Kelsey Waldon - Monkey’s Eyebrow to the Country Music Hall of Fame
From Monkey’s Eyebrow to the Country Music Hall of Fame
She learned to write songs before she learned to drive.
Raised in the swampy river bottoms of rural Kentucky—riding a John boat to her dad’s hunting lodge—Kelsey Waldon found her way from front porches and thumb-picked guitars to sharing stages with Willie Nelson and Tanya Tucker.
🎙 Signed to John Prine’s legendary Oh Boy Records
🎧 Played the Grand Ole Opry
✍️ Her handwritten lyrics now live in the Country Music Hall of Fame
But the climb wasn’t all spotlight and applause.
One night it’s a sold-out show at the Ryman.
The next? Five people in Houston.
Through it all, Kelsey kept going.
Because the songs wouldn’t let her quit.
Her latest album, Every Ghost, is her boldest yet—haunting, raw, and unshakably real.
🔥 A voice that won’t flinch.
🔥 A pen that won’t lie.
🔥 A sound rooted in the truth.
If you don’t know Kelsey Waldon yet…
You're in for a REAL TREAT!
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Transcript
Hey there, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Americana Curious.
Speaker A:She grew up in a town called Monkey's Eyebrow and then ended up signed to John Prine's legendary oh Boy Records.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:Kelsey Walden is a true force of Americana.
Speaker A:Sharp pen, timeless voice, and stories that cut straight to the heart.
Speaker A:From playing the grand old opera to touring with Willie Nelson and Tanya Tucker, let me say, let me resay that Tanya Tucker.
Speaker A:She's built a career rooted in truth, twang, and fearless storytelling.
Speaker A:Today, we go deep on every ghost, her haunting and excellent new album, and the winding road that got her here.
Speaker A:Buckle up and let's get Americana Curious with Kelsey Walden.
Speaker A:Kelsey, welcome to the show.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker A:So what did Monkey's Eyebrow give you that Nashville never could?
Speaker B:Oh, well, I mean, of course.
Speaker B:I mean, it gave me my childhood.
Speaker B:I mean, it gave me my upbringing, you know, and I'm still very much a part of.
Speaker B:You know, I would say the.
Speaker B:Sorry, that's my puppy dog.
Speaker B:She's sneezing.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:She's laying underneath me here.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, my childhood, my upbringing.
Speaker B:I would say experience.
Speaker B:I would say lots of life lessons.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Not all of them, but definitely, definitely a lot of them.
Speaker B:You know, I was just going to say that, you know, Kentucky's still my home.
Speaker B:I mean, kind of forever.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, you don't really ever stop being a Kentuckian.
Speaker B:You know, I'm not that far away now.
Speaker B:I'm, you know, the only one in my family that has left the state, but I'm actually pretty close to the border, even where I live now.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:You know, I feel like.
Speaker B:I don't know, the Kentucky music scene is still such a big part of who I am, too, you know, And I don't feel very far removed from that, you know, whatsoever.
Speaker B:You know, obviously, it keeps.
Speaker C:It keeps pulling you back.
Speaker C:Kentucky, you're getting closer and closer.
Speaker C:How does growing up in such a rural community like that shape your songwriting?
Speaker C:I mean, stories for days, I imagine.
Speaker B:Sure, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and.
Speaker B:And obviously, you know, it's crazy because it's.
Speaker B:It's really only one part of my very, you know, my stories kind of getting bigger all the time, it feels like.
Speaker B:And growing.
Speaker B:But, you know, I mean, as far as the community goes, I mean, I think, you know, the county I'm from is certainly a community, but, I mean, you know, down in Monkey Sabra, I mean, I grew up in the Ohio river bottoms.
Speaker B:I mean, really right on the river.
Speaker B:I could see Illinois from across, you Know, if we, if we went back behind Calvin Lake, which is.
Speaker B:Was right behind my dad's hunting lodge, you know, that's kind of like the Kentucky swamp down there.
Speaker B:I always say it's a very interesting part of Kentucky.
Speaker B:It's a very beautiful.
Speaker B:I mean there's still the hills and everything, but then there's like the flat bottom lands, you know, in the cypress trees and you know, like in Charles, you know, South Carolina and you know, duck hunting land and stuff.
Speaker B:My dad would flood out the land to.
Speaker B:That's what he did for a living.
Speaker B:And we could walk, you know, we could walk back on the banks and you know, and it kind of flood country, you know, I mean, flooded.
Speaker B:Flooded all the time.
Speaker B:And we voted into our house a lot as kids.
Speaker B:I mean, my dad's lodge was on like stilts, you know, and yeah, we'd get home from school and you know, ride the four wheeler into the levee and like, you know, John boat into the house sometimes, you know, because.
Speaker B:But you know, my and everybody else in our family like lived kind of up, up the highway in the county, but closest town, I guess was Paducah.
Speaker B:That was still about 35 minutes away, but.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And could you please repeat monkey's eyebrow because I, I don't believe I pronounced it correctly.
Speaker A:How did you pronounce it?
Speaker B:That Monkey's eyebrow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker C:Sounds cooler when she says it.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was like, yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, I think, I think in, in Kentucky there's a lot of towns like that, so it's not really like a shock.
Speaker B:I kind of joke a lot on stage about how, you know, I didn't really think it was weird.
