b. 26 June 1973, Pocahontas, Illinois USA. Wilson’s poverty-stricken upbringing in rural Illinois bears similarities to the backgrounds of fellow country singers Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. The daughter of a single teenage mother, Wilson was working in a local bar alongside her mother by the age of 14. It was here she first took to the stage, singing along to karaoke CDs for tips. She graduated to a covers band before taking her destiny in her own hands and decamping to Nashville in the mid-90s. Like many hopefuls arriving in country music’s city of dreams Wilson was soon working in a bar in order to pay the rent, and before long had a daughter of her own to look after. She was talent spotted by John Rich (of Big And Rich), singing with the house band in the bar where she worked. Rich in turn introduced Wilson to a group of Nashville-based songwriters called the MuzikMafia. The experience of working with a group of like-minded artists helped her songwriting, and with a number of tracks committed to tape Wilson began doing the rounds of the record companies. She signed a major label recording contract with Sony Music Nashville and entered the studio with Rich and co-producers Mark Wright and Joe Scaife to work on her debut album. Premiered by the stomping single ‘Redneck Woman’, Here For The Party was an instant success on both the country and mainstream charts, debuting on the latter at number 2 in May 2004.
Wilson’s extensive touring in support of the album saw sales reach platinum level and helped establish her as one of the most important country newcomers of the new millennium. There was no evidence of any dip in the singer’s popularity when her follow-up album, All Jacked Up, debuted at the top of the country and mainstream charts in October. She followed up with her first book (named after her first single) and a third album. One Of The Boys marked Wilson’s graduation as a songwriter in her own right (she did not write any tracks on the first two albums).
Wilson’s musical eclecticism and her gritty lyricism marks her out as a refreshing alternative to the bland production line country pop sound, personified by Shania Twain and Faith Hill, prevalent in Nashville.
