Even as the country mainstream has veered ever closer to pop and arena rock, singer-songwriters like Kelsey Waldon carry the torch for its traditions. The late John Prine saw the raw talent native of the incredibly named Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky — as celebrated in the autobiographical “Kentucky, 1988” — signing her to his Oh Boy label and taking her on the road as his opening act. Like Prine, Waldon’s songs have an elegant economy, telling the stories of everyday people and their struggles in the heart of America. (Though Prine grew up in the Chicago area, his parents came from coal mining country in Kentucky.)
In her recent appearance at the Pearl Street Warehouse,Kelsey and her band tore it up at the with a set of hard-hitting hocky-tonkers that would’ve made George, Waylon, or Dwight proud.
At Pearl Street Warehouse on June 19, Waldon performed on the evening before the release of her latest album, Every Ghost. Her third album since 2022, she recorded this collection of nine songs dealing with the complicated bonds of family and the challenges of adult life and sobriety with her road band, The Muleskinners, in Memphis. Introducing one of the new tunes, Kelsey said, “We all have ghosts, don’t we?” (I am frequently visited by Andy Kaufman’s, thank you very much.) She continued, “This song is about a ghost I had for a really long time,” and shared that she’s been sober now for four years.
Songs about drinking and alcohol have a proud lineage in country music, and we also got one — practically a requirement — “about heartbreak.” Waldon dedicated another tune to her grandma, who she was very close to and who passed away last June. But not all the songs on Every Ghost are so weighty. “Comanche,” the first single from the album, celebrates a 1989 Jeep she bought — she loves vintage trucks.
Watch the official music video for “Comanche” by Kelsey Waldon on YouTube:
While these are all well within the standard topics for her genre, Waldon’s fresh lyrics avoid tired cliches, and she comes to the table with a distinctly modern, progressive, perspective which was evident in “Peace and Love” and the title track of her Oh Boy debut, White Noise/White Lines, “about a spiritual experience with friends from the Chickasaw nation.” Her lone cover and last number of the evening, bluegrass pioneer Hazel Dicken’s “Ramblin’ Woman,” which closes out the new album, highlights her down-to-Earth feminism.
Waldon started off with “Tall & Mighty,” quickly running into some trouble as she broke a string. She took it in good stride, saying, “That’s live music. Shit happens.” Her bandmates helped her change the string, and show rolled right. Along with many of the songs from the new album, her set included the title cut from last year’s There’s Always A Song, “Dirty Old Town,” “Black Patch,” “Traveling the Highway Home,” and “All By Myself.”
Olivia Ellen Lloyd, a singer-songwriter from Shepherdstown in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, opened the show with a 40-minute set. She also covered Hazel Dickens, playing “A Few Old Memories,” which Dolly Parton recorded in the ’90s. “Notty Wood,” she explained, is “about my grandparents and the sacrifices they made to become homeowners,” only to let it slip away. Her impressive set also included “Loose Cannon.”
Lloyd was a good fit with Waldon, as she plays a similar — albeit somewhat distinct — brand of traditionally-influenced country music. She played acoustic and solo, which contrasted with the more rambunctious, full sound of Kelsey and her band. Sizzle or no, there’s plenty of steak here: while the band gives extra power to her songs — and they’re a tight, forceful unit — it’s the substance of the writing in her lyrics that really sets Waldon apart. John Prine clearly knew exactly what he was doing when he brought this talented musician into the fold, and she impresses me every time I see her.
