To say. A. Book. 3 were. Wrong. And. And. This is World Cafe I'm Marina Duras today our Nashville correspondent Jessie Scott brings a session with an artist she says is representative of the neo traditional scene burgeoning now in Nashville Kelsey Walden is hard country from Kentucky her new album white noise of white lines was released by beloved singer songwriter John Prine Oh Boy Records she's the 1st signing to that label in 15 years Kelsey writes what she knows about rural vistas and the personal interconnectedness of small town America Her songs are rocking and ragged John Prine was quoted recently that he signed her because he believed her today you'll hear Kelsey talk 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 new album at Nashville's Love Shack studio they start off with a song called anyhow. I'm a flame King. That was Anyhow the 1st track from the new album white noise white lines from Kelsey wells and I'm Jesse Scott for World Cafe and Nashville I'm so happy to be with you in the studio today welcome Kelsey thank you so much as the I'm happy to be here. It's been quite a year your new album white noise white lines is. Your 3rd full length record and it was released in early October and it is out on a legendary imprint John Prime's Oh Boy Records how how did you 1st meet John I 1st met John actually on the quay almost cruise the 1st of 2018 that's her 1st met him but apparently he had know who I was even before that which is kind of crazy it's really great thankfully and. I because I had met you know Fiona his lovely wife in manager Fiona came up to me at a tribute show that we did for John Prine actually for Jessie says of those darlins and but it was John Prine tribute show and saying fish and whistle there and Fiona came and she she came out to me was like you know John and I are big fans of yours she's like listen like we see what you're doing like she literally said that to me she was like we see what you're doing she's like you know don't like to look left or right you know you just look like you just look for it you look straight forward like keep those bonders on you know ball of law and 1st of all cannot believe that she was telling me that I was just like you guys know who I am like you know it's crazy so Anyway fast forward to later Fiona had kind of promised you know she was like we're going to get you on some shows and she did like at the end of 2018 I got to actually play some shows with John then like when we played shows together at the end of 2018 I think that was really the the nail in the coffin you know I mean we really were able to like saying together and it's now each other and. We just really kind of bonded I think over the music and I was so nervous the 1st time I sing with him at home oh so like the 2nd time like when I got that other opportunity at the end of the year I was like I'm about to knock this song cocky but I was like I'm about to knock this other part because like I just felt like I had to I had to you know and then after that he kind of started asking me about their record and and as they say their wrists there is this kind of history. Yeah it's really such an astounding story it's the 1st time in 15 years that there's a news signing so poor records and one of the quotes that I love is that John Prine said that when you said he believed you. Yes I just saw that recently that he said that. How do you internalize that I don't doubt. That article that you're actually talking about I didn't realize they had talked to John as well so when I read it I was just like oh my gosh you know. It's amazing you know and obviously you know I've heard other people say that too but like to hear you know some like John saying that he's heard a lot of people throughout his life you know that means that means a lot to me means lost me as a songwriter as well. I'm just the scout for World Cafe and Nashville and I'm talking with Kelsey Walton today the 1st song we heard Anyhow speaks to country living and choices and so does the next song we're going to hear the title track white noise white lines would you say there are common themes that find their roots in rural America that run through your music Sure absolutely yeah tell me more where I'm from me no means a lot to me I think it's a very very cold full culture there's plenty plenty of inspiration to grab from and write about you know I've always grabbed inspiration from that you know and I was a bit specifically or very colorful name yes screw us I have to ask about that yeah. Well a lot of people do that. I'm actually from the name of it is monkey Kentucky which is it's really not that weird like back home you know Kentucky has a lot of really weird names I mean I guess you could I call him wonderfully weird I mean it's you know there's a Possum Trot he there's like a big bone lick there's a. Like rabbit had I mean. They obviously like completely embraced it means only the t. Shirts now and so which was my idea even back in the day I mean back like 8 years ago or so and my dad you know my dad hasn't lived down there is still still lives down there so ice Yeah would you play white noise white lines for us. I sure will. That was Kelsey Walton with white noise white lines the title track of her new album I'm Jesse Scott with roll cafe and I'm talking with Kelsey Walton at Love Sex studio in Nashville Kelsey can you introduce the rest of band to us. And we have