Skip Happens Podcast - Every Boot Has a Story!

From Barber Chair To Country Airwaves: The Kelsey Hart Story

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Speaker:

It's time to do this. Let's go. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Skip Happens. Be careful how you say that. But uh, we're talking with one of country's brightest new stars tonight. His name's Kelsey Hart. He's got a viral hit uh Life with You, inspired by his wife, and uh debuted in the top 10 on Billboard's country digital songs chart. Hit the top 25 at Country Radio. I know that for a fact. And Ray racked up more than 200 million global global. That's such a big number I can't even say the whole thing. Uh 200 million global streams earned him a debut at the Grand Ole Opry, and not bad for a song that started as his first dance at his wedding. We're gonna talk about that too. Now Kelsey's stepping into an exciting new chapter. That's the way I look at it. You got songs like Gonna Uh Gone with the Wind, I Went to the Bar, of course, the new song, which you didn't hear it, uh, but I was playing it before we went live here, uh Fireworks. And we'll talk about all that plus life, love, and what fans can expect when he hits the stage here locally. We're in upstate New York, and he's gonna be playing in my neighborhood at a place called Keg's Canal Side. That's gonna be on November 22nd. All right, everybody, there he is. Yeah, let's welcome Kelsey Hart to Skip Happens, Kelsey.

Speaker 2:

How are you doing, buddy? It's been been a little bit, huh?

Speaker:

Yeah, it's been a little bit. Remember, you we had you at the radio station. We had you come in and do uh what we call a what's next private listener showcase. You had come out with uh Life With You, and it was just on fire, and your label brought you to town, and you performed for a room of wolf listeners, at least 150 listeners in this room. Uh, dude, you kicked ass. That that was phenomenal. Phenomenal.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, buddy. Well, I had a good time, man.

Speaker:

Yeah, how's life treating you right now? Pretty good?

Speaker 2:

It's been great. We've uh yeah, things are kind of starting to slow down just a little bit. We've uh we've got a little girl coming in December, so we're we've been uh getting a nursery together and all that good stuff.

Speaker:

I you know, obviously, you know, they talk about you a lot in the show prep we get in radio, but uh I wasn't sure if you already had the baby there or if it was like right around the corner.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, just right around the corner. So we've been uh we've been prepping.

Speaker:

Yeah. So you already know it's a boy or girl? Did you little girl? Little girl. Do you have a name picked out? Uh coast. Coast. Yeah. How did you come up with that's kind of cool? Like, how would you spell it? Like coast?

Speaker 2:

Like, C O A S T. Yeah.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So um that's cool. Yeah, my wife's uh my wife's mom. Uh we were trying to figure out you know, names and going going over different things, and uh she just said that randomly one day, and we we both kind of we both thought it was cool.

Speaker:

So yeah, and you know, and I do too. And then and the couple of reasons, the big reason is you don't hear that that often. Yeah. So I that's all the more reason I love that because you know you hear so many of this and so many of that, and you know, I never realized I have a son Zach, but I didn't realize how many kids were called Zach or named Zach until we had Zach. Next thing you know, it's like, okay, he's got four Zach's in his class. It's like, wow, where did they all come from? I thought this was gonna be pretty good, but no, I get it. I don't know how many coats you're gonna get.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. My wife's got a pretty unique unique name too. So it's like I think her mom's just probably got that the name and thing down pretty good.

Speaker:

Say her name because I do have it here. I just want to make sure it's Omini.

Speaker 2:

Omini, yep.

Speaker:

Omini. Okay, okay, that is cool. That's a name, of course. I haven't until I was reading.

Speaker 2:

That was a that was a first for me, too. Yeah, when I when we first met. I and almost everybody, you know, that we uh come across or whatever, when she's saying her name almost every time somebody will be like, What?

Speaker:

You could you could slur that and it would still sound right. Yeah, after a few cocktails, a few jacks. Yes, yeah, yeah, you could slur that and it'd still sound right. That's pretty awesome. You know, um, Kelsey, you've had an incredible year. You really have. And uh when you stop and look at everything that's happened, the songs, look at the numbers on the streams, uh, your Opry debut. What's going through your mind?

Speaker 2:

Man, it's it's honestly been, you know, I've been in town uh for since 2017, 18. You know, I've started going back and forth uh from Kentucky then. Um, and you know, I've just been writing, you know, and kind of had my head down for what, you know, I planned on when I first got here. I was like, you know, I'll you know, write a few songs, record them, and start being an artist. You know, that was, you know, I think, of course, you're delusional, you don't realize, you know, what it takes and everything. And I got here and just, you know, every, you know, every time I would, you know, think I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to put music out, you know, I'd set the bar a little bit higher and be like, no, I'm it's not ready yet. Like I I want to keep writing, keep writing. Um, and so that, you know, that turned into to getting a publishing deal and being in town even longer before my like artist stuff started taking off. So it's like it's been all this preparation uh for these la this last like year to actually I I've enjoyed the whole process, but this last year, you know, has been the first year that I've actually been able to be out on the road and be like playing shows, which is is what I came here to do. You know, is what I've what I've always really wanted to do. So it it's just really cool to to finally be at a place to where you know I'm I'm out actually playing the songs for you know for people that I've that I've been working on for so long, you know. So cool.

Speaker:

So cool. I don't know how you guys do it. I I really don't. I mean, you you know, you're young and you made the move to Nashville in hopes of doing what you're doing, and it's happening. You have a passion, you have a dedication, but you were writing and you got that publishing deal, which I'm sure helped things out a lot.

Speaker 2:

A lot, yeah.

Speaker:

You know, and then you know, putting that to, of course, the words to music and now putting out your own songs. Yeah. So who did you were any of your earlier songs, not you as an artist, but as a writer, did any of those songs um make it?