Speaker B:I didn't think it was weird at all until I left home.
Speaker B:I mean, I didn't.
Speaker C:No other.
Speaker B:I didn't.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, how's the whole world?
Speaker B:And honestly now I just kind of, you know, I've embraced it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's like, you know, Paradise, John Prine or like, I mean there's, there's so many, honestly, even crazier, more colorful.
Speaker B:Colorful names I feel like back home.
Speaker B:But I don't know, I think that kind of makes it awesome, you know.
Speaker A:Is it?
Speaker A:Is it?
Speaker A:And feel free to fact check me here, but did your nanny teach you how to do music at a young age and teach you about singing or does that someone else in your family that.
Speaker B:Well, my whole, my whole mom's side of my family, they were all musical.
Speaker B:We did have a nanny.
Speaker B:It wasn't, you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't say.
Speaker B:When you say nanny, I feel like everybody thinks that's like a really fancy like thing.
Speaker B:But we just call.
Speaker B:We just called her my nanny.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:She was the.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, she.
Speaker B:I mean, my mom, you know, worked overtime essentially to make ends meet, you know, and so Beverly Pickett was her name.
Speaker B:She still lives on Mount Pleasant Church Road.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:She basically raised me and my little sister and.
Speaker B:Yeah, she was like the piano teacher at this little church and she.
Speaker B:She's the first one that taught me piano.
Speaker B:But also my granny played and my great grandmother.
Speaker B:I mean, I have a picture of her with.
Speaker B:I mean, she played.
Speaker B:She played guitar.
Speaker B:She would thumb pick guitar.
Speaker B:Thumb picking is a big thing.
Speaker B:Western Kentucky, you know, obviously prime was.
Speaker C:Beverly Pickett an influential person.
Speaker C:Where she.
Speaker C:Was she much older than you, where she would listen to country music and maybe you.
Speaker C:That's where it kind of seeped in.
Speaker B:Not so much country music, just kind of religious lady.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:No, but I mean, country.
Speaker B:Country music.
Speaker B:I mean, I would say my granny Peg Sunroom.
Speaker B:I mean, that's the first time I heard, you know, like Loretta Lynn call me Twitty.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, from coming from her eight track.
Speaker B:I mean, Elvis, Freddie Hart.
Speaker B:I mean, all music, really.
Speaker B:I mean, my, you know, my aunt always loved music.
Speaker B:I mean, I feel like.
Speaker B:I mean, my.
Speaker B:My mom and dad, they.
Speaker B:They loved music, but they didn't play music, you know.
Speaker B:But, you know, my granny, she wrote poems and, you know, did all that stuff.
Speaker B:She was very, very musical.
Speaker B:I mean, she.
Speaker B:She loved country music.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I say this a lot.
Speaker B:They had this at the.
Speaker B:On that little sign at the Country Music hall of Fame.
Speaker B:But my, My first concert was Patty Loveless, you know, when I was little, when I was a little girl at the Biggie, Duke of Kentucky.
Speaker B:So, you know, Patty.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, I've really kind of been singing since I opened my mouth.
Speaker B:And then I started playing guitar when I was like 12 and then 12 or 13.
Speaker B:And I mean, honestly, after I had an older friend that had like, you know, a bunch of Beatles and Bob Dylan records, and so I got really into, you know, I mean, country music was like, just always, you know, that's like in my heart and soul.
Speaker B:It's my bread and butter.
Speaker B:But you know, when I started really playing too, and getting into guitar, I mean, I, you know, I love George Harrison and Neil Young, stuff like that, you know, and.
Speaker C:Yeah, country.
Speaker C:Just.
Speaker C:Sorry about that.
Speaker C:I just bring up about that country music that you Mentioned the last time I was at the Country Music hall of Fame, there was a.
Speaker C:The featured artist was Patty Loveless.
Speaker C:They have a whole display on her.
Speaker C:And then you go around the corner and there's a mention of Kelsey Walton from Monkey's Eyebrow, where there's a kind of Americana section that just hit me right now.
Speaker C:And that was the first time I've ever been there, but that's crazy.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:What's it like to have your name in the Country Music hall of Fame?
Speaker B:I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:Well, so, like, my.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:I have seen the Patty Loveless exhibit, by the way, and it was.
Speaker B:It was awesome.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Yeah, but we were in the Kentucky Voices display, like an American Currents, and I think it was, like, me, Tyler, S.G.
Speaker B:goodman, and that Myers.
Speaker B:We shared a corner display.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, I had the big Monkey's eyebrow sign, like, in there.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They were.
Speaker C:Ye.
Speaker C:Was awesome.
Speaker B:They were like, the.
Speaker B:The museum loved that.
Speaker B:It was like.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I got the sign back recently, and I kept the little tag on it, you know, that it was in the museum.
Speaker B:But they, of course, take that out year after year.
Speaker B:But listen to me now, though.
Speaker B: ndwritten lyrics for Kentucky: Speaker B:So that was a.
Speaker B:That was a big deal to me.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, I used to go.
Speaker B:I used to go there and I mean, just as like a, you know, like a nerdy fan and just.
Speaker B:I mean, look at, you know, I mean, I remember seeing the Jolene, you know, handwritten lyrics to Jolene for the first time, you know, all of Tom T.
