Country That Contains Multitudes: Kelsey Waldon

From Southern Songs and Stories by Joe Kendrick

March 10, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

This episode features an interview with Kelsey Waldon, exploring her background and music career.

Many times the way and artist finds their way onto this podcast is from their publicist or someone else on their team reaching out to me, or vice versa. Sometimes I might bump into an artist at a show or festival and hit them up for an impromptu interview then and there, but that is rare. Rarer still is the scenario where I came in contact with western Kentucky artist Kelsey Waldon , which was through writer and editor Garret Woodward , who acted as go-between to ask about an interview. Kelsey was on tour in our region and hoped to get some coverage for the WNCW audience, and I immediately jumped on the opportunity. After speaking her on a video call from her hotel room in Chattanooga TN, I took the first part of her interview and aired that on my show on radio; the bulk of that conversation comes to light here in this episode. Kelsey Waldon (photo: ©Alysse Gafkjen 2025) There is a deep well of emotion and a complex tapestry of experience that Kelsey Waldon draws from in her singular style of country music. Rooted firmly in her native western Kentucky, she calls the Nashville area home now, and in our conversation we talk about how her rural upbringing in an unusual setting…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Kendrick

Guest: Kelsey Waldon

Topics covered

country music
artist interview
songwriting
rural upbringing
music career

Keywords

Kelsey Waldon
country music
interview
Every Ghost
songwriting
western Kentucky

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Every Ghost

Places: western Kentucky, Nashville, Chattanooga TN