Speaker 2:

Um yeah, well, as far as uh, you know, they never had any like big radio singles um that you know, but I had uh Jake Owen cut cut one. Uh one of my one of the first songs I was a part of when I got to town.

Speaker:

Loved you.

Speaker 2:

Um he put on um one of his it was a uh greatest hits record. Um and then uh had a song uh cut by uh Trace Atkins. Um and then uh Dylan Scott was another one that we had a an outside song with or song cut by. Um so you know, it was really cool before, and a lot of those were even before I even had a publishing deal. Uh so it was it was really cool to start to get some you know some songs that were you know, you know, get at least getting cut.

Speaker:

How cool is that that you can get that even before your deal? I mean, that's gotta tell you something. You have a talent for this.

Speaker 2:

I mean, well, it it was, you know, a lot of it was, you know, I was fortunate enough to get in the room with other writers that did have deals and and that had like, you know, relationships with with some of these guys. So, you know, I was fortunate to get in the get in those rooms and be a part of those those rights, but yeah, very cool.

unknown:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Were you, I mean, how did you get into those rooms? Did it it was it all like who you know and who you talk to? And they said come on.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, a lot of it early on for me, uh, there was a girl, her name's Laurel Kittleson that worked at uh Big Machine Records at the time. And she was uh running my calendar, like I wasn't affiliated with the label at all, but she just believed in me and and said, Hey, I'll uh help run your calendar, I'll get you uh rights, I'll help you do this because I think you know you got what it takes. And um, she actually ended up going to Curb Records three or four years later after she'd been helping me helping like facilitate my calendar for a while. And when she uh when she went to Curb, they started hearing like some of the demos that I had been doing, and um she got me my publishing deal at Curb. So that's kind of what started the whole whole thing, you know.

Speaker:

Wow, that's cool. I um not to get off subject here, but uh, you know, I'm looking at the chat, the messages that are coming in. Uh I don't know if you can see it or not, but it says uh it's from Chrissy and says, Kelsey, can I just have a moment to thank you again as a mom for the kind words of guy-to-guy encouragement you gave my son Tyler at the Wildcat. Now, the Wildcat is where we did that show.

Speaker 1:

Oh, okay.

Speaker:

There are words he hasn't forgotten, and I can't wait to see you next month. Well, soon to be this month, uh, to thank you again in person. That's cool. That's you know, that's what it means for you as an artist to take the time, even in you know, what we do is a small show, but still it's that one-on-one connection. Absolutely for you as an artist, and you know what you what did you say her name was? Chris Christie? Chrissy, yes. Oh, Chrissy. Chrissy, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Oh, well, well, that's that's sweet of her to say.

Speaker:

Yeah, I'm sure she'll come up and introduce herself. So yeah. Well, that's cool, you know, and that ever since that show, we have heard nothing but great things. Man, our listeners love you, they absolutely love you, you know. And then, if I'm not mistaken, I know I'm getting off the beaten path here. We'll go there in a minute. But at that show, there was a couple there that was using Life With You as their wedding song, and I had them come up and dance while you sang that song. I don't know if you remember that because you do so many shows, but yeah, that uh, you know, right there it shows. Look what you did. That's pretty, pretty awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man, one of my favorite things, man, I you know, after the shows is getting to uh getting to talk to people and hear the stories like that, you know, people that have used the song for their their first dance and and what it what it means to them and stuff. That's as a songwriter, that's you know, that's that's what you're hoping to to do, you know. Yeah, those kind of things.

Speaker:

Was it your decision to go with that as the very first single to hit radio? Was that you, or did the label say, you know what, I really think we should do this? But but whatever, regardless whether it was you or whether it was the label, it was a good choice because you knew that song was going to get played at weddings. You knew that brides and grooms were gonna go, you know what, I want that song. Yeah, that's nothing but a plus for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man, it was uh it was one of those songs that really just kind of raised its hand on its own. Like after as soon as you know, I'd put the song um online and stuff, it just I I had never seen like a or I had never had like a viral, like a big viral moment like that. And um it, you know, it was just one of those it that's the best, like when the songs pick themselves, you know, when you when you kind of take the guesswork out of it and and you just know that like you know, there's a lot of people out there that that are wanting to hear this. Uh so that that song certainly certainly picked itself and and it was just cool that that that it happened to uh to be my wife and I's first dance song. And uh, you know, it you know, couldn't have been a couldn't have been a better one to pick itself, you know.

Speaker:

Yeah, so and who sang that at the wedding for you? Did you just what's that? So life with you, it was your first dance song. Yep. Did somebody else sing your song?

Speaker 2:

No, so yeah, we actually we actually had just like the rough recording uh from our the day that we wrote it. Awesome. Uh and it was uh my buddy playing keys in a in a writing room and me singing it, and we just played that version at at the wedding.

Speaker:

God, that's so awesome, dude. That is so awesome. Have you um I know here I am off the beaten path. What did I tell you? Skip half this happens, dude. So have you ever like surprised somebody at their wedding? Like, I'm here, I'm gonna sing your song I'm gonna sing this song for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. We actually uh we did uh it was like right before, maybe like let's see, Suburnover. It was like a couple months before uh the song came out. Uh so we had put the song on TikTok and it went off on TikTok, and we did this thing to where people could like submit to like have we was gonna send people the song early uh to use and we we sent it to like three or four hundred people for them to use at their wedding before the song came out. And we picked uh we picked one of them uh instead of sending the song to them, we contacted them and I flew out and went and sang it at their actual wedding, just showed up.

