Kelsey Waldon Stares Down Fears in New Album “Every Ghost”

The pride of Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky, and a certified Kentucky Colonel, you don’t get much more Kentucky or much more country than Kelsey Waldon, down to the Bill Monroe tilt of her hat. Uncompromising as she is genuine, Waldon has always leaned into her Kentucky roots, but is unfulfilled just scratching the surface with her writing. Instead she fearlessly explores serious subject matter to make herself and her audience feel and think something a little deeper.

You can expect her new album Every Ghost slotted for release on June 20th to be no different. Her sixth album overall and latest on John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, the nine-song set is said to address addiction, grief, generational trauma, and the biggest rascal we all must face down: ourselves.

“There’s a lot of hard-earned healing on this record,” Waldon says. “I’ve put in the work not only to better myself and leave behind bad habits, but also to learn to love my past selves. It took time and experience, but I’ve come to find compassion for who I was, and that’s a major part of this album.”

After releasing a spirited album of covers and classics last year called There’s Always a Song, and the Shooter Jennings-produced 2022 album No Regular Dog, Waldon’s decided to handle the new album mostly in house, co-producing with Justin Francis, and utilizing her road band, The Muleskinners. It was recorded at Southern Grooves studio in Memphis.

To get you greased up for the June release, Waldon has unleashed the sold country gold track “Comanche.” Titled after Waldon’s own 1988 Jeep model that looks like a Cherokee with the back missing, it’s not only the pride of the Waldon fleet, she uses it as symbolism for strength in solitude, including her sobriety.

“I love the whole aspect of when design mattered,” Waldon says. “Owning your car was an expression of yourself. ‘Comanche’ is about grappling with the loss of a loved one, but not to death — it’s to boundaries that I’ve set for myself.”

Waldon also pays tribute to her granny on the album with the song “Tiger Lillies,” and also includes a Hazel Dickens cover to close the album out, “Ramblin’ Woman.”

“True outlaw shit is sticking to your guns, and I feel like I’m doing that,” Waldon says. “I’m not saying I’m unbreakable, but I feel almost unbreakable. I’ve already hurt the worst that I could and lived to tell the story. We can be thankful for our ghosts.”

Every Ghost is now available for pre-save/preorder.

Track List:

1. Ghost of Myself
2. Comanche
3. Tiger Lilies
4. Falling Down
5. Nursery Rhyme
6. Let It Lie
7. Lost in My Idlin’
8. My Kin
9. Ramblin’ Woman