"I try to write songs from the human experience as I know it. You can find inspiration anywhere."

For Kelsey Waldon, country music is very much a part of who she is, a part of who she’s always been. The Kentucky singer/songwriter hails from Monkey’s Eyebrow, in rural Ballard County where her family put down roots several generations ago, metaphorically and otherwise. "Farming and planting tobacco were some of the first jobs I had growing up," she recounts.

Even so, Waldon’s musical tastes reach well beyond those borders, as evidenced on her new release, I’ve Got a Way. From classic crooners like Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn, to bluegrass greats like Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, to iconic songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, she wears her influences on her sleeve… and proudly so. "I’ve spent a huge majority of my life studying my favorite records, my favorite songs, and my most-favorite singers," she says, adding, "and you never stop learning or gaining from it. I’m still doing it all the time."