Speaker:

They didn't know you just showed up, they had no clue that Kelsey was going to be walking into the reception with his guitar to sing the song.

Speaker 2:

Yep, and it was the first sign. I was a nervous wreck because I didn't think at that at that point I haven't even the song was new, I hadn't played it out with the band at all, and like here I was kind of like debuting it at uh somebody's wedding, you know.

Speaker:

God you know, I look at I'm getting the goosebumps just hearing what you're you know, the way you're talking about that. Wow. That's crazy. Now, uh take us back to where all this started for you from uh for you. You growing up, um who were some of the outer moments that made you fall in love with country music?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it it's kind of funny, like, you know, a lot of my buddies and and people in town, you know, they'll tell stories about how they, you know, their parent, they grew up, you know, their parents had them listening to, you know, George Jones and Merle Haggard and all that, you know, and it was like it wasn't like that for me. Like my parents, neither one of my parents were big country music fans. And uh, but my dad, he was a big uh he loved gospel music. And um so I just remember like my first like really like musical memory was uh I raced dirt bikes when I was a kid, and me and my dad would always the track that I raced at was like an hour uh from our house. So and he had the same gospel CD in his truck. And it's like he never really listened to the radio, but he always had that that gospel CD planned. And so from as a little kid, that was like my like only knowledge of music, like was gospel and just about that CD. You know, that's pretty cool though that he had in his truck, you know, and so we listened to that a ton, and then um that's what really got me excited or really got me interested in wanting to sing. And so, you know, I then I started doing you know, talent shows and uh, you know, different things that that my my mom and dad would set me up for and singing at church and stuff, and it then it you know it wasn't until I was probably in like middle school or so that I like started you know digging into country music and like figuring it figuring that out, you know.

Speaker:

Can I ask um when you moved to Nashville, how old were you?

Speaker 2:

I was so I started I started coming when I was 24.

Speaker:

Okay, okay, yeah. It's but it was a whole new world for you at that point. You made a move. You you you packed up the U-Haul, so to speak, and moved to Nashville and got your own place. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, it was so when I first got out of uh high school, um, I went to barber school.

Speaker:

I was gonna ask you about that, but yes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so with no like when I was 18, 19 years old, there was no plan of being a country singer. I mean, I it wasn't even in my I didn't think about it. Like I I liked to sing. At that point, I hadn't picked up a guitar, it wasn't even in in the works at all. And um we uh so I went to barber school, I got a job uh in my hometown, loved it, like was just having a good, you know, loved cutting hair, love you know, I was all about it. I thought that's what I'd be doing.

Speaker:

You know, there's great conversations in a barber shop.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker:

I mean, I was just at one yesterday, and it, you know, I love these guys, been going to them for 30 years, so it's just it's all got it, man.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I thought, you know, I I would have been there for 50 years, where you know, I did I was good with it, and um I wasn't, you know, early on as a barber, you're you know, it takes you a little while to build up you know your business and stuff.

Speaker:

And yep.

Speaker 2:

So I was, you know, I'd be sitting around and my buddies would be in there that would drop by to say hi or whatever. And one of them, he always brought his guitar in. And if we wasn't busy, him and I would sit there and play and sing. He he would play and I would sing, and um when you know, when there wasn't anybody else in the shop. And we finally we we were best buddies growing up, and we finally said, you know, we we ought to we ought to start a uh we ought to start a band. And so we we did the we did the hometown band thing for a little while and um did that for two or three years, and then you know, so I've been barbering three or four years at that time, and then we I started going back and forth to to Nashville too and and splitting the time. I was cutting hair half the week and writing songs half the week and staying still living, still living with my parents too.

Speaker:

Very cool, very cool. Where about um, you know, you you're in Nashville now, you're in your own place, but uh yeah, I mean obviously I don't know it's nobody's business where exactly, but what part of town are you in? Are you in Franklin?

Speaker 2:

So we we are uh outside of Nashville, about 25 minutes in uh Hendersonville area.

Speaker:

Oh yeah, okay. Yeah, there's a lot of artists that live in Hendersonville area.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah. I know yeah, I see I see several out here running around.

Speaker:

Like who are your neighbors?

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah.

Speaker:

Who's your neighbor?

Speaker 2:

Anyone uh now our our neighbors are are just uh just normal. We got some, yep, we got some good, we got some good neighbors, but they're uh no uh no singers or songwriters or anything.

Speaker:

What do you got for trick-or-treaters tomorrow?

Speaker 2:

You know, we actually so we're gonna go, we're driving to Kentucky to my parents. We're gonna go uh spend Halloween. My mom is she loves Halloween, and um every year she does uh like a chili cookout thing and just invites all kinds of people. And so we're gonna go to her house and and do that tomorrow. Are you we're gonna leave some candy on the porch?

Speaker:

Oh that's oh yeah, good luck for that. Yeah, no, I I don't know. I you know, hopefully they're honest and they don't take the whole bowl.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker:

What kind of candy are you leaving? So I know where to go.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, dude. I always do the uh we always get the that like variety pack with the like the Skittles and the Hershey Ball, like it's yeah, yeah, yeah. You get all the yeah, all the different stuff, you know.

Speaker:

Exactly. I think my wife has that upstairs, to be honest with you. I think that's a popular thing.

Speaker 2:

So y'all have a bunch of trick-or-trigers at your house?

Speaker:

Yeah, you know, it's it's kind of not like it used to be. We live in a neighborhood that's very um just a couple of streets, which is nice. You don't have to throw traffic. So we do get a lot of the you know, the little kids, but the forecast for tomorrow here in upstate New York is uh high winds, hard rain, and about 40 degrees. So it's not gonna be a good night. I'm gonna be eating a lot of candy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, y'all probably ain't gonna sell out.

