One of country music’s brightest young songwriters has inked a deal to be labelmates with one of the all-time greats.
Kelsey Waldon, whom CL first noticed when she landed on the bill for a Gasparilla Music Festival 2017, just signed to John Prine’s Oh Boy Records. Waldon’s move represents Oh Boy’s first new signing in 15 years and is a testament to the way her songs candidly explore the daily lives of the working class with both humor and humility.
"It's hard for me to put into words what it truly means to me to be signed to Oh Boy Records,” Waldon said in a release. “To have someone like John, who I have looked up to my whole life, who I have set my songwriting standards after and my general music making standards after, to have someone like him endorse my music and care enough about it to make sure it reaches a wider audience…that means everything.”
The icing on the cake is that Waldon has been added to a December 7 Clearwater show with Prine, who will be at Ruth Eckerd Hall (just a few miles away from a home he keeps in Gulfport). The show is just one of two Florida dates Prine will play in December; the other is on December 6 at Orlando’s Bob Carr Theater.
“I am bursting with pride to have Kelsey Waldon recording for Oh Boy Records. Her music continues an important arc of traditional folk and country music,” Prine said in the release. “I love Kelsey’s singing. Her voice is one of the more authentic country voices I’ve heard in a long time. I’m looking forward to all the shows we’ll be performing together this year.”
More information on the Clearwater show is available via rutheckerdhall.com.
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This article appears in May 30 – Jun 6, 2019.