Mike kill evil on the electric guitar and he's also playing the bear on these children and we're right on the pedal steel guitar Alan Newnam on the electric bass and 8 Felty on the drums for have a guy. A lot of these guys they have with it is our newest member but everyone else has been in my band going on like over 3 years and I'm just you know just super super lucky and I think it's really important to you that you love the people you're with on the road you know there's a lot sacrifices you make your way from a lot of people at home you know it's the people you see every day it becomes family yes seriously so being from Kentucky when did you become aware of Nashville's Music City moniker actually had a really young age because. My granting granddaddy and my great grandmother they were all huge country music fans. You know and we see in the Grand Ole Opry when I was little girl all the time you know I was very aware of the Ryman I mean that was like. Just like a dream to me you know mean like the mother church you know and when I was in high school you know I kind of delved into a lot of. You know my musical heroes actually happen to be from my home state like Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs and like Bill Monroe and obviously Loretta Lynn and you know and all these all these artist head moved our I had obviously gotten famous on the Grand Ole Opry and you know at clearly had a presence in Nashville you know and not to mention like you know one of my heroes John Prine and Townes Van Zandt Amy Lou Harris I mean they all you know I knew they all lived in Nashville zoning clearly it was kind of like as like Ok so you know this is you know this is where kind of everyone's something is like you know gravitating these people towards this place and. I would have loved to have stayed home and luckily I'm so close to the border now so that's really good to live in Ashland City Tennessee now not that far away really close to my family you know and it was really hard to leave home to I mean you know is there still identify myself as a Kentucky and like you know until the day I die but you know I wanted to be somewhere where I knew I was going to be challenged I wanted to be around like minded songwriters some in this just seemed like the place you know came to Nashville and went to school here I did yeah it was just crazy because I didn't. I didn't go to college like directly after high school I of a comet just actually moved to Nashville 1st right after high school and worked. You know 45 plus hours a week paycheck to paycheck like. Just trying to make rent you know Mink is basically a mom and like yeah you can pay for it and you know worked so much I really wasn't able to meet anybody and I was too young to play in bars in. The only part of it let me play was Music City Bar and Grill and Opry land so thank you Music City party girl but yeah I did I went to I went to Belmont and only for 2 years ago I went to community college and was Kentucky and that actually got me into Belmont because my grades in school like are really good and like in high school you know like I basically had to get my. Where they call it associates degree yes and then and then I was accepted into the Belmont songwriting program which was pretty exclusive I don't know it's that helped me get back in get you know in county get planted here again and it's crazy so did you work for a publicist or was that an internship Oh yeah yeah I did it was an internship. Well it worked for Tamara Saviano while I was in school when you started interning at Samara What was the 1st project you worked on well that's a teller by who Tamara Saviano is so Tamra at the time I met or she was Guy Clark's manager Kris Kristofferson manager and the way we met was insane because I never ever thought I would enter I didn't care anything about interning you know I really didn't really not to be a bad example to anyone out there I didn't like love school you know I didn't but I'm glad that I finished and I'm very proud that I did and I was the 1st person to get a college degree like in my whole family and that meant a lot to everybody and Belmont was so good to me taught me a lot but you know I didn't really think I'd ever been in turn. And Tamara actually reached out to me because she had seen a video of me covered in Townes Van Zandt's on You Tube and I'm like that's not really the way this supposed to work right you don't email me and ask. Your enter like I'm like I'm supposed to like a 5 for this stuff or I like I just had some really strange things kind of like happened really organically in my life and. So anyway of course I did because I was just like wow all like I was like I think I should do this you know and we really developed our relationship. And trying to think about the 1st thing she made me do the main thing was transcribing God Clarke's book that she was writing but I say this to everyone all the time and I think tomorrow would agree with me like I did work for Tamara and I did run a lot of parents but honestly I think she knew what she was doing because for the most part like she would she be like hey like me and Shawn can been you know we're going to go have dinner and do you want to come with as you know I mean there is just she just really you know would be more so like now I realize looking back like really I was just like learning from her like I was learning from from