Speaker:

No, no, absolutely not. But there's been other years where it's been in the 60s and a beautiful night, and everybody goes out and walks the neighborhood, you know, which is nice. So I love it too. I love it too. Um, my wife is into it big time. My son Zach, who's down syndrome, is um he's just by the way, he loves country music, he loves music in general. Uh he'll listen, get this, he'll listen uh to K-pop, crank it. He loves the group Black Pink. Okay. Uh he's in, I don't know if you know them or not, but he's in love with uh the lead singer Jenny Kim. They're from South Korea. Um, but then he'll turn around and listen to country. Or, you know, he listens to me in the afternoon and he'll text me and go, Time for shout-out, Dad. So I said, wait a minute, I gotta play this Kelsey Hart fireworks before we do that. So that's right. That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. Tell us about that. Let's talk about fireworks. Now that's the latest, uh latest song you've dropped to Country Radio. Tell us about that a little bit.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man. So Fireworks, um, it it's an outside song. It it's not one that I was uh a part of writing. Uh, but there's uh it was kind of a unique situation how the song came about. Um I'll I say it's kind of like the old school uh version of finding a song, you know, back when uh AR people, you know, that worked at these labels would would go out to to writers' rounds or whatever to to listen to songs. And that's what happened with fireworks. The the song had been written like I think a couple days before, and there was a uh they were having a writer's round downtown, and um Rebecca Lyles, that's uh AR at Curb Records, um she was there uh listening to a friend play the round, and uh Jordan James, a writer on the song, was was playing that round and he he played fireworks, and she said she had, you know, uh she was just mingling out there with a friend and heard the the hook land on the song and she just she said she turned and she's like, man, she's like that you know that's really good. And then she filmed like the second part of the song and got the chorus and um sent it to me, just the video of her in there, and she's like, Hey, I I think there, you know, this is something special. You know, if you know these any of these guys, she's like, maybe see if you can get this work tape or this demo if they've got it. And um so her and I kind of kind of went on the hunt and got got the work tape, and both were just thought that the song was was really strong. I you know, lyrically, I thought you know it was great, the melodies were great. Um, and I knew the uh I knew one of the writers well and and called him and was just like, man, I was like, you gotta send me this song.

Speaker:

So I oh go ahead, I'm sorry.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I mean that that's kind of the the story of where it it how it got to me.

Speaker:

I had no idea. I thought, yeah, I guess I should have read a little bit better, but um I had no idea you did not write that because you are such a good songwriter, and that song is so strong. You're such a strong songwriter, and that's such a strong song, and uh whatever it was, it definitely stood out, and they knew that Kelsey needed to cut this.

Speaker 2:

That's right, man. I yeah, I was fortunate that they let me cut it. I was excited about that.

Speaker:

How does uh for somebody that might be watching this, Kelsey, how does that work for you as an artist and and a songwriter? I mean, uh it's what you you get songs pitched to you. This is what I don't think people understand a lot of that. I think you know, you go to the what they call write-arounds, I know what they are, but maybe somebody watching or somebody listening to this does not. Yeah, but there's writer rounds, and for example, you just talked about fireworks, how people are just there playing like songs or writing a song, and they're trying everybody's throwing their ideas into the mix, is right? That's how it works. So there, I mean that this is huge, this is big time stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So so a writer's round, just yeah, just to kind of because I I get used to you know, just people knowing knowing what that is, but but here in Nashville, yeah, they'll they'll have those to where writers, you know, throughout the week, they'll have, you know, all over town. They they do different uh events to where writers can can show up and play the songs that they had written that week or whenever they had written them. Uh they you know will generally play their their best three or four songs. And it's just kind of a storytelling round where you go back and forth and you you play and um you know tell about your song. And and you know, there's people out you never know who's gonna be out in the crowd that's gonna hear that song. And exactly just like what happened with with fireworks, you know. It's you you never know.

unknown:

Yeah.

Speaker:

See, I just don't think a lot of people realize that I do, and you do, of course, two different sides, but we we're all got the same goal. Um, you know what goes into that, and that it's it's actually big business. And you guys get together, this is your livelihood, and something's gonna come out of these rounds. And I anybody that's watching this or listening to this, if you ever get the opportunity just to sit in and listen, you need to do it. It's amazing. And you never know who's gonna show up at these rounds, you don't, man.

Speaker 2:

Uh you know, those nights, like I'm sure you've probably been to the listening room cafe and absolutely, um, you know, it's such a unique experience. I I think we get used to you know doing them so much that it kind of becomes you know just something that that we do playing these rounds. But I think for a lot of people, if you think about their musical experience or whatever, it's going to see a full band or you know, rarely do you get to to sit and listen to you know people tell stories and sing the songs that they've written. And so I think you know, for people that are listening that maybe haven't been to like the listening room or the bluebird cafe or some of these places, it and and if especially if you're into the lyric and songwriting, it it is uh a really unique experience for sure.

Speaker:

Yeah, that's cool. And how does it when you sit in one of those like a songwriting session, and you you sit there and you you play off of each other's body language, or how does all that work? You somebody throws a word out there and then you're gonna add to it, or hey, you know, this happened to me today, and you throw that out there, and yeah, it dude, it's honestly it's it's different every time.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I I do I do like to go in uh to a write at least with a few good ideas, um, you know, just titles that um that we can work off of. Uh, but you know, that's the biggest thing. If you can come in with a title I and you have a good idea to write towards, like, you know, that that's a big deal. And then then, you know, you can always try to find a cool melody, but the the idea is is is kind of where I like to start. And and you usually where it starts, and we'll each go around the room, and you know, if I have two or three ideas, I'll tell them and kind of explain like this is my idea, and this is kind of how I envision it being, you know, the song being wrote, and you know, we'll go around the room and and what whatever we think is the best one is the one we'll write, you know.

