Monkey’s Eyebrow is a Kentucky town 160 miles northwest of Nashville. The latest census says about 55,000 people live within the 30 miles of the community’s center close to where the Ohio River takes a southwestern turn towards I-57 in Illinois. According to author Mark Usler, the old rural swath of land acquired in the Jackson Purchase got its nickname because, from above, it resembles the furrowed brow of a monkey. That makes no goddamn sense to us, and hopefully Kelsey Waldon will redefine what Monkey’s Eyebrow means to the rest of America. The 29-year-old songwriter was born and raised there, and she’s currently one of the brightest stars in a glowing lineup of young Nashville country singers.
“I am a very rural person and I love so much about that culture, but I am also a very progressive person,” Waldon told CL over the phone on a warm February morning. “I want to be clear that both of those things are very much a part of my personality.”
She’s talking about the themes that arise on I’ve Got A Way, her proud LP of classic country that gives the genre a tune-up whilst still paying tribute to the classic likes of George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It harkens back to the days when Waylon and Willie were introducing themselves to the world, and it’s reminiscent of voices like Loretta Lynn’s. Just don’t harp on that with Waldon, who also cites Mavis Staples, Levon Helm and even Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar as influences.
“It gets a little tiring for me sometimes to be asked about Tammy and Loretta,” she said. “I love them, but I can't do them. I'm not them.”
She’s right, and that’s alright. At it’s best, I’ve Got A Way is angry, downtrodden, tipsy and forgiving, too. Waldon is the perfect messenger for the introspective look at coming of age in a very confusing time for the country, and she doesn’t mince words when describing an even newer batch of songs she’s written.
“I'm very much about the human experience from my point of view, but I do have themes about uniting as people,” she said. “I believe we have the same universal dream, and I absolutely believe that everybody in this world deserves equal rights.” Just don’t tell her how to look or act while singing about it.
“I'm not your cartoon character. I'm a real person, and I don't have to wear a dress,” she said about a recent review that wishes she played the part of Opry damsel a little more. “Talent is talent, and good music is good music.”
Kelsey Waldon at Gasparilla Music Festival
Sun. March 12, 2:15 p.m. EST, Kiley Gardens Stage
Read more profiles on the women of GMF here, and see a guide on the festival here. See our full Q&A below.
Your tour doesn’t really kick off until March in Asheville — have you been able to get started on your resolution to garden a little bit?
No, it’s actually really warm in February. I am actually in shorts in Kentucky, it’s about 70 degrees. I have not gotten to start doing that. I'm actually can't because I’m gone all March and April so there's no point in starting. Plus I'm actually living in the city in Nashville, so there's no place to start working on one.
You went to Nashville so that it could kick your ass, but there are some camps that say Nashville is just a brutal town to try and make it in. You eventually moved back to Kentucky and also went to Belmont. Now that you’ve broken out, what kind of advice would you give a songwriter on the fence about Nashville?
Nashville’s been good to me. I don't necessarily think it’s for everybody. I don’t think you have to live there to be successful either, but as far as business goes it is where I found my team. You know, my heroes lived there.
I did leave Kentucky and came here. When I first moved, when I was younger, I wasn't old enough to get into bars. I still currently live in Nashville, and Belmont of course is in Nashville, and that was a couple years ago. Now it seems like a lifetime ago now, I mean a lot has happened since then, but you know, I think Nashville’s been good to me. I don't necessarily think it's for everybody, you know, and I don't necessarily think you have to even live there anymore to be successful, but as far as the business goes and as far as things that have helped me this is where I found my team and whatnot. When you think of things like that, you see Nashville has helped me.
But like I said, I guess it's an all how you look at it. It's not for everybody, but then again a lot of my heroes live there. It's the only place in the world that you can see amazing music pretty much every night of the week. There are other towns like that, too, as far as New Orleans and stuff like that. I have to say it's not for everybody, but on this part of my journey it's certainly been good. I'm not saying that I'm going to live there forever, but you know I have to give it love because it has definitely been good to me.
Let’s talk about the band. Brett Resnick still plays with you right? Who else is in this band you’re bringing on the tour?
Brett on pedal steel guitar, I have to say it’s one hell of a band. I’m biased, and I’m confident. I’m really proud of them. I think we make a superb crew.
As far as growing the band and improving, what do you expect the band to work on?
I think, all the time, I am trying to improve and be more confident. I think we are pretty confident, but you know there are things to work on all the time and I'm always trying to expand the live show end. I would like to the grow the show, obviously, I'm planning on throwing a couple different covers in coming up here and hopefully some new stuff. I’ve written like nine new songs since I've been off the road, so we're trying to kind of working those in. I'm always thinking about getting better, thinking in the back of my head about what I'm going to do next. I think we just want to keep improving the things we are playing, everything. You know things like improving on the dynamics and making those moments count when they should — especially like the powerful moments, stuff like that. I think we do have a handle of that, but more than anything I want us to continue to grow and grow closer within the music and in all of our personal lives as well. I hope it all only gets better.
I mean I know everybody probably says it, but it is literally a constant journey. I hope two years from now that we are all way further along. I hope we grow up musically and have progressed musically. I never think there's that moment when you think you've got it, or you're the best, because you're actually not. You're never there. We just want to keep progressing and keep being the best we can be. Sounds like I'm talking about it basketball team [laughs].
You say you have nine new songs. I’ve Got A Way and All By Myself are both very introspective, so there aren’t a ton of big picture themes making themselves obvious on the record. This story I’m writing is centered around the fact that the festival you are playing has assembled one of their strongest female lineups ever. Have you noticed any new themes creeping into new material considering everything going on regarding a new administration and women speaking up for themselves and other marginalized communities?
