BACK TO “TULSA TIME” — Lainey Wilson’s Electrifying Tribute to Don Williams in Phoenix
The desert night in Phoenix carried a restless energy, the kind only a tour kickoff can bring. Fans poured into the venue, cowboy hats brushing shoulders, anticipation heavy in the air. They had come for Lainey Wilson, one of country’s fastest-rising stars, and she wasted no time proving why she’s become the genre’s most talked-about voice.
But the highlight of the night came not from one of her chart-topping hits, but from a surprise that reached back across generations.
As the lights dimmed, the first familiar riff of “Tulsa Time” rang out — the Don Williams classic from 1978 that later became a staple for country legends everywhere. The crowd gasped, then erupted in cheers. Lainey, standing center stage in her signature bell-bottoms and wide-brimmed hat, leaned into the microphone with a grin that said she knew exactly the gift she was about to give.
What made the moment even more electrifying was the presence of Impact Dance, a troupe that joined her onstage, weaving movement into music. Their sharp, rhythmic choreography matched the steady groove of the song, blending honky-tonk grit with a modern flair. The result was part concert, part celebration — a living bridge between Don Williams’ laid-back country charm and Lainey Wilson’s fiery new-school energy.
Her voice carried the same earthy authenticity that has earned her comparisons to country greats, but she delivered the song with her own stamp. Where Williams sang with quiet ease, Lainey injected playful grit, turning “Tulsa Time” into a stomping anthem that had the crowd clapping, stomping, and singing along in unison.
For longtime fans of Don Williams, it was a reminder of the Gentle Giant’s enduring influence. For younger fans, it was an introduction to a classic, reframed through Lainey’s bold, Southern-rock-tinged style. That’s what made it powerful: it wasn’t imitation — it was continuation.
By the second chorus, the arena had transformed. It didn’t feel like Phoenix anymore. It felt like Oklahoma on a Saturday night, the crowd roaring each line as though they had carried the song with them for years. And in many ways, they had — because classics like “Tulsa Time” don’t belong to one artist. They belong to the collective memory of country music itself.
The dancers circled Lainey as she belted the final chorus, their boots striking in time with the snare, hands raised as if summoning the spirit of every dancehall that had ever pulsed with the song. When the last chord hit, the crowd leapt to their feet, the applause less like routine concert noise and more like a roar of recognition.
“Y’all know I had to do that one for Don,” Lainey said, breathless but beaming. “Because songs like that never die — they just keep on finding new voices to sing ’em.”
With that, she tipped her hat, and the night rolled on into her own catalog of hits. But for many in Phoenix, that tribute stood out as the heart of the show. It wasn’t just about nostalgia. It was about watching a new generation step into the tradition with respect, energy, and a little bit of fire.
As fans poured out afterward, still humming the familiar chorus, it was clear Lainey had done more than kick off a tour. She had carried a piece of country’s past into the present — proving that whether in Tulsa, Phoenix, or anywhere else, country music lives in the songs that keep being sung.