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Fall 2026 Drive Pop-Up

Kelsey Waldon Represents The Neo-Traditional Scene Burgeoning In Nashville

Kris Kristofferson's publicist, Tamara Saviano, offered Kelsey Waldon an internship after listening to her cover Townes Van Zandt.
Laura E. Partain
/
Courtesy of the artist
Kris Kristofferson's publicist, Tamara Saviano, offered Kelsey Waldon an internship after listening to her cover Townes Van Zandt.

There are 8,000 stories in Music City from folks who arrive here with a dream in their hearts for a music career. But how exactly do you get there? There are just as many paths to success.

Today, our Nashville correspondent, Jessie Scott, brings us a session with an artist representative of the neo-traditional scene burgeoning in Nashville. Kelsey Waldon plays hard country indebted to her native Kentucky. Her latest album, White Noise / White Lines, was released by John Prine's Oh Boy Records and she's the label's first signee in 15 years.

Kelsey writes what she knows, about rural vistas and the personal inter-connectedness of small-town America. Though mainstream country sounds like pop these days, Kelsey will always be perceived as country — if only from the way her voice sounds. Her songs are rocking and ragged — John Prine was quoted recently saying that he signed Kelsey because he "believed" her. Today on the show, Kelsey talks with Jessie Scott about being true to her roots and delivering an album that represents her commitment to honesty. She brought her band to perform music from her latest album at Nashville's Love Shack Studio, and they start off with a song called "Anyhow."

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

Kimberly Junod is the senior producer of World Cafe.
World Cafe Nashville correspondent Jessie Scott is a 50-year radio veteran, and is currently the program director and afternoon drive host at WMOT Roots Radio in Nashville. She has spent the last couple of decades nurturing, curating, writing, and creating audio and video, in an effort to tell the story of American roots music.

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