(audience cheering and applauding)
- [Kelly] Ah! Oh my God.
Have you ever met? Have you ever met?
- No.
- We just met right now.
- [Kelly] Okay.
- For the first time.
- Look. Kelly Clarkson Show. - Louisiana?
- I was born in Lake Charles, yeah.
- Born in Lake Charles.
- Oh, bringing people together,
that's what we do
- [Zachary] Bringing people together.
- Louisiana in the house.
- Yeah, together. (Kelly laughing)
- That's what he said.
- Well, if you hang out with me,
You're gonna start sounding just like, so.
- I hope so.
You sound fantastic. (Lainey laughing)
- [Kelly] I love your accent.
I was literally like watching you rehearse earlier,
like way earlier, this morning,
and I was like, oh my gosh!
I was like, her accent.
I've only heard your music, and it's so thick.
But I love it,
even when you talk,
(Lainey laughing)
it's so authentic.
- Well.
- I am such a big fan.
Anyway, I'm gonna leave that. - Right back at ya.
- So Zachary is an actor who acts, but also sings.
- Yep, got it.
- But you are a singer, who acts.
You're in "Yellowstone".
I didn't know this.
- And she's great in "Yellowstone" too.
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
- Yeah. - Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
- [Kelly] I didn't know this.
I just found this out.
So have you always wanted to act?
Is this also an avenue that you've always wanted to do?
- [Lainey] You know what?
Songwriting has always been my number one.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- No matter what.
I mean, I wrote my first song at nine years old.
- I love your accent.
(Lainey laughing)
(audience laughing)
Just keep talking.
- Sounds like I got a bunch of whiskey soap marbles
in my mouth.
(audience laughs)
But, I've always, I've loved country music,
I mean, where I'm from, Northeast Louisiana.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- It's a town of 200 people, little town called Baskin,
and we eat, sleep, and breathe Country Music.
So that was my focus.
But when this opportunity came up,
- Yeah.
- [Lainey] I mean, I was like,
this is gonna be a way for me to
share my music with the World.
You dying, right I'mma take it.
Let's do it. - Yeah.
- So.
- It's an incredibly cool show.
And then, it's also just a...
You never know,
it's important that you say yes to things, that maybe,
- Girl. - You know, you were like,
well I didn't think that, but look at this.
- Oh, I know.
Stepping outside of that comfort zone.
- Yeah
- Doing things that are a little scary.
- Ya, ya.
Ah, I love your writing.
I love everything.
So, do you remember the very first song you ever wrote?
- I do.
- I do too.
What was yours called?
- Mine's called "Lucky Me".
- "Lucky Me"
- Yeah, what was yours?
- "Baby Blue Eyes"
- [Lainey] Ooh, I see, I like that hook.
- It was a badda boy.
(Kelly laughs) (audience laughs)
- Yeah. Mine was too. - Yeah.
- Mine was too.
I wrote mine at a sleepover, nine years old,
and she went to one room,
and I went to the other, and we were like,
let's write a song,
and come back and share it with each other.
- [Kelly] What cool nine year olds you are right?
- [Lainey] I know, right?
- Mine was later than that, what?
- [Lainey] I know, and then,
- Was her song crap?
And yours was really good?
(Kelly laughs) - I mean
One ended up being a songwriter, one didn't.
(Kelly laughs) (Lainey laughs)
- I love that.
(Kelly laughs) At nine, though.
That's amazing.
- At nine years old. - Lucky me.
- Lucky me.
- Do you remember what it sounds like?
- Oh I do, and it ain't real good,
but I'mma sing it for you.
(audience laughing) (Lainey laughing)
- [Kelly] Okay. I want a tiny bit.
Just a tiny bit.
- Okay.
(Lainey clears throat)
♪ Lucky me ♪
♪ I feel free ♪
♪ And I can't deny that he loves me ♪
♪ Which I know, that he does ♪
♪ So he is the one ♪
♪ Lucky me, oh ♪
♪ I said, oh ♪
♪ I'm the one for him ♪
♪ And he's the one for me ♪
♪ Baby ♪
That's all I'm gonna do. - Nine years old?
(audience applauding)
(audience cheering)
- No more, no more.
- Nine years old? - At nine
- I know, I was like,
♪ He's the one for me, baby ♪
- Look, she was wagging her
She was like,
♪ You don't know it, but I'mma (beep). ♪
(Zachary laughs)
Like, I love that.
You're writing that at like, nine years old.
- [Lainey] Girl.
- So, okay, so your music
is inspiring other young women,
which is incredible.
But there's one particular fan, I love this story,
- [Lainey] Yes.
- That you helped recently, right?