her interactions with people I was like I mean she was the 1st person that told me like that I needed. Even a publicist she's like I know you don't have any money but she was like you know just try this because like I She was the 1st person that really like kind of like a bullet pointed like a lot of stuff out for me and I could have never you know that's a left turn but and that's something I wanted to talk about a lot so it's really fun to talk about right now but Tamara really was. Am really thankful to have her as a mentor at that time in my life it's great it's great to come to town and have a mentor there are so many people that come to Nashville wanting to have a career but don't know about publicists and promotion and no record label and no idea I mean a straight off the farm and I had I had I would never ever thought that I needed a thing like that I'm just a scout for a cafe in Nashville and I'm talking with Kelsey walls and today I would love to get another live performance maybe Sundays children. Can you tell me oh a little bit about what you were thinking when you wrote that song sure. Feel like this song kind of gets misunderstood a lot for the nature of it and also how direct that the song is. My inspiration actually came from growing up you know in and around. The bad church and honestly have been like a lot of my like gay and lesbian friends being told that they were wrong for being who they were and then really dealing with that like their whole life just holding that guilt you know obviously eventually finding peace because they realize that really they embraced who they were the song. You know it's kind of a stream of consciousness it's not a. Not really trying to preach to anybody it's just something I had to get off my chest you know I don't just sit down and think oh the song is going to be this or it's going to be that like I try to look at it like his peers possible Yeah like what comes out is absolutely not an attack on Christianity whatsoever I think some people have felt that way when they've heard it maybe because they have felt seen in a way and. And I think that's Ok You know I I don't know I don't think everyone should like everything that they hear. And it's Ok if. It does make you uncomfortable you know you can always you can always change it tracking you know I stand by what. You know what I'm trying to say which is really a message of love and you know sometimes I think we can experience God by being just our most true self can we hear it can Sundays children. A big. Takeaway was we think Leno. Evarist. Mean. To be. Saying. That was Sunday's children from Kelsey Walton her new album is called White Noise white lines Kelsey thanks somehow it's for being here thank you so much you make it easy thanks. I'm Jesse Scott for World Cafe at luv Cec studio in Nashville Tennessee war in a moment from World Cafe. 6 . 6. Legs. Hey I'm Marina Duras this is World Cafe they key to our national correspondent Jessie Scott for her session with Kelsey Walden Kelsey is the 1st artist to be signed to John Prine record label in 15 years now you'll hear a suite of John Prine songs sung by him and by others starting off with Hello in there John Prine on the cafe. Them after my mother. Told me his mother. Told. Ha. Come on. Come on. Come on be when you feel in. Play. Just the way. To feel it. Come. To. The stolen his skin. Let's just. Whisper to. Mums. You. Can't. Come. To. See. Me and no. No. Please. Let. Me. Play a clip yes she saw. This all. Coming. Hot. You can feel the pain in his voice in that song in the fall the next list is called hot tears Phantogram fall in love before that and sedan archives track confessions big thank you to our affiliates across the country from k w i t in Sioux City Iowa to k t n a and tell kena Alaska we produce the show at w x p n at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Thanks for listening to World Cafe from n.p.r. World Cafe is supported by Americans for the Arts committed to transforming America's communities through the arts and arts education supporting the nonprofit arts industry which employs 4600000 people nationwide learn more at Americans for the Arts dot org You're listening to World Cafe on k s u t 4 Corners Public Radio thanks for joining us this evening stick around we've got another hour coming up this is k u t e Ed Nash Durango q.s. w Flora Vista and. Goes this brings We can also be heard in Cortez Maine coasts Silverton and online at k.s.u. T. Dot org. How's it going what's going on you know Ok today. Thanks for tuning into the show. Now it's on its way. All right there it is. This is The World Cafe the songs have fade outs but what are the best songs with. Us today hunting through the World Cafe record collection for some of the best shade of all time so don't adjust your radio because sound quiet all hour long playing songs that fade in from some of the biggest artists ever then if you have a favorite fade you can send it to me at the World Cafe on Twitter or you can tweet me at. Celebrating the musical today. For David Bowie it wasn't just a song he started a whole album with a fade in the opening track from the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars it's right here he started it this way that's a lot of confidence to start a whole album with a faded it's 5 years on World Cafe. The markets. So many mothers. Use it just come up. With. Space where. It was.