Country singer Lainey Wilson lives up to the hype at sold-out Eagles Ballroom concert in Milwaukee

Any country music fans who were sleeping on Lainey Wilson got a big wakeup call when nominations for the Country Music Association Awards were announced last September.

The 30-year-old Louisiana native scored six nominations, more than any other artist, including for album of the year and song of the year. Two months later at the CMAs, she won two awards, tied for the most of the night, for female vocalist and new artist of the year.

Thursday at a sold-out Eagles Ballroom at the Rave in Milwaukee — one of the biggest headlining shows of her career so far — Wilson suggested that the CMAs were just the beginning.

Constantly moving across the stage the second she emerged, as she led her crackerjack four-piece band through three songs back to back without a pause, Wilson seemed to be gunning for the CMA's big prize, entertainer of the year.

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She made a strong case, even though the academy isn't likely to bestow that privilege on a newcomer who isn't stuffing stadiums. But when it comes to nominations, Wilson could again be a leader of the pack. The gripping avenger-murder ballad "Wait in the Truck" with Hardy — a highlight Thursday despite the fleeting appearance in Wilson's 82-minute set — is a shoo-in for musical event of the year. And Wilson's 2022 album "Bell Bottom Country" should pick up multiple nominations, including for album of the year.

Combined with her 2021 breakthrough album "Thinkin' What I'm Sayin'," "Bell Bottom Country" suggests that Wilson is the closest thing in Nashville, among a treasure group of talented if undervalued women, to replicating Luke Combs' formula for success.

Like Combs, Wilson co-writes and records songs with sticky hooks that practically demand country radio play. And like Combs, there's still a wit to Wilson's storytelling and a grit to her sound that harkens back to traditional country, for Wilson expressed explicitly through a striking, range-defying, soulful Southern twang.

Thirteen of the latest album's 16 songs made the setlist Thursday, and live, they were all winners. There was the inspired "Atta Girl," which Wilson explained was written as affirmation for her female friends trying to embrace a new start after a needed breakup. The song served that same purpose for the female fans who dominated the 3,500-person-capacity venue, with Wilson, through the nourishing lilt in her voice, acknowledging the love and time lost to a bad partner, but also recognizing "he can't take all your happiness."

"Live Off" live also aspired to a higher purpose, the performance prefaced by a rousing speech about being true to yourself. Wilson embraced an unapologetic attitude, but with a playful smirk, for "Hold My Halo," as she sang about "coming in hot as hell" and tearing "up this town like a drunk tornado."

For "Wildflowers and Wild Horses," Wilson's vocal tone matched the daring of her words, as she sang "of blazing a trail/through barbed wire valleys and overgrown dells," the simple but striking anthemic drum shuffle cutting out at one point so one powerful visual — "I push like a daisy through old sidewalk cracks" — could push through.

That same vividness drew a very different emotional reaction for "Those Boots (Deddy's Song)." Wilson briefly interrupted the song — a touching ode to her hard-working father — with a warm memory of the pride she felt untucking the bottom of his jeans as a child when he slipped his boots on before working on the family farm.

It was the lone song that Wilson performed solo on acoustic guitar Thursday night, the sparseness giving more room for her voice to shine. She still managed to hit sweet notes as she strutted almost ceaselessly across the stage, but when Wilson slowed down and channeled all of her energy into her vocals, she achieved wonders.

"Things a Man Oughta Know," her song of the year contender at last year's CMA Awards, seemingly ended with a powerhouse vocal flourish, before Wilson unexpectedly and inexplicably blew it out of the water with a more radiant finish.

"Bell Bottom Country" single "Heart Like a Truck," her likely CMA Award song of the year contender this year, also wrapped with a soaring vocal finish that, too, turned out to be a fake-out. After the big-money notes, Wilson spotted a young girl in the crowd; she invited her onto the stage, giving her the mic to sing the chorus one last time to encouraging screams from the crowd.

"You're the star of the show, sister," Wilson told the beaming girl before giving her a hug.

Gestures and attitude like that, with talent and strong songs to spare, is the kind of stuff country superstars are made of. In Milwaukee Thursday night, Wilson proved she has what it takes.

3 takeaways from Lainey Wilson's Milwaukee concert, including opener Ben Chapman

• Wilson filled her set Thursday with endearing commentary between songs, from expressing her gratitude to be cast on "Yellowstone" this season; to the pride she has for the giving and hardworking people in her tiny hometown of Baskin, Louisiana (latest census population 210); to inviting the crowd to a cheer and a toast she dubbed a "holler and a swall'er." My favorite story was her recollection of visiting Nashville for the first time on vacation when she was 9 and proclaiming to her parents she was "home."

• The "Bell Bottom Country"-heavy set included some covers, including one that appears on that album, of 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?," which served as the night's big finale. There was also a breezy rendition of Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff," while her take on Rick Derringer's "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo," the second song in that take-no-prisoners three-song opener, offered the night's first fiery vocal flourish.

• While country superstardom seems inevitable for Wilson, her openers Thursday night illustrated she’s not interested in associating her brand with cookie-cutter country pop. Following a short initial set from the traditionally minded country singer-songwriter newcomer Leah Blevins, Ben Chapman led his band through swampy, psychedelic funky, country rock, including a hazy version of Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman.” At times, Chapman and the band seemed to get lost in their jams, while the crowd got lost in their conversations, but the set still carried a lot of character.

Lainey Wilson's Eagles Ballroom setlist

1. "LA"

2. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" (Rick Derringer cover)

3. "Smell Like Smoke"

4. "Road Runner"

5. "Watermelon Moonshine"

6. "Hold My Halo"

7. "Atta Girl"

8. "Grease"

9. "Mr. Big Stuff" (Jean Knight cover)

10. "Those Boots (Deddy's Song)"

11. "Wildflowers and Wild Horses"

12. "Wait in the Truck"/Heart Like a Truck"

13. "Hillbilly Hippie"

14. "Weak-end"

15. "Rolling Stone"

16. "Live Off"

17. "Things a Man Oughta Know"

18. "What's Up?" (4 Non Blondes cover)

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lainey Wilson lives up to the hype at sold-out Milwaukee concert