Music

Music Lifer

Kelsey Waldon knew from a young age that music was in her blood, and making music was going to be her life’s work. Getting there, though, took some determination.

Waldon, who lives in Nashville and tours internationally, plays country music in the same vein as Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson. In a genre where people sometimes emulate having a rural background, Waldon’s credentials are real. Her western Kentucky accent and upbringing in Monkey’s Eyebrow attest to her authenticity. “Kentucky has so many different regions and beautiful pockets,” Waldon said. “[Plus], we gave the world Merle Travis and Bill Monroe.”

Waldon appreciated growing up in a country setting but said her hometown on the Ohio River frequently flooded. “We were river rats,” she said. She suspects many Kentuckians aren’t familiar with her often-swampy home environment. Her father still farms and runs a hunting lodge in Ballard County.

The maternal side of Waldon’s family was full of musicians. Her great-grandmother played guitar. Her grandmother also played guitar and wrote songs, and Waldon’s early musical memories involve her grandmother’s house. “I heard country music for the first time from her sunroom,” she said. “She had eight-track tapes of country and bluegrass all around.”

By the time Waldon started at Ballard Memorial High School, she was broadening her musical tastes. “I started writing songs like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Neil Young.” The first three vinyl records she bought on her own were by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and John Prine. Waldon said it was Prine’s music that opened a new musical world for her. “It was country and relevant,” she said. While Dylan’s lyrics were an epiphany for her, Prine’s hit closer to home. “Oh, this is in my voice,” she said. “My standard for lyrics changed. [Prine] was one of the reasons I moved to Nashville. I heard you could see him hanging out.” After graduation, Waldon moved to Nashville. She had her mother’s permission but also the understanding that she had to make it on her own. Waldon said she was too young to play in the bars and had to work 50-plus hours a week at a Target to make ends meet. Eventually, she moved back home, earned an associate’s degree at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, and returned to Nashville, when she was accepted into Belmont University’s prestigious music writing program. “I started to be with people who cared as much about songwriting as I did,” she said.

Waldon has lived in Nashville since 2012 and has been steadily getting more recognition for her work. Her album I’ve Got a Way was among the Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2016 from Ken Tucker of NPR’s Fresh Air. The single “All By Myself” made NPR’s Top 100 Songs list that same year. Her song “Kentucky, 1988” made Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Country and Americana Songs list in 2019.

It was in 2019 that Waldon had a night at the Grand Ole Opry that she still relives. “It was a pretty epic Opry night,” she said. While playing on stage with a band that included Sturgill Simpson, Prine asked Waldon to join his Oh Boy Records label. She was the first artist to be signed to the label in 15 years. “Joining Oh Boy has been like a dream. They are a dying breed in this industry,” she said. “I actually got to know John, and he was my friend. He was a mentor and a hero.” His passing from COVID-19 in April 2020 hit Waldon hard.

The pandemic slowed down Waldon’s career, as it did for most working musicians. She said that, in retrospect, there was good in the lockdown. She had time to write songs and release a new album.

Waldon is back on the road now, crisscrossing the country and promoting her newest album No Regular Dog. It’s a life she plans to continue. She loves making music and making connections with her audience, and that’s all she’s ever wanted to do. “I’m in for the long haul,” Waldon said. “I’m a lifer. I didn’t really have a Plan B.”

For information on Kelsey Waldon’s upcoming concerts, visit kelseywaldon.com.

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