Speaker B:Hall's, you know, lyrics and.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So to have something like that in there is a big deal to me.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's a big deal to most people anymore, but to me, that's a.
Speaker B:Like, you know, my mom was like, if we die tomorrow, your songs are going to be in a museum.
Speaker B:You know, not just any museum, like Music hall of Fame, you know, And I was like, damn right.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It's really cool.
Speaker B:That, like, that.
Speaker B:That meant a lot to me, just that they, you know, I don't know.
Speaker B:A lot of things we do out here feel pretty thankless.
Speaker B:And I've done.
Speaker B:I've been able to do a lot of cool things, but that.
Speaker B:That is a.
Speaker B:That's like.
Speaker B:That's a real honor to me.
Speaker B:You Know what I mean?
Speaker A:Well, thinking about the lyrics for a lot of artists, they remember when they, like when they were young and you're probably around 12 when you figure, man, I can really carry a melody.
Speaker A:But then you're like, wait a minute to stop.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:I can send a message.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Discover that.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I mean, I honestly really think for me, I was just.
Speaker B:You know, my mom and my nanny still have a.
Speaker B:They have all these.
Speaker B:They have some of my first songs.
Speaker B:You know, they were like when I was like nine years old.
Speaker B:I mean, I was somehow.
Speaker B:I somehow knew how to put things into course and verse, which is crazy.
Speaker B:Like, you know, just would make up little melodies.
Speaker B:And I say this all the time in interviews, but I really.
Speaker B:I really kind of just started singing to.
Speaker B:To sing the songs I was trying to write.
Speaker B:You know, like, I didn't think anything about singing.
Speaker B:And obviously, you know, throughout the years, I mean, I can listen to some of my earliest, you know, albums I put out.
Speaker B:I'm just like, I sound like a child.
Speaker B:Like that is like, literally, I sound like a baby.
Speaker B:Like, you know, because I was just, you know, I was still figuring out.
Speaker B:I think a lot of people feel that way.
Speaker B:I mean, I've heard a lot of my peers, you know, say that too, and.
Speaker B:But I mean, turns out, you know, I.
Speaker B:I guess, you know, I guess I could sing.
Speaker B:And then I don't know people now.
Speaker B:I feel like a lot of times people do talk about my voice, which is really awesome because I didn't.
Speaker B:I mean, I did take voice lessons and stuff like when I was younger, but, yeah, I don't know, I just kind of found my own way, you know, just kind of started.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's kind of started singing.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:So thinking about growth and thinking about your new album.
Speaker A:There's one song that just sings literally, but to me about growth.
Speaker A:Comanche.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, this Jeep I remember this is so I went.
Speaker A:Graduated high school in 94.
Speaker A:So I know the Comanche.
Speaker A:I'm 6 foot 6.
Speaker A:I don't think I would fit in there too well.
Speaker A:Especially not a little tiny backseat.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Well, there's a.
Speaker A:Is that song about, like.
Speaker A:Were you thinking about your personal growth in that time?
Speaker A:Is that where this really inspiration?
Speaker B:I mean, I mean, you know, I think.
Speaker B:I think every album in a way of mine has been about obviously personal growth.
Speaker B:I mean, what else are we.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I know press like to put.
Speaker B:You know, I like.
Speaker B:I know there likes to be a story in a little box that's like this is about grief, and this is about.
Speaker B:But it's like, man, that's what I've always been.
Speaker B:That's what we've been.
Speaker B:You know, I mean, I'm writing songs about life and.
Speaker B:And this has been a really.
Speaker B:I don't know, I think.
Speaker B:I think just now with this record, I'm just like.
Speaker B:I feel like I've been dialing it in for a long time, and.
Speaker B:And at the same time, it's like I'm just beginning, which is insane.
Speaker B:I mean, that's like.
Speaker B:That's what I tell people all the time, too.
Speaker B:It's just like, yeah, I've been doing this for a minute, but at the same time, people are discovering it for the first time, you know, And.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And it's like I just.
Speaker B:I feel like I've.
Speaker B:I did tap into something with this record as far as, like, you know, just really wanting to go there.
Speaker B:I mean, I think.
Speaker B:I think all my favorite songwriters.
Speaker B:I mean, you just can't.
Speaker B:You just can't be a real artist if you don't peel it back.
Speaker B:I mean, you.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I feel like you gotta get to a place where you're like, we're comfy talking about it, you know, and you can still keep mystery and you don't have to, like, lay it all out.
Speaker B:But I think, you know, it's like.
Speaker B:It's kind of like the John Prawn way, too, you know, is like.
Speaker B:I don't know, it's like a simple.
Speaker B:You know, they're simple stories, but they're personal stories.
Speaker B:But they.
Speaker B:They resonate, you know, hopefully so much that, like, everybody can relate to it, you know, and let's dive into that.
Speaker C:John Prine point there, because John comes up a lot on this podcast.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:So, Angel Montgomery, John writes from a female perspective.
Speaker C:Falling down, you're writing from a male perspective, which just to me, shows growth in your songwriting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Tell me about that song a little bit.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:I did write that based on somebody, and it's.
Speaker B:It's a completely true story.
Speaker B:It's also.
Speaker B:It's also, though, something that I know a lot about myself.