Speaker:

So in the life of Kelsey Hart right now with a little one coming up, are you having like thoughts of different songs you could write about your your little girl?

Speaker 2:

Oh man.

Speaker:

I mean, you know, you don't want to go like a my little girl thing like McGraw did, but still you uh I I could see you doing something like that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Well, it's funny you said that, man. We just uh we actually just uh I just wrote one the other night. I knew it. Um and we uh and we got it recorded. Yeah, we went in the studio uh a couple days ago and and and got it recorded. So we're we're real excited about it.

Speaker:

I kind of figured, you know, being a songwriter, being creative and all that, that and you know, your situation right now, soon to be a a dad. Um that's pretty cool. And a daughter, no less. I mean, all kids are wonderful, and you know, daughters, uh nothing like it, man. I I've got three besides my little boy. Well, he's not little, he's 24 now, but still he um, you know, girls are always daddy's girls. Yeah, I'm just telling you, you're gonna have it's a whole new life, dude.

Speaker 2:

I can't even I can't even imagine. Everybody, you know, keeps talking to me about, you know, man, it's just you know, it's your cat just don't even know until it's here.

Speaker:

And even you know, even for you know, your family, your parents, and all that, and to be grandparents. Now, I don't know if they're grandparents yet at all. With that, I don't know, I don't know if you have siblings or anything like that, but um, you know, that it's still it's a special moment. My three daughters have given me eight grandkids, and uh it just I love it. Love it, absolutely beautiful, dude. It's beautiful all the way around. Let's talk about um the grand old opera debut when you did that. I know I hear you know, I always ask artists, and I pretty much get the same answer where holy crap, I was scared to death. I stood in that circle and it was a feeling like none other. But you tell me in your words, how was that for you?

Speaker 2:

Man, it was as it was as cool as I could have imagined it to be, honestly. Like, I mean it everything I had it built up in my head, it was even it was honestly even cooler than that. Like I we um just the whole experience, my living as close as you know, we're only my parents only live an hour and a half from here. So my nice my whole town pretty much came. And and we uh yeah, man, it it was just as much as you know, you know, we all know that how special the opera is and how uh you know what what it means to play there. But it's also it's like you put all that together with like everybody that you really love and care about uh that's there to witness it. Um and and then they um like afterwards we you know we all went um across the road to this uh uh big you know restaurant bar and got to hang out for a few hours and stuff and really just soak it all in. And you know, it's it's just uh it was just a great great night. And it's a first moment like to where because people I think doing this like people know like that you're like do you know doing music or like in town like in Nashville trying to To be a singer, you know, people know that, but it's like it's one of those big moments that you know I feel like a lot of people actually get to see and put a visual with like, oh, like this, you know, this thing that that he's been messing around doing or whatever, like maybe something's working.

Speaker:

I mean, maybe something's working. Obviously, it is. You're standing there on the stage of the Grand O'Lopy. And uh, it's such a place. I mean, I I get the goosebumps when I go into that building. And and then, of course, that downtown when I walk into that mother church right there, it's like, oh my lord. It's just, I just love that. And uh there's a it's a feeling like no no other. As a matter of fact, uh, it's their 100th um anniversary for the Grand Old Opera, and they've been taking radio people, and uh, I've had a lot of my friends and get that invite to go and you know introduce somebody. I applied, I haven't heard anything, so I guess I'm out of the game, but uh still it's kind of cool though. And it's like, yeah, what would I do if if they did write back and say, yeah, you can uh, you know, because they asked me who my favorite artist was. Uh they go through a lot of stuff. Of course, it put Kelsey Hart. Um, no, there you go. I tell you, I'll be honest with you, I don't remember what I wrote down, but uh it was cool. It was cool. I should have if I had known. Uh yeah, exactly. So that whole Opry thing, I mean, and then that's one thing. And then as you watched your streams and all those numbers on social media go through the roof, I mean, what were you thinking? Were you doing that yourself? Number one, were you doing all the social media? Now of course we know you have a team, but still in the beginning, how did all did you do that?

Speaker 2:

Uh well, you know, it's I think even like when life with you was happening, uh, I'd already I already had some people helping.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Um, but um, yeah, I mean I I have access to all my my pages. You know, I get to look look at them all. I don't I don't do everything on them, but I I do get to, you know.

Speaker:

How do you um as Kelsey Hart, how do you handle uh criticism?

Speaker 2:

Man, I you know, I I think I I try to it it's a it's a funny thing to try to like to navigate. And we're my wife and I was talking about this with like you know, I I feel like even with comments and different things on on social media, it's like you know, you can you can have a hundred great comments, people just loving you, loving you, loving you.

Speaker:

And then there's that one.

Speaker 2:

It then one bad one that you know tell you know it's talking about how bad you suck or whatever, and it's like you know, it's almost something you have to at first, you know, it it does like I think get under your skin and really bother you, and you fo you hyper focus on that one, you know, and it's like I don't know if that's just like just human nature or what, but it's you know, I I think after a while you do learn to just feel like, man, you you ain't never gonna make everybody happy.

Speaker:

You know, it's the same way in radio. Of course, people, you know, some people love you, some people hate you, but uh, you know, with the naysayers, I just say thanks for listening because they're listening. They're listening, and believe me, if somebody gave you a negative comment for whatever reason, I cannot see that happening, but the way the world is, yeah, it does happen. You know, I just say thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. Thanks for yeah, thanks for being there, dude. That's a good that's a good that's I'm standing on that grand old opery stage. You are not. So if you know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

So well, you know, and and the reality of it is, you know, when you're in a position to where, you know, you're you're putting out, you know, as a singer, artist, um, and even like with you at radio and podcasts and stuff, like we're you know, you're you're we're putting out something for people to judge and to to listen to and give their opinion on. And you know, it's like that's it is what it is.