- Absolutely. Yeah.
I feel like I'm in a position - From this story
I feel like we can be friends.
Go.
- Okay, yeah, I know when you saw it,
you were like, oh we gonna hit it off.
- [Kelly] Yeah, yeah.
- I feel like I'm starting to be in a position,
where I can actually give back, and kinda help people.
- Yeah.
- Up, and it feels really nice.
I mean, we're even doing this Emerging Artist Program,
with Tractor Supply,
- Awesome.
- But this specific story, is so crazy.
We were in New York City, and I was playing.
I'm on my very first headlining tour, right now.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
Congratulations by the way (Kelly applauds)
(audience cheers and applauds) (Zachary applauds)
- It's been, - It's so cool.
- It's been awesome
It's been so awesome.
But, I see this sign, out in the crowd,
and I've got terrible vision,
so I'm kinda like, squinting, trying to see it,
and it says, "Will you sign my forehead?"
And I'm like, "Absolutely,
you better get up here,
I'm gonna sign your forehead."
But when she gets closer,
I realize that, a week prior,
this little girl had put up a TikTok
about people making fun of the way she dressed.
She dressed like me at school, and I,
- You look like you're straight up outta Fleetwood Mac.
I love your look.
- Yeah, and I think that kind of scares some people.
But, this little girl, it did not scare her.
So when I realized that was her,
I brought her up on stage,
and I had her sign my forehead too.
(Lainey laughs)
(audience laughs)
- [Kelly] I love, I love that.
- [Lainey] Yeah.
(Lainey laughs)
- That's so cool.
- It made my night, it did.
That's what its all about.
- And tell her, all those girls making fun of you,
are gonna peek in high school, - That's right, that's right.
- like we was talking about.
- That's right.
(Kelly laughs)
(Lainey laughs)
- Zach, do you?
- All those quarterbacks are all fat and bald now.
(Kelly laughs)
(audience laughs)
- [Lainey] That's right, that's right, I know.
- [Zachary] You know what I mean?
All those nerds, they're gonna.
- Check it out. - That's right, looking good,
looking good.
- Check it out.
Look at these buns.
(Kelly laughs)
So wait, Zachary wait.
Do you have a favorite moment, with a fan that you met,
Like on a street, or a convention, or anything?
- Em - You probably have many.
- I mean, I don't know, people - Some interesting ones.
- Yeah, I think the one, honestly, the fan,
the ones that I remember the most,
are when I meet people like,
at conventions, and things like that,
who tell me that, something that I've done,
whether it's Chuck, or Tangled, or Shazam,
or whatever, resonated with them,
on a very deep level,
and helped them through a time in their life,
that otherwise would've been way too dark,
you know? - That's right.
That's right.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Like, you know, people losing loved ones,
and then, they find Chuck,
and it helped buoy their soul.
Like that, as an artist, as an entertainer,
- That's what great artists are supposed to do.
- [Lainey] Yeah, exactly.
- Yeah, that's what you're hoping to do.
So, that's all the stuff that I remembered most.
And, people wanting me to sign their baby's faces.
But you know, that's - Yeah.
Yeah, now that's too far.
- That's too far.
So wait, Lainey, is there a story
behind this song that you're singing later?
A heart, sorry, I can't say it.
- [Lainey] You got it though.
- "Heart Like A Truck".
(Lainey laughs)
I wanna say a heart.
"Heart Like A Truck".
I love this song.
- Well, we wrote it.
- [Kelly] It's the metaphor, everything
- Thank you.
And actually, it's got nothing to do with the truck,
but you know, Country Music,
you gotta throw truck in there, some way.
- [Kelly] Yeah, a dirt road.
(audience laughs)
(Zachary laughs)
(Kelly laughs)
- [Lainey] Yeah, it's gotta be in there.
Hey, write what you know, right?
- I love my truck, so I'm down for truck songs.
- I know.
- But, we wrote it in the middle of the pandemic,
and it's really just about embracing those scratches,
and the dents, and the bumps along the way,
'cause, I mean, - Yeah
- that's what gives you a story to tell,
- Yeah.
- And, I feel like, every time I go through something,
this song kind of changes meanings.
But, that's the beauty of songwriting.
Sometimes, you think you know what you're writing about.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- And, turns out you have no clue.
- Mm.
- Yeah.
That's also life, and great.
- Yeah. Very true.
(Zachary laughs)
(Kelly laughs)
(Lainey laughs)
- Okay, we have to do a short commercial break.
Lainey's new album, "Bell Bottom Country", is available now.
You guys, it's so great.
Get it, wherever you get your music,
and stick around everybody,
because Lainey has a performance
for us later in the show, and it's so good.