Well, I think a constant theme for me especially in a lot of my newer stuff is that I'm still I'm still very much about the human experience, especially the human experience from my point of view. I kind of actually wanted to look a little further and tell my story and be a little more detail. This new material has definitely been inspired by the way things are going with that. I don't think anything like the Women's March or anything has affected it directly, but I do have at least two songs that I have written recently which have themes about uniting as people.
Even with everything happening, I believe we have the same universal dream at the bottom of it all, and I absolutely believe that everybody in this world deserves equal rights. I think a lot of us are confused about what's happening. I also want to be clear that I am coming from a very rural area. I am a very rural person and I love so much about that culture, but I am also a very progressive person, so I kind of want to be clear that both of those things are very much a part of my personality.
You parents didn’t play, but your grandparents played bluegrass. How old were you exactly when you started playing music?
I'm 29 years old now. I started playing music when I was very young. I was probably, well, I was starting to learn by ear when I was seven or nine years old and that was actually on a piano. It was kind of my first instrument. I'm not very proficient, but I learned how to play chords and read music. I had a babysitter that that I had growing up because my parents worked their asses off all the time. She basically kind of raised me and my little sister, in a way. She was the music leader at her little country church, and she taught me how to play music. Her name is Beverly Pickett.
Does she come to your shows?
She doesn't come to my shows or anything like that. She’s a very sweet and very quiet country woman.
Did they ever give you a hard time about playing honky tonk?
No they never gave me a hard time about playing country or rock and roll. I mean it wouldn't matter if they did, but no, I think she's proud. I think they're just proud. My family always kind of lets me do what I want to do.
Well, not sure if I should ask you this, but as far as music goes, in general, it’s a hard industry, but do you feel like it’s more or less difficult for women to break through without being told who to be, what to write, etc.?
Oh, yeah. You can ask me that because I think that's a very real thing. You know, I think that it's just a fact. It's a fact though for all of us, male or female, but yeah, you know, I think there is a different kind of pressure. There’s a different kind of idea that people think you should be. With this latest record it's been interesting because I've had some of my first, I guess haters. Dare I say haters? I mean reviews, I don’t really read them anymore, but finally it’s happening, you know. Like at least you all are saying something. I'm just glad that people are feeling one way or another because it means something's happening.
It means somebody's feeling something — they're either really loving it or hating it, but it means something is resonating with somebody. I guess my point in saying that was that I read this review last year and it was kind of comical in a way. It was a guy overseas, but he was just said something in the review that he liked it, but wondered why I don’t wear a dress like Tammy Wynette. I guess my point is that he wasn’t understanding what this is about, clearly. I'm not your cartoon character, like I'm a real person. I don't have to wear a dress and I'm not Tammy Wynette. Talent is talent, and good music is good music. I hope that answers the question. I think that it exists and can be annoying, but I hope that we're all the moves to change that
What women do you look up to in the industry? Obviously there is Loretta Lynn and the late Tammy Wynette, and now with current artists like Kacey Musgraves and Margo Price there are plenty of strong women in country.
You know, I don't know. I mean, it's interesting to ever get asked that question. I feel like a lot of us that grew up on country music obviously love George Jones. I was obsessed with that era at one point of my life. I was obsessed with that era of recording sonically and whatnot. Loretta, obviously, since I was a little girl she's been one of my biggest heroes, but honestly there's been so much more for me and even now there are so many other things that are influencing me at this moment. I was also always a huge Mavis Staples fan, a Staples Singers fan. Mavis Staples was one of the first female singers that I really looked up to. Obviously when I was in high school I loved, you know, Emmylou Harris and stuff like that, even now it's not just women and females.
Good music is good music, and a lot of my heroes are also males. I'm kind of really influenced by a big range of music, even hip-hop and a lot of blues. I really feel like it's all in the pot. I grew up listening to the band as well. Levon Helm was one of my big first guys, so yeah. I just always like to be very clear on that. It gets a little tiring for me sometimes to be asked about Tammy and Loretta. Even though I love them, they are the queens, yes, but I can't do them. I'm not them.
You cover Bill Monroe and the Gosdin Brothers on the record. Are there any live covers you’ll be doing at GMF?
We’re planning on throwing a few covers in there. Like I said, I’ve also written nine new songs since I’ve been off the road.
The tour includes a few festival dates (including Kentucky’s ROMP Festival) — are these big sets bucket-list moments for you? You’ve already played the Ryman, but still feel like you’re trying to get better with every set.
We recently had our debut at the Grand Ole Opry. The bucket list in general is that we get to do all this great stuff like Pickathon, Romp and even Gasparilla. Being able to tour, you know, getting open up for Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives in April. I'm looking forward to a lot of things. I think just being able to do this right now is a big bucket list for me in general. Just being able to work on the road be able to have these opportunities. That's a big deal you know.
You’re a fan of your local American Legion. What are the chances of seeing you at a Tampa dive like The Hub down the street?
[Laughs] I guess that quote is out there somewhere. It’s gonna be a grind, we actually have to be back in Nashville for something our drummer and bass player are doing.They can't really get out of it, so we’re booking it back to Nashville. I don't know if that's going to make everybody happy, but I'm trying to make everybody happy. I doubt any of us will be at the bar, well maybe one of us, but I do love the American Legion. It's been a cool little growing thing in Nashville. Honestly, I don't really go out that much anymore, but when I do go out it's definitely a spot that I enjoy.