Lainey Wilson Is Trying to Keep 'One Foot on the Ground' Amid 'Whirlwind' Year (Exclusive)

'I've been like preparing for the race and I finally entered it and now I'm running it,' Wilson said at the 2024 Grammys of her career

Lainey Wilson is enjoying her success after a busy year in 2023!

The country star, 31, attended her first Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. She reflected in an interview with PEOPLE's Janine Rubenstein about what it felt like to be nominated for the first time in her career aimed at amplifying female voices in music.

Wilson was nominated in the best country album category for 2022's Bell Bottom Country. She was also nominated in the best country duo/group performance category for the song "Save Me," which she sings with Jelly Roll.

"It's been a whirlwind, and that's the best way I can explain it," Wilson told PEOPLE, adding that she's just been "trying to keep one foot on the ground" as her career reaches heights she's never seen before.

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The singer-songwriter said she wrote her first song at the age of 9, started playing guitar two years later and moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue her country music career at 19 years old.

"I've been like preparing for the race and I finally entered it and now I'm running it," she said, adding, "I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

She said that of all the songs on her album, whenever she needed a pick me up from her never-ending schedule, her song "Heart Like A Truck" gave her fuel to push through and perform over 180 shows in 2023.

Related: Women In The Mix

"I was singing it for myself, too, just to pull myself up by the bootstraps and keep on going," Wilson admitted.

Before winning the Grammy for best country album, Wilson praised her collaborator Jelly Roll who she said was like a "brother" to her.

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As for what excited her most about her first time attending the Grammys, she said she was excited to see Joni Mitchell perform live but was really trying to take in the moment.

"I'm just excited to be in the room with just so many people from so many different walks of life and genres...just celebrating music," she said.

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