This Railbird performer comes back to Lexington with a new album on John Prine’s label

Situate yourself properly in this world and, sooner or later, you will get noticed. For Kelsey Waldon, that kind of planning paid big dividends in 2019.

In August, the Ballard Co. native found herself playing an early Sunday afternoon set at the Railbird Festival. More importantly, she was performing on the intimate Burl stage located between the event’s two massive mainstage areas at Keeneland. That meant, for about an hour, she and her band were at the center of crosstown concert traffic.

By this point, word of Waldon’s effortlessly traditional country music was out even though Lexington clubs had been a frequent performance stop as her career momentum mounted. But it wasn’t until this year that an integral outside player entered the picture. His name was John Prine.

Waldon had cut and completed a new recording on her own. But instead of taking another shot at releasing and promoting the record independently, as she had done with previous projects, the singer was waiting for the right opportunity to give her new music extra visibility.

Enter Prine, who made Waldon the first signee to his Oh Boy label in 15 years. That led to several shared concert bills over the summer, including a July show in Muhlenberg Co., the region Prince immortalized in his classic folk anthem “Paradise.” Muhlenberg Co. was also less than two hours away from Monkey’s Eyebrow, the rural Ballard Co. community Waldon grew up in.

“I played with John again just last night,” said Waldon by phone recently from Los Angeles. “It’s just so great every time we do a show together. It’s crazy that it’s kind of become a regular thing now. John is my idol and always has been. He was one of my first favorite songwriters. I think from a songwriter’s perspective, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

“I had released my previous records independently and that’s what got me here. That’s what got us touring in the beginning. But now we have a little more muscle in Oh Boy. My record is going to be in stores now nationwide. Before, I had been shipping all the stuff myself – the merchandise, the records - everything. You couldn’t even buy my record on the shelf. Having Oh Boy behind this one will certainly let me reach more ears. That’s what it’s all about.”

The record that brings Waldon back to Lexington and back to The Burl, is called “White Noise/White Lines.” It’s an album rich with numerous cross-generational references, from narrative and vocal phrasing reminiscent of early Dolly Parton record to a sense of folk clarity and drama more in line with contemporary songsmiths like Patty Griffin.

“The last record (2016’s “I’ve Got a Way”) was kind of vague in a way. It was still personal and reflective, but maybe not so much in terms of telling absolutely my own story. I think going into this record there were maybe a lot of questions about who I was. I wanted to have something that would be a signature of my sound. It’s been quite a journey to get there, but I think I’m getting closer every day.”

While Waldon’s Kentucky roots shine through much of the record, her heritage is placed on full display during “Kentucky 1988,” a family and community remembrance prefaced by a snippet of a phone message left by the singer’s father after hearing his daughter’s music on the radio.

“I grew up in an extremely rural area. There were only about 70 people in my graduating class in Ballard Memorial High School. But I was a Ballard Co. Bomber. Go Bombers. I’m the only one who has left my home state, but I’m always a Kentuckian. I identify myself as one. Even though I live now just outside of Nashville, it’s only natural that the environment I grew up in has inspired everything that I do.

“I grew up in a beautiful, very unique part of Western Kentucky. It’s flood country, though. We had to boat into our house a lot growing up. My dad still gets terrible backwater flooding down there. They always say you’ve got the bluegrass coming down from the Ohio, but you have the blue jazz coming up from Mississippi because I grew up where the confluence was between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. All that stuff, it’s right there in the music.”

Kelsey Waldon

When: 9 p.m. October 26

Where: The Burl, 375 Thompson Rd.

Tickets: $12 advance, $15 day of show

Call: 859-447-8166

Online: theburlky.com, kelseywaldon.com.

▪ Kelsey Waldon will also give a free in-store performance and album signing session at CD Central, 377 S. Limestone at 3 p.m. Oct. 26. For more information, call 859-233-3472 or go to cdcentralmusic.com.