Speaker:

No, and and the reason I ask that, Kelsey, because a lot of people don't know how to handle it. And I think it's good to hear from somebody of your stature that you know, this is how I handle it. Because it, like you said a minute ago, um, it doesn't matter who you are, you're gonna have people out here that you know you're gonna have your haters. I don't know, haters are gonna hate. What's that saying? I don't know, sound like that, but uh, you know, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh, go ahead.

Speaker 2:

I was just gonna say, I thought, you know, I think at the end of the day, as long as you're, you know, with with in in my lane of what I do, you know, I'm putting out what I feel like and you know, to be the my best foot forward. Yeah, you know. So I, you know, that's that's all I can do, and I think that's all anybody can do with whatever they're yeah.

Speaker:

Did you just you just wrapped up Rustless Road, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. How was how was all that? It was a little crazy.

Speaker 2:

It was great, man. We we played, I think like 16 or so shows with them guys.

unknown:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Um, and that was actually more like it was at the top of the year. Um, but it was uh it was great, man. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. We got to see a lot of cool places, and and those uh those guys were were really cool to hang with and uh got to play a lot of cool venues. It was a lot of fun.

Speaker:

Are we um gonna see a full album?

Speaker 2:

So we're honestly like we're so we just cut three songs, we're going back to the top of January, cutting a few more.

unknown:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Um the word, like we haven't like said album yet, okay, but we're I mean, we're we're gonna have the the material to to do an album if we want, but also it's kind of um I feel like we're kind of living in a time too to where like you know, I don't know if if we want to do a full length or if we want to kind of just um stagger singles, you know, throughout the year and just kind of and kind of see. I I don't know. We're we don't really have a release plan for the music yet, but we have gotcha.

Speaker:

Yeah, I I hear from other artists that uh they're kind of going with uh not necessarily the full album, but they're just drop singles along the way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Just here it is, here's another new one. Even though radio's still on this one, we're putting this one out. And they just keep it going that way.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you know, it's not even like a it's to me, it's a uh I I think the word like single, like kind of especially like with you know, when you have like a radio single, it's like that's that's your radio single, but like as far as like DSPs and and and everything go, it's like that that whole thing, it's like you almost kind have to keep pumping music you know into into that system, you know, and it's like absolutely what we've what we've learned is like that that every like six to eight weeks, you know, releasing a new track that uh you know can that can go to the DSPs that are giving people new material to listen to, you know, and that you can market uh each one of those every six to eight weeks pretty hard versus you know putting out a full body of work and then you know uh yeah.

Speaker:

What is um your hometown, your actual hometown? What is the name of that?

Speaker 2:

Um Muhlenberg County, it's where I grew up, Kentucky.

Speaker:

What was it again?

Speaker 2:

Muhlenberg County.

Speaker:

Muhlenberg?

Speaker 2:

Muhlenberg County. Have you ever heard John Prime Paradise?

Speaker:

Yes, yes, all right. So if I was to uh drive on the main drag heading into that town, this is a fun question I ask everybody. Yeah if you talk to somebody about the podcast, he's gonna go to jail. Did he ask you this? Uh yes. So what is the um the first thing you see when you drive into your little town? What if I'm coming in the main drag? Yeah, so if you're coming into because it's a small little town, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So if you're coming into central city where my where my parents live, you're gonna get off of you're gonna get off the interstate.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And um you're gonna see a sign that says, you know, welcome, welcome to Central City, where uh uh what's it say? Like where music lives, uh home, you know, home of you know, home of John Prime, all this stuff right there.

Speaker:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it, you know, I've actually I actually think I've seen that picture.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, and you'll see a big water tower that says Central City.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And um, then you know, you'll you'll go on into town and and the first thing you're gonna see is is my favorite Mexican restaurant on your way in.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

And uh, and then you'll uh once you you head downtown there, you'll you'll pass McDonald's.

Speaker:

Chick-fil-A.

Speaker 2:

No Chick-fil-A.

Speaker:

No, no Chick-fil-A.

Speaker 2:

Chick-fil-A ain't made it there yet.

Speaker:

Oh man, I'm I'm surprised.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. No, it dude, it's we have uh I mean it we got the the the main one, like we got the McDonald's uh subway, El Paceros, yeah, yeah, okay. That which is our Mexican restaurant. But we I mean it's pretty uh yeah, there ain't a whole lot.

Speaker:

Let me ask you, Kelsey, you get one free day. Yeah, I get some of my fun questions here. You get one free day, no calls, no shows, no work. What are you doing?

Speaker 2:

Oh man. Anymore, man. I just it's if I don't have anything going on, it is as rare, as little as I'm at home. Um, my wife and I just love just kicking back on the couch and watching a movie and you know, reeling out.

Speaker:

Binge watch anything on those days? Do you get together and just uh, you know what? Let's watch, you know, all these series of whatever on Netflix or whatever.

Speaker 2:

Man, well, like during October, we watch, I mean, we'll watch a and we'll watch one a night, probably. Just uh uh, you know, we watch a Halloween or scary movie just about every night in October.

Speaker:

Oh well, my son loves to do that. Then he can't sleep. It's like then why do you do that? You know, yeah, or you'll sleep, he'll make sure the shades up, the lights are on, you know.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah.

Speaker:

So so why do you do that? You know, but uh yeah. Um if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I know you're in Nashville now, and I think you know, this is where you wanted to be, but if you had a choice to live anywhere, would it be Nashville or where where would it be?

Speaker 2:

Man, yeah, I think it would be, you know, just because I'm I'm I'm right where I want to be because I'm yeah, I'm right where you know I'm I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. And Nashville is I love Nashville, and I'm still fairly close to my family.

Speaker:

That's I know you were talking about it the hour and a half time to get from point A to point B. I think that's pretty good. And especially now you got the little one coming.

Speaker 2:

So I I think I'm right where I want to be.

Speaker:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly right. Um, you know, what's something people would never guess about you?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, well, probably if we hadn't already told them uh that I was a barber.

Speaker:

I know. So do you cut your own hair? Oh, I have before. Um isn't that kind of hard though, getting to the back and doing all that? You gotta look in the mirror and do everything backwards.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's kind of annoying. I I don't really do it much, but uh man, I actually I enjoy going. I found a barber shop here close to where I live, and I enjoy going to the barber shop because it kind of takes me back to you know those days and and also just you know, everybody likes getting a good haircut.

Speaker:

You still have the tools?

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I still cut the band's hair and oh really, oh yeah, I've still I still cut hair.

Speaker:

So the band, you talk about the band. Is this the band that you're gonna be bringing to town? These guys the same band. All right, okay. And do you know if you're bussing it in or are you flying in and meeting the bus here, or maybe you're flying in and somebody's picking up the a lot of times it depends on like where I'm at before. And how many shows? Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like so. If uh if I'm like uh if if it's like a if I'm out doing like acoustic stuff, a lot of times I'll just be out solo or with my guitar player.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker 2:

And then if we have a full band situation, the the bus and the band will come come and meet me. So I just it'll depend on what's going on uh before.

Speaker:

That's cool. Now I have to ask you, do you play cornhole?

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I haven't played, uh we actually, my wife and I, we have boards here at the house, uh, but we haven't we haven't played in a while. I'm probably a little bit rest.

Speaker:

The reason I'm asking is, and I touched on it a little bit ago before we went on the air with the lights and the cameras and all that, is the day that you're at Keg's Canal side here in upstate New York, um, there's what we call Howler's Cornhole Tournament. Uh, and it benefits an organization that uh it's called 22 till there's none. And um I'm just reading some of the comments here already. Uh, will he be my partner for the cornhole tournament? Uh well, I guess it's kind of where I'm going here. So, anyways, it benefits 22 till there's none, which uh it's about veterans and uh veteran suicide, PTSD, um, for first responders as well. Uh, and that's what it benefits. It's a great cause. And Howler is our mascot at the wolf, the radio station. And by the way, I will I'd like to brag about this. You hear, you know, there's a lot of wolves. There's a wolf here, wolf there, but we are the wolf. We are W O L F F M. So just saying. So nobody, you know, we got the call letters, we're the real deal. So that's cool. I think it's cool. But we're having this tournament that day, and that's why I was kind of wondering what time you were coming in, and uh if you want to throw some bags with us, maybe.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, we need to we need to get with Sam and see what time we're getting into town because I would be down.

Speaker:

Okay, yeah, exactly. You could play in the wolf team. Or wait a minute, so Chrissy's saying, Will he be my partner for the cornhole tournament? I don't know if you can see this here. Let me bring it up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't know. I can't see comments, but I yeah, I don't know how I don't know.

Speaker:

Hang on, there you go. Can you see that now?

Speaker 2:

Okay, yeah, yeah, I can see it now.

Speaker:

It was her son that you helped out. He had just broken up with a girlfriend, you gave him some advice, you know, one of those things.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah. Well, I hope I hope it was good advice.

Speaker:

Yeah, oh I'm she's very I imagine she sounds very sincere. It'll be so much fun. Let's do it. So, anyways, no, but uh that's why I was asking. It's a great event. Um that night is when you're playing there, and it started out as a Kelsey Hart show, and it still is. So they're selling tickets for the Kelsey Hart show, but starting at one o'clock that afternoon, we're doing the cornhole tournament, and um, it's $40 per team. The bet it all benefits 22 till there's none. Um, and then afterwards, everybody that participated will be staying for your show as well on us. So that's cool.

Speaker 2:

That is cool, man. I hope I can uh I hope I can play that day. That'd be fun.

Speaker:

Oh, all right. I was talking about 22 till there's none. Uh, this gentleman, just so you know, I don't uh the gentleman that you're gonna see there, Scott Cox, he's the guy, he's a veteran, put it put in a lot of time. He's had a lot of I've talked to him. It's very heartwarming what he's done and what he's going through, what he's been through. Um, we're doing the best, he's the president of that organization. Oh man, that's cool. That's cool. Thanks, Scott, for uh checking in too. So that's cool. So we'd love to see you. We'd love to have you come out. What can we expect that night for the show though?

Speaker 2:

Man, so we're actually, I mean, um by then we'll we should have some of these new songs worked up, man. I'm excited to I'm excited to start getting some of these new songs that we recorded in the in the set.

Speaker:

Is it rocking? You're gonna be like turning it up a little bit? Do you do any covers? What can we expect out of there?

Speaker 2:

We'll we're gonna throw some we'll throw some covers in there. Um yeah, we'll we'll throw some covers in there, we'll play, play some, uh, play some new ones. Of course, we'll uh we'll probably have we'll probably have play life with you.

Speaker:

Let me guess. That'll be the last one after the outcome. You know, no, I don't know. It's it's cool. I think, you know, here in upstate New York, you're loved, Kelsey. I mean, you you are doing the right thing, you're making it happen. Um, appreciate all that you do. Uh, you know, from a radio standpoint, and I say this to a lot of artists as well, I don't know how often you hear this, but um, if it wasn't for the artist putting out great music, we wouldn't be where we are. It works both ways. You need radio, we need you.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm super thankful for for you guys, man, and appreciate all the support.