Speaker B:So I've been on the inside and outside of everything, you know, I've been on the inside of what that song's about, and I have watched it from the outside.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just watch somebody's life completely deteriorate, and it's, like, incredibly heartbreaking, you know, But I don't know, that song actually became so literal to me as well.
Speaker B:And I will not dive into that yet I'm wondering when I will be ready to dive into that, but I might during this album process, you know, way later on down the line.
Speaker C:That's fine.
Speaker C:That's fair.
Speaker B:Just kind of maybe in.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I think was the.
Speaker C:Because of.
Speaker C:It seems to me that the subject matter was very difficult to write.
Speaker C:So was that a hard song to write about?
Speaker C:We don't have to go into details, but is it harder to write something more personal than maybe just the story you're making up?
Speaker B:No, I don't know.
Speaker B:I think I just.
Speaker B:You know, I had that melody going.
Speaker B:I actually got.
Speaker B:I actually got the idea from.
Speaker B:I don't know how long ago it was maybe a year or so ago.
Speaker B:I was talking about somebody, and, you know, this person I know is like, you know, like, it was terrible.
Speaker B:You know, they were just falling down drunk.
Speaker B:Falling down drunk.
Speaker B:You know, they were falling down drunk.
Speaker B:And not.
Speaker B:And not like.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, not like.
Speaker B:I know sometimes it's, like, funny and stuff, but this.
Speaker B:This particular situation ended up becoming not funny.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Yeah, so then I just.
Speaker B:And that was, like, kind of casual, you know, I just kind of started, like, humming the.
Speaker B:You know, I was, like, falling down because it kind of had this, like, swirl thing about it.
Speaker B:And that was casual.
Speaker B:But then.
Speaker B:But then, yeah, I don't know.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker C:Something clicked.
Speaker B:I was just kind of like, this is a.
Speaker B:I just decided to kind of tell that story.
Speaker B:You know, I mean, the character in the story.
Speaker B:I mean, after.
Speaker B:After I heard that and then just based around that, I just kind of was like, okay, so the character in this story is like, on the merry go round of addiction and they can't get off.
Speaker B:You know, it's like the person was, like, literally falling down, but.
Speaker B:But also, it's like, obviously like their life is spiraling.
Speaker B:So it's like more like.
Speaker B:Yeah, so it's both.
Speaker B:And I feel like sometimes you.
Speaker B:You're at.
Speaker B:You get to that point where you're so far in it that you can't see anybody else around you.
Speaker B:Honestly, you push everybody away.
Speaker B:Eventually it's just you and the liquor and the pills.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Then.
Speaker B:And then, you know, nobody wants to.
Speaker B:You know, your kids don't want to talk to your friends, don't want to talk to you, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, I know that's, like, heavy, but I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm a fan of, like, you know, I grew up listening to, like, Hank Senior.
Speaker B:Like, you Know, sad, drunk country.
Speaker B:So it's kind of like this is just the other side of the coin, you know, And I.
Speaker B:I just think they're important stories, too.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:And I don't.
Speaker B:It's not like I sit down being like, I didn't sit down with this record and say, I'm gonna write songs about this.
Speaker B:I mean, it just was all happening.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And, yeah.
Speaker B:And so that's what.
Speaker B:You know, I started playing Falling down, like, out kind of before we went into the studio with it, and I kind of just started playing it at some.
Speaker B:Some stuff and, you know, I could kind of tell everybody, shut the up.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And everybody was kind of like, you know, I could hear a couple like, whoos, you know, after, like.
Speaker B:And I was like, okay, all right, all right.
Speaker B:So I was like, well, you know, I was just kind of seeing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, so.
Speaker B:So I was really.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was.
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:A lot of people ask me about that, but.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I mean, it's like I said, it's like the character is.
Speaker B:You know, it's just.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I think sometimes you're just.
Speaker B:You're so deep.
Speaker B:You're so deep.
Speaker B:You just don't.
Speaker B:You don't know how.
Speaker B:You don't know how to.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You don't know how to get.
Speaker B:You don't know how to get off the merry go round, so.
Speaker B:And it's lonesome, you know.
Speaker A:What's a lot of repairs?
Speaker A:Well, I mean, what's the response you get after you do that?
Speaker A:If people get quiet in the crowd, they listen.
Speaker A:How do they.
Speaker A:How do they respond?
Speaker B:Well, I mean, they've responded great.
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I don't know.
Speaker B:To the other stuff, too.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously, you know, different.
Speaker B:Different things, you know, different shows are different.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I treat.
Speaker B:I treat my whole show kind of like I'm in the.
Speaker B:I'm in the fight.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, you're not.
Speaker B:You're not gonna.
Speaker B:You're not going to capture everybody.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But I like watching like.
Speaker B:Like, if we're opening for somebody that doesn't.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously, you know, a lot of people, you know, are there for me, and at our headlining shows, I mean, people are coming to.
Speaker B:To see us, but I mean, to see me, but, I mean, you know, some opening slots, it's like someone maybe just might be like, you know, who the hell is this?
Speaker B:And then, you know, I feel like my guitar player was saying that, too.
Speaker B:I feel like Sometimes, you know, you can see people kind of be like, what?
Speaker B:Like, what is happening?
Speaker B:And then by the end of it, they're like, okay, we are on.
Speaker B:We are on.
Speaker C:Speaking of opening shows, so I saw you many, many years ago.
