Three years ago, singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon was the first artist to sign with John Prine’s Oh Boy Records in fifteen years. Her latest, No Regular Dog, is her second release on the label and Waldon upholds the honor by delivering authentic stories and adhering to roots traditions. Waldon, hailing from the tiny town of Monkey’s Eyebrow, KY, and now based outside Nashville, issues her fourth release and she continues to ascend the ranks as one our more authentic country-styled Americana artists with this one produced by Shooter Jennings who also produced albums for Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker.
Recorded in Los Angeles, Jennings played keyboards on the record along with contributions from Waldon’s touring band including drummer Nate Felty, bassist Alec Newnam, and pedal steel player Brett Resnick. Special guests dobroist/guitarist Doug Pettibone, fiddler Aubrey Richmond and vocalists Kyshona Armstrong, Mickie Conley, Maureen Murphy, and Kristen Rogers also joined in.
Jennings, like the late Prine, admires Waldon for her deep commitment to country music, ties to tradition, and her consistency in keeping these roots values alive. Here you’ll hear strains of mid-century bluegrass, the Golden Era of ‘70s country rock, and ‘60s southern soul. This time out, it’s a broader array, shying away from a mostly honky-tonk effort to embrace all her influential musical forms. Her mission is to deliver relatable songs that ultimately bring hope to others, like her, who struggled to earn their place. She states that determination immediately in the opening fiddle and pedal steel driven title track – “I ain’t no regular dog, more like a wolf on the kill/Howlin’ at/ and hidin’ in the shadows/ from the clouds hanging over me…Nothin’ worth doing don’t come without a price/ Better saddle up, better hold on tight/It’s gonna be a long ride.” It’s Walton’s hope that others will tap into their self-worth and overcome the obstacles just as she did. The punchy “Sweet Little Girl” is autobiographical but again relatable in the sense of one going through a healing process as she sings about getting high as a means of coping. “Tall and Mighty” carries these themes further in terms of making it in the cruel music business, especially as a woman. Waldon acknowledges that forces will constantly try to break you down and it takes a tough outlook and a fair share of mistakes before one can simply be oneself.
Remarkably, given that this is her fourth album, “Simple As Love” is the first love song she’s written. She’s clearly mastered two of the pervasive country music subjects, heartbreak and drinking songs, but those are now in her past. Yet, to write a convincing love song, one has to feel it as she does now, expressing the joy of a healthy relationship. Yet her use of metaphors here is anything but ordinary – “Just like a lily in a ditch It grows where it wants to grow” or “Like a monarch to a mimosa tree Your love abides so naturally.” The waltz, “You Can’t Ever Tell” has traditional country fiddle and is buoyed by her background singers, perfectly setting up the outstanding “Season’s Ending,” her tribute to her mentor, Prine, another where these singers strongly contribute. Resnick’s weeping pedal steel is the perfect ending touch to the song that not only mourns the iconic singer but those we’ve lost due to the virus.
Waldon wails in the harrowing “History Repeats Itself” about her rural upbringing and the need for others to escape cruel politicians who foster the burdening opioid crisis. In the bluegrass-infused “Backwater Blues” she chronicles both the toll of floods and the sturdy nature of her rural brethren to withstand these natural disasters. Familiar back porch hoe-down-like bluegrass riffs color the uplifting “Peace Along (Reap What You Sow)” while the spare, haunting pedal steel fueled “Progress Again” is yet another deeply personal self-reflection, cautioning us to not dwell on our missteps but to accept them as the price of moving ahead. The closing instrumental “The Dog” puts the cap on this reflective mood.
Waldon has made major incremental leaps with each album. This is clearly her most fully realized effort to date. She has clearly arrived as one of the more honest voices in this music while remaining humble and attuned to her rural upbringing.
