Tag: Kelsey Waldon

Get Off Your Ass: November Cometh

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Shovels & Rope // The Fonda // November 2

Paper Bird // Bootleg Theater // November 3

Jared & the Mill // The Satellite // November 4

Joan Baez // Walt Disney Concert Hall // November 5

Robbie Fulks // McCabe's Guitar Shop // November 6

Jonny Fritz // El Rey // November 10

Sean Hayes // The Satellite // November 10

James McMurtry // Troubadour // November 11

Erykah Badu // Memorial Coliseum Exposition Park // November 13

Sturgill Simpson // The Wiltern // November 15-16

Amanda Shires // Echo // November 17

Kris Kristofferson // The Rose (Pasadena) // November 17

Loretta Lynn // Opry House // November 1

Chicago Farmer // The 5 Spot // November 3

The Steeldrivers // Opry House // November 4

Kelsey Waldon // Station Inn // November 5

O'Connor Band // City Winery // November 7

The Stray Birds // Station Inn // November 9

Madeleine Peyroux // City Winery // November 10

Radney Foster // City Winery // November 12

Darrell Scott // City Winery // November 19

Boo Ray // The 5 Spot // November 19

Will Kimbrough // The Bluebird Café // November 26

Vince Gill // Ryman Auditorium // November 30

Ryley Walker // Villain // November 3

Chatham County Line // Rockwood Music Hall // November 4

Mipso // Rough Trade (Brooklyn) // November 5

Toshi Reagon // Joe's Pub // November 6

Brandy Clark // Mercury Lounge // November 11

The California Honeydrops // Bowery Ballroom // November 13

Charlie Parr // Rockwood Music Hall // November 14

Hiss Golden Messenger // Music Hall of Williamsburg // November 15

Lydia Loveless & Aaron Lee Tasjan // Bowery Ballroom // November 16

Margo Price & Sam Outlaw // Music Hall of Williamsburg // November 16

Infamous Stringdusters // Brooklyn Bowl // November 18

Chely Wright // The Bell House (Brooklyn) // November 29

Kelsey Waldon, ‘Dirty Old Town’

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Kelsey Waldon has had a hands-on insight into classic country since she moved to Nashville, supplementing her formidable debut, The Gold Mine, with van tours and honky-tonk shows, as well as a different kind of education with a gig behind the bar. On her sophomore full-length, I've Got A Way, the Kentucky native further proves she does have a way — with introspective lyrics and a delivery that somehow turns heartbreak into a soundtrack fit for long drives in the country or a late night on the porch.

The album's opening track, "Dirty Old Town," is an early standout for its spry tempo and the way it expands upon the coal town commentary that made The Gold Mine such an ear-catching first release. From the very first riff, "Dirty Old Town" sets the tone for I've Got A Way by ushering in the record's heroine with a healthy dose of side-eye to small town life and a self-deprecating, endlessly relatable nod to the fact that you can know the flaws of a place — or a memory, relationship, or, hell, a grudge — without necessarily letting it go. Waldon has quickly established herself as one of Nashville's rising class of artists carrying the torch for no-frills classic country, and that's particularly evident in the instrumentation on this cut: Prominent pedal steel and swift finger-picking provide the optimum backdrop for Waldon's thick, sweet drawl. The song may stick to country's most recognizable characteristics, but it's a well-placed introduction to this record of foot-tapping highs and gut-wrenching lows.