Speaker B:Come on, tell me you're at the.
Speaker C:Turf Club in St.
Speaker C:Paul opening for Paul Cawthon.
Speaker C:This was.
Speaker C:It had to be six, seven, and eight years.
Speaker C:I mean, it was.
Speaker C:You were just on the up.
Speaker C:And I don't know if you remember this particular show, because you play a lot of shows, but Paul was late.
Speaker C:Nobody remembers where.
Speaker C:I don't know where Paul was.
Speaker C:I'm not going to go into that.
Speaker C:But Paul was late, so Kelsey Walden had to kind of keep playing and keep playing, and you shifted.
Speaker C:So great having that.
Speaker C:You know, nobody's knowing when headliner Paul is going to show up.
Speaker C:But I remember you took a break, then you came back out, and people were loving it.
Speaker C:What's that?
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:No, no, go ahead.
Speaker C:I was gonna say, how do you navigate a situation like that, especially when you're kind of up and coming and you don't know when the headliner is showing up.
Speaker B:That's hilarious that you remember that.
Speaker B:I don't remember that at all.
Speaker B:That must have still been in my drinking days.
Speaker B:I literally.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:I have no recollection of this.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think so much has happened since this moment.
Speaker C:Oh, this is.
Speaker B:I really don't.
Speaker C:A while ago, but.
Speaker B:But I remember that tour.
Speaker B:Don't get.
Speaker B:No, I remember that tour.
Speaker B:I mean, I remember.
Speaker B:And there was.
Speaker B:There was a.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker C:You know, maybe there were multiple incidents.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I feel like.
Speaker B:And those were.
Speaker B:Those were different times, too.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:That's never happened to me again after that.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:After.
Speaker C:Well, you handled it great for your one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's never.
Speaker B:That's never.
Speaker B:That's never.
Speaker B:I have had some.
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:I have had a lot of, like, rough.
Speaker B:Rough things happen on the road for sure.
Speaker B: whatever year that was, that: Speaker B: I think that was maybe: Speaker B: I feel like: Speaker B:You know, there was, like, some good.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, I always say that.
Speaker B:I always say, you know, but I learned so much from, like, even our headlining shows, just from being on the road with John.
Speaker B:I mean, I learned, like, so.
Speaker B:Yeah, so much just like pro moves, you know, I was like.
Speaker B:I was like, all right, the bow, like, the you know, there was like so much.
Speaker B:I mean, having.
Speaker B:It's so much fun on stage.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I don't remember that.
Speaker B:I do not remember that.
Speaker B:I really don't.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I honestly, it's like kind of insane.
Speaker B:Like when your brain just like.
Speaker B:I must for some reason.
Speaker C:Well, for the record, show up, okay about midnight and put on a hell of a show.
Speaker C:So it was a.
Speaker A:It was a pro movie.
Speaker B:That's kind of rude.
Speaker C:What was the.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, I do remember me and.
Speaker B:Me and Brett went on that tour.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Well, y' all.
Speaker B:A lot has just to maybe swiftly change the subject.
Speaker B:A lot has changed since then.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're a pretty well oiled machine now.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I feel like I have definitely.
Speaker B:I definitely put the time dialing it in.
Speaker B:Y' all need to come.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Is.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm biased, but I think.
Speaker C:I think a great life too.
Speaker C:I've seen you multiple times, so that was just a.
Speaker C:That one was just an interesting one.
Speaker A:Whenever you said that, you know, you're on tour with John Brian and you learn.
Speaker A:He learned some pro moves.
Speaker A:Like, what were the pro moves?
Speaker A:Like, we're all wanting to hear what were the pro moves that you picked up from the one and only John Bryant?
Speaker B:I think first of all, just the way they treated, you know, John always treated his openers.
Speaker B:I feel like the opener was always a part of the show.
Speaker B:They were always on the poster.
Speaker B:He treated the openers with so much respect.
Speaker B:And I feel like he always got, you know, they were part of the show, they added to the show.
Speaker B:I mean, he always got everybody up there too at the end.
Speaker B:I'm not saying everybody has to do that.
Speaker B:It's not everybody's style.
Speaker B:But I think just the fact that, you know, they would care enough to like invest in that and just, you know, his sound team always ran sound for me, which is also huge.
Speaker B:I just feel like they went above and beyond to like, you know, just like, that's like class.
Speaker B:That's classy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And nobody more classier than John Bryan.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And also just like, I think him always investing, you know, in people he felt like were, you know, really, really kind of continuing that legacy.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But also like just everything.
Speaker B:I mean, he so swift with a, you know, if anybody was ever, you know, he'd be like, if there was like ever a quiet moment, you know, people would be like, Sam Stone, you know, angel from Montgomery.
Speaker B:Like, they just like yell at all this, all this stuff to him.
Speaker B:And I mean, I Even heard someone like yell Freebird one time to John Prime.
Speaker B:It's just like really like, that's like.
Speaker B:So it doesn't matter what, it doesn't matter who you are.
Speaker B:Somebody's gonna still yell pre bird.
Speaker A:Someone's gotta be.
Speaker B:Yeah, and I love Freebird.
Speaker B:It's all good, but it's just like, please, y' all.
Speaker C:You mentioned the, the word, mentioned the word invested with John and I mean, personally for you, he took you under his wing and he invested into you quite a bit and you are on the old boy record label.
Speaker C:What is that like?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, to finish that, I was going to say before I go into this, that he.
Speaker B:That he used to say if you want to.
Speaker B:If you want to get your order, go down to.
Speaker B:If you want to get your order made, go down to that McDonald's down the street, like basically, basically.
Speaker B:And then would just laugh it off, you know, and it would just like everybody to like, like shut up.
Speaker B:But there were so many one liners and the bow and the bow at the end and just like just having fun.
Speaker B:I think some people try to be too cool for school and it is serious, you know.
Speaker B:But yeah, I think he just like, he really, at the last.
Speaker B:The, the end of his life, he.
Speaker B:He just really appreciated that sort of comeback, you know, and he was living it up, you know, so.
Speaker B:But anyway, yeah, to say man, being on oh boy is.
Speaker B: Yeah, I'm still got signed in: Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Which seems, I mean, it's crazy.
Speaker B:We lived through a pandemic.
Speaker B:We, you know, I've released a couple records in between then.
Speaker B:It feels amazing.
Speaker B:I mean, I feel like I really waited at the time, you know, for a place like oh boy.
Speaker B:I mean, I, you know, and I didn't know if it would happen because I didn't know when they'd be ready, you know, to kind of expand like that and you know, order artist and.
Speaker B:And you know, I had a couple other great options, but oh boy was what I wanted to work out, you know, and, and it did.
Speaker B:And it's just, I mean, they're the good guys.
Speaker B:I mean, I feel like I.
Speaker B:And I want to see it through, you know, I'm teemo boy.
Speaker B:I mean, I, I want to.
Speaker B:Yeah, you the legacy.
Speaker B:I mean, I think.
Speaker B:Yeah, and I think it's super important.
Speaker B:You know, they've been real kind of like think considerate too with who they've signed and I don't know, you know, I just never have to, I guess get into my, my point here, it's just I.
Speaker B:I feel incredibly lucky because, you know, I don't have a label that says we don't hear a hit.
Speaker B:You know, I don't have a label that says, yeah, that's cool, but, you know, we can't sell it, or, you know, it's like.
Speaker B:Because John songs weren't like that, you know, I mean, it's like the album's become fab, you know, fabric of people's lives.
Speaker B:You know, it's not just about, like, you know, they're not, like, forcing me to, like, do collabs with people and.
Speaker B:I don't know, everything that I hear from all of my.
Speaker B:My peers, you know, that are frustrated with their labels.
Speaker B:I really don't.
Speaker B:I really don't have.
Speaker B:I don't have that at all.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And of course, my friend, that is a beautiful thing.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:And you know what I mean.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's like, sure.
Speaker B:It's like we.
Speaker B:You know, maybe there's not as much, you know, resources as, like, you know, some huge places, but there still are resources.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And in the end, you know, it's like they're the right ones, you know, and hopefully finding the right people and the real fans.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, we're always trying to.
Speaker B:I'm still chipping away at that big rock that I think's gonna fall down one day.
Speaker B:But, yeah.
Speaker C:Just with this album.
Speaker A:You had mentioned putting your time in on the road and really refining your show.
Speaker A:I read a story where you're talking about one night you're, like, packing out the rhyming, and the next night you're like, dang it, I'm in Houston playing a five people.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:Did I say that?
Speaker B:Well, it was true.
Speaker A:If it was on, it was on the Internet, so it must be true.
Speaker B:Well, what.
Speaker A:So what is that experience like, first of all?
Speaker A:And then secondly, how has that shaped what we're gonna see when we go?
Speaker A:See you take the stage on your tour?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, depending on when I said that, that.
Speaker B:That happens a lot less now.
Speaker B:So I'm very thankful for that.
Speaker A:Hallelujah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But this new album, forget.
Speaker B:I don't know about Houston, though.
Speaker B:I mean, hell, I'm like, y' all come out.
Speaker B:What's going on?
Speaker B:Houston.
Speaker C:Houston.
Speaker A:We have a problem getting out of the tour right now.
Speaker A:You're kind of.
Speaker B:I'm not the only one.
Speaker B:I'm not the only one that has.
Speaker B:You know, I mean, when.
Speaker B:That being said, you know, y' all, there's a lot of.
Speaker B:I Know, a lot of us talk big on the intern or Internet and stuff, but, you know, I think a lot of us are having.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's hard out there.
Speaker B:You gotta keep that will.
Speaker B:Moving and.
Speaker B:And, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, you can go to one place and pack it out, and you can go to some other place, and it's like, weird night, you know?
Speaker B:So I think you.
Speaker B:Just to answer your question, I mean, I.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think that instills a lot of experience, you know, it hopefully instills some wisdom, you know, because.
Speaker B:I don't know, you just have to.
Speaker B:Like, I always say that we.
Speaker B:I feel like at this point, I don't.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's like, I don't.
Speaker B:I don't want to take people's validation, like, whether if it's good or even if it's bad, you know, I want.
Speaker B:I want to validate myself, you know?
Speaker B:Like, I think.
Speaker B:I think realistically, I have to.
Speaker B:I have to care about.
Speaker B:Sorry, my partner's home, and I wish they would have told me that, well.
Speaker A:If they want to come on the show, it's okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, Justin.
Speaker B:Well, I know.
Speaker B:I just thought Luna would go crazy, but.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I think.
Speaker B:I think that just teaches you.
Speaker B:I think that just teaches you about what you're in it for.
Speaker B:You know, I think a lot of people get to this point, honestly, the point that I'm at.
Speaker B:I mean, I just think a lot of people get to the middle and they just quit.
Speaker B:I mean, I get it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:There's enough to quit for.
Speaker B:But unfortunately, you know, I'm.
Speaker B:I kind of feel like I was born to do this, you know?
Speaker C:See, I agree.
Speaker A:Called to do this work.
Speaker B:I mean, writing the music.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's like being.
Speaker B:Being a farmer, you know?
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not.
Speaker B:I'm not in it for the.
Speaker B:I told someone that the other day because I don't think some people realize just how much there is, like, stress, you know, but.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, you know, but also, like, I've been very, very fortunate.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I ain't in it for the money, though.
Speaker B:Y' all know that.
Speaker B:I am making a little now, a little bit.
Speaker B:I'm not over that mountain.
Speaker A:Not over that mountain, but Tulsa, you're touching on something.
Speaker A:That's why we do this show.
Speaker A:We do this because we believe the music of Americana needs to get out in the world.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:And it can make a very positive impact.
Speaker A:Certainly your.
Speaker A:Your new album Will.
Speaker A:And just more people need to hear about it.
Speaker B:I hope so.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think especially, you know, the ladies in the scene, but also anybody doing what we're doing, male or female.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:It really does feel like you're just.
Speaker B:Sometimes even as much as I've done, You know, it's just.
Speaker B:It really does feel like you're scratching.
Speaker B:You know, you're just, like, barely scratching the surface sometimes.
Speaker B:I mean, it's just so hard because there's just so.
Speaker B:There's so much noise, first of all.
Speaker B:I mean, there's so much it being thrown.
Speaker B:Thrown at you every time.
Speaker B:And you open your phone and it's like, you know, which is like, I'm doing it too.
Speaker B:I'm like, hey, it's me.
Speaker A:It's there.
Speaker B:And we have to.
Speaker B:You know, and that's part of it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's like, content and stuff.
Speaker B:I always.
Speaker B:I mean, I told my management and stuff.
Speaker B:I was like, it's part of the job now, but it's like, let's just try to make it, like, artful and cool, you know, and something that's beautiful and, you know, I don't know.
Speaker A:Speaking of artful and cool, I ran across your.
Speaker A:An older video from our previous albums called All About Anyhow.
Speaker A:That song.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And that was a doozy.
Speaker A:You're in, like, a renovated church and all these people in there that look like they sort of been in the bar scene for a while.
Speaker A:There are smoking in church.
Speaker A:There are dogs barking in church, dancing.
Speaker A:And then I read a quote that you had a vision of Church of Degenerates or something like that.
Speaker A:Or like you had a vision.
Speaker B:There's no telling where I was at.
Speaker A:Glazing T.
Speaker A:What is this your vision for, like, a.
Speaker A:An atmosphere and for your music?
Speaker A:This.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Symbolic noise.
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, those.
Speaker B:I feel like we've kind of gotten our.
Speaker B:Our visuals a little more refined now.
Speaker B:And also no more people.
Speaker B:No more people now.
Speaker B:So that's nice.
Speaker B:But that was also kind of before.
Speaker B:That was kind of before, you know, everything was about all of that.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But, yeah, the guy that did that video, that was so awesome.
Speaker B:That was so fun.
Speaker B:I remember I called up every friend, like, we were just calling in favors.
Speaker B:We were like, we need you to be in this video.
Speaker B:And, yeah, that was my friend Luke Monday.
Speaker B:He's a great banjo player that had Smokey.
Speaker B:His dog was in there.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I'd forgotten that.
Speaker B:But, yeah, everybody was.
Speaker A:How did your friend respond?
Speaker A:Like, hey, look, look, I know you're in church, but I need you to light that cigarette up and start smoking in the middle of the service.
Speaker B:I think we just were like.
Speaker B:Yeah, we just.
Speaker C:Went for it.
Speaker B:It was a.
Speaker B:It was a.
Speaker B:It was an abandoned church, from what I remember, and.
Speaker A:Yeah, but the Holy Spirit was bright Was.
Speaker A:Was.
Speaker A:Was live in that one.
Speaker B:We don't even play that song live, so.
Speaker B:We should.
Speaker B:But, I mean, what a song.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think.
Speaker B:I think visuals, though.
Speaker B:I mean, I think.
Speaker B:To answer your question, I love that aspect of it.
Speaker B:I mean, usually it's whatever, you know, we can do within the budget, but.
Speaker B:And obviously, I've had to invest a lot in that as well, especially getting, you know, the show's documented.
Speaker B:And, you know, I feel like now it's like, if you don't show that, I mean, it's like, hell, nobody's.
Speaker B:I mean, they gotta come.
Speaker B:You know, they want to.
Speaker B:You gotta.
Speaker B:People gotta see the show in their face and be like, damn, I'm gonna buy a ticket to that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So let me do a.
Speaker C:I got a quick fire.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:All right, now answer these quick.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Dolly or Dolly or Loretta?
Speaker B:No, no, hold on.
Speaker C:I've got more.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:A tie.
Speaker C:A tie for that one.
