and the opening chords of her brand-new single, \u201cCan\u2019t Sit Still\u201d\u2014released just a week earlier\u2014washed over the arena. The song, a restless anthem with a hint of Nancy Sinatra, immediately hold the crowd\u2019s attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on RodeoHouston? We\u2019re gonna have a dang good time!\u201d Wilson announced. A driving, gallop-like drum beat marked the beginning of \u201cWildflowers and Wild Horses\u201d from the singer\u2019s 2022 album Bell Bottom Country. Lainey Wilson was so partial to bell bottoms that she has named an album, a song, and a recently opened Nashville bar and restaurant after them. Its name? Bell Bottoms Up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Songs like \u201c4x4xU\u2019\u201dand \u201cSomewhere Over Laredo\u201d from Wilson\u2019s 2024 record Whirlwind were fun numbers for fans to sing along to. But \u2018Atta Girl\u2019 offered a special moment for a young rodeo goer named Presley Stewart who was crowned Lainey Wilson\u2019s Cowgirl of the Night. \u201cYou are the cutest thing I\u2019ve ever seen, with those pigtails and those cowgirl boots\u2026\u201d Wilson affirmed. \u201cThis is our cowgirl of the night. Go on and make her feel welcome!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It would be remiss not to highlight Wilson\u2019s\u2019 guitarists, Kevin Nolan and Aslan Freeman, who delivered some of the finest solos of this RodeoHouston season. Their playing was especially memorable during \u201cDreamcatcher\u201d from Wilson\u2019s 2018 self-titled EP, where Nolan riffed virtuosically over Wilson and Freeman\u2019s accompaniment for what felt like ten minutes before they all joined for a spectacular finale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-19-Lainey-Wilson-3752.jpg\")
Wilson commands a nearly sold-out NRG Stadium for her second RodeoHouston performance. Credit: Jennifer Lake<\/p>\n
Lainey Wilson finished off with three of her hits: \u2018\u201dGood Horses\u201d Whirlwind, 2024),\u00a0 \u201cThings a Man Oughta Know\u201d (Sayin\u2019 What I\u2019m Thinkin\u2019, 2021) and \u201cHeart Like a Truck\u201d (Bell Bottom Country, 2022).\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the song \u201cGood Horses\u201d goes: Wilson doesn\u2019t need a map, a road, or a fence. She certainly doesn\u2019t need flashy pyrotechnics or elaborate stage props to put on a damn good show. The Louisiana native thrives somewhere between Nashville glamour and rough-hewn country storytelling. She can hold her own among the genre\u2019s trendiest stars, but at her core, she\u2019s an old-school songwriter\u2014one who turns simple ideas into deeply resonant songs that connect with listeners. On RodeoHouston\u2019s star stage, with the skillful accompaniment of her band, her songs truly come to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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