Here for the Party went double-Platinum in nine weeks, the fastest for any debut Country artist. It went triple-Platinum in November. It also was the first by a debut artist to enter the Billboard Country albums chart at No. 1 and The Billboard Top 200 chart at No. 2. The album's breakout track, "Redneck Woman," in which Wilson sings of keeping her Christmas lights "on my front porch all year long," had the longest stay at No. 1 for a debut female Country artist since 1964.
"When she exploded, when she rose to the top we had to do that, too," said Lisa D'Addario, Wilson's personal assistant and tour manager. "We just had to rise to the occasion or we would be gone."
Wilson's team pulled together to face the instant fame, all pitching in on such mundane tasks as looking after pets when travel and performance schedules got hectic.
"When the team had to scramble to prepare for Wilson's tour with Big & Rich in eight weeks, we saved time and money utilizing the in-house resources of Morris Leasing allowing us to pull the tour together in a fast and efficient manner," said David Haskell, Wilson's tour manager. The team worked to let Wilson make the final decisions but had her confidence to make some calls when a situation merited it. Wilson said she needed guidance on her contracts and other business decisions.
"When you grow up singing in bar bands you can't imagine people having conference calls from New York to L.A. to Nashville all about you," she said. "It helps an artist to really trust her management. Even a seasoned artist ... can make some big mistakes."
She said she has kept grounded by making time at home with her daughter, running the vacuum and doing laundry. She no longer can do her own shopping at Wal-Mart but still sends someone there with a list of the groceries and household supplies she needs. When she can, she shops in the middle of the night and buys clothes there. When she can't be at home she travels with her daughter, boyfriend and other family members. She is good at locating the nearest McDonald's no matter where in the world she is, said Marc Oswald, her manager.
"She hasn't changed at all," Oswald said. "I see her becoming more sophisticated because she has to deal with so many things now, but she was always really smart."
Wilson said she is not intimidated by the idea of maintaining her success through the coming year, but she does not take it for granted. She is working hard to write the same sort of no-nonsense songs that made her stand out among Country's more glamorous female artists, including Faith Hill, and she hopes to make an even bigger impact now as the second performer on Chesney's tour roster, which also includes Uncle Kracker and other artists.
She is looking forward to being part of a new record label put together by the Muzik Mafia, the group of Nashville musicians she still gathers with when she can to write songs and perform. She eventually hopes to mentor other musicians the way Rich mentored her.
How does she envision herself in the years to come?
"Still pacing the floor, talking to someone on the phone about my career and making records," she said. "You try to take that dream as far as it will get you. I want to do it all. I've only begun to scratch the surface of what I can accomplish in this industry.''