Speaker B:You can't, like, compare to the girl.
Speaker B:I mean, I know sometimes people are either.
Speaker B:I mean, of course.
Speaker B:I mean, I've always.
Speaker B:I mean, I love them both so equally.
Speaker B:I mean, I literally.
Speaker B:For different reasons, too, you know, and first of all, that used to be.
Speaker C:By the way, you answered it perfectly correct.
Speaker B:They used to be embraced in country music.
Speaker B:Say.
Speaker B:It's very important to say.
Speaker B:Let me say that.
Speaker B:That women all had different characters.
Speaker B:Each one of them were special.
Speaker B:They weren't, like, compared.
Speaker B:Like, you know, I mean.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's like, how can you compare Dolly and Loretta with two different.
Speaker B:Very similar gifts, but also too different?
Speaker B:I mean, I just.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker B:But obviously, Loretta.
Speaker B:They're both.
Speaker B:I mean, Loretta is.
Speaker B:I did answer the question.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker B:They are so both so important to me.
Speaker B:But I was gonna say a little special thing about Loretta, obviously, as the Kentucky girl.
Speaker B:I mean, we all.
Speaker B:I mean, if you weren't like, you know, I mean, Loretta was all our heroes.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I mean, all our hero.
Speaker B:I mean, I just.
Speaker C:Yeah, you answered it.
Speaker C:Great.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Honky tonk or a front porch, where do we want to play?
Speaker B:Well, these days.
Speaker B:These days, it's definitely my porch.
Speaker B:I don't go out much anymore.
Speaker B:Since when I'm on tour.
Speaker B:I'm basically out.
Speaker B:I'm like, In a honky tonk.
Speaker C:Yeah, Nashville.
Speaker B:I also worked at a bar for, like, eight years.
Speaker B:So anyway, these days it's the porch.
Speaker A:But, you know, not the Nashville Palace.
Speaker B:I did.
Speaker B:I worked at the Palace a long time.
Speaker C:All right, I got one more.
Speaker C:Fishing or music?
Speaker C:No, I know you like to fish if you quit music.
Speaker B:What about music while fishing?
Speaker B:No, I'm just joking.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker B:I'm obviously going to have to have that.
Speaker B:That's a really tough.
Speaker B:That's a really tough question, actually.
Speaker B:But music.
Speaker B:Music just sifts and lives in my soul, and it's kind of every part of my being, so.
Speaker B:And then I fish.
Speaker B:Now to just keep saying, since music has also become my job, I tell people all the time that I.
Speaker B:And I'm so grateful for that.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I'd be playing even if nobody was listening.
Speaker B:So there's that.
Speaker B:But just because that's like, you know, I mean, that's just what I was born with.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But yeah, I always say I have to.
Speaker B:I have to stuff like fishing and gardening and stuff.
Speaker B:I'm like, if y' all want me to.
Speaker B:If y' all want me to keep writing songs and being.
Speaker B:You know, it's like, I have to have.
Speaker B:I have to have those things.
Speaker B:They all coincide with, like, my environment.
Speaker B:You know, that helps me.
Speaker B:That helps me write.
Speaker B:So, anyway, tough question.
Speaker A:This has been so much fun.
Speaker A:What's your parting thought for our listeners?
Speaker B:Oh, what's the parting thought?
Speaker B:I hope I gave you all enough golden nuggets here.
Speaker C:Go listen to every ghost comes out.
Speaker B:Go listen to when it comes out.
Speaker B:Go listen to my record when it comes out.
Speaker B:And I hope, you know, I hope at the end of the day, you know, it's all about those songs.
Speaker B:I hope they.
Speaker B:I hope they resonate with people.
Speaker B:You know, that's one of my.
Speaker B:When I go out on the road and I see people's face in real time and I like.
Speaker B:I mean, honestly, that is, like, the one thing that I like.
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, like, I.
Speaker B:This does mean something, you know?
Speaker B:So go listen to my record.
Speaker B:I think buy ticket to the show and.
Speaker B:Yeah, won't regret it.
Speaker C:I'm getting that new merch shirt with your face on it.
Speaker C:I love that shirt.
Speaker C:And I'm a merchaholic.
Speaker B:We are all in merch.
Speaker C:Merch mode.
Speaker B:Wait.
Speaker B:Yeah, I have a whole.
Speaker B:I have two boxes of these.
Speaker B:Look, look.
Speaker B:Are y' all trying to get off here?
Speaker B:Hang on just a second.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker A:Zach's not going anywhere.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What we just got.
Speaker B:They said I might have to get ball.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Funky critter Kentucky sound.
Speaker B:Rural Kentucky sound.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's got double print and then love it.
Speaker B:Got a lot of.
Speaker B:We got a lot of Connie made these that does all of Coulter and Vincent's.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:And we're got.
Speaker B:We got a.
Speaker B:We got a hat on the way too that's like kind of like Vincent's hat here.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:But anyway, we got a kw one on my sweet and it's camo but I get all into.
Speaker B:I take a lot of pride in my swag.
Speaker B:So good.
Speaker C:I like that's all I wear.
Speaker A:Bring the credit card to Kelsey show not just for the drinks but for the awesome merch.
Speaker A:Kelsey, thank you for coming on Americana curious man.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:We'll see on the road.
Speaker B:I appreciate it, y' all.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