Speaker:

What um what was it like when you first heard um your song on the radio? When you f when you first realized, like, holy crap. Yeah, number the numbers, and then hearing life with you on the radio and all that, you it must have been crazy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man, what probably what was because for me, I didn't like I didn't hear it like because it wasn't playing a lot in in Nashville, um, like early on. Like I we were getting some, we were getting radio play, but a lot of it wasn't here, so I wasn't like I wasn't really hearing it on the radio much. But um, what was really cool to me is getting out on the road and playing some of these radio shows and doing these things where they where they had already been playing it in their area and hearing people in those crowds just sing it back. That was those first moments where I was like, whoa. Okay.

Speaker:

I love that. I just love hearing that. Um, any big tours? And do you know anything about next season yet? Next season.

Speaker 2:

Uh we don't we don't have a lot um like lined up just yet. I mean it's all in the in the works. We're yeah, we're we're gonna we're gonna be hitting it pretty hard next year. Um and there's a few things that started started to to show up on our calendar, but um by the by the end of the these next few months, we'll be we'll we'll know what we're doing.

Speaker:

The reason I asked was you know, today, of course, Morgan comes out and uh or his team just released like you know all these tour dates and everything. So he they got it on it early. So I didn't know, but uh I know I know there's probably a lot you can't say either. I I totally get that because I hear all the time too. So yeah, very, very cool. Kelsey Hart, cool dude.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you, man.

Speaker:

And we look so forward to seeing you on November 22nd. And by the way, um Michael James says, what's the date of the tournament? November 22nd.

Speaker 2:

November 22nd.

Speaker:

40 bucks per team. That's all, that's cheap. Uh, it doesn't matter how good you are or how bad you are. Uh, I might want to add there's cash prizes, Kelsey. So if you can throw a good bag, you could go home with some cash.

Speaker 2:

Go home with some cash, money.

Speaker:

Yeah, you can go home with some cash. Maybe a bottle of jack. I don't know. Do you drink? What do you drink?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I I'll drink a I drink a little bit. I I do like bourbon and and tequila. Those are those are my two uh if I am drinking, that's what I usually have.

Speaker:

Have you um heard about Winter Jack?

Speaker 2:

I have not.

Speaker:

It's got the white label, Jack Dick.

Speaker 2:

Winter Jack. And you can get so is it just a winter thing?

Speaker:

Uh yes, it's only out this time of the year. You'll have to look into it. And you know what? I'll bring you a bottle of it when you're here.

Speaker 2:

Winter Jack. Do you like it?

Speaker:

Uh it's very good. It's like apple, it's got an apple taste. And I was told that if you take apple cider, mix it with the uh winter jack, which is an apple taste to that, you warm it up in a crock pot, and it's so good.

Speaker 2:

Dang, that does.

Speaker:

And it probably knocked the you know what out of you. Yeah, all right, yeah. Winter Jack is awesome. That's what she's saying right now. Yeah, Chris. I'm gonna have to try.

Speaker 2:

I've never heard of the winter jack. That sounds like somebody I gotta try it.

Speaker:

Yeah, and my buddy Don Gosselin, do you know Don? Uh uh, he's with Victory, um, but uh soon to retire. He goes, I bet Kelsey can tell when he is performing if he is in a market that has been supporting his music compared to another market, not supporting yet. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense.

Speaker 2:

Yep, yep. No, absolutely. That that makes uh makes a big difference for sure.

Speaker:

So it says, I introduced him to it, meaning me. I got a bottle for you with caramel cider. Caramel cider. Wow, good stuff, anyways. Kelsey, I don't want to keep, I'm like rambling here now, but I just want to say thank you, thank you for coming on. Skip happens, and uh being a part of what we do. I share all this with the radio, and uh, you got the song Fireworks, which is being played on The Wolf. Um, and it's kicking ass. I mean, I'll come right out and say it's doing really well. Let's just keep it up. I know you got other other music in the works as well. Yep. And uh we look forward to seeing you on November 22nd. I'm gonna be um, not only will we bring you a bottle of that winter jack, uh, I got Skip Happens mugs for you. I'll bring them to the show so you can just take them with you, pack them away, whatever you want to do. So yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, dude, thank you. Thank you so much, man. I appreciate you.

Speaker:

Yeah, if somebody wanted to, for whatever reason, they don't know who the hell Kelsey Kelsey Hart is. I don't know why they would not know who you are, but where can they go to check out your music and all that, right? Yeah, so uh DSPs.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Kelsey Hart Music. Um, yeah, mute music's uh it's anywhere you get music. So yeah, Kelsey Hart music is my all my social media handles, though.

Speaker:

All right, Kelsey, again, thank you for being here tonight. I know we've been on a long time, but I I appreciate you taking the time. Best to you, the wife, and the newborn. Oh, yeah. So that's you said December, right?

Speaker 2:

Yep, December 9th.

Speaker:

Yep. That's the date. You already know the date. Is it already planned, or that's the date?

Speaker 2:

That's that's the the due date.

Speaker:

Gotcha. Gotcha. God bless you, my friend.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, thank you, buddy. I appreciate it, man.

Speaker:

Coast. I love that. I love that, absolutely love that. Uh, everybody, it's Kelsey Hart. Uh uh, what a great chat. Uh, from his breakout hit Life With You to new songs like Fireworks and others, uh, proving he's got the saying power and heart. Don't miss him on Saturday, November 22nd. He'll be at Keg's Canal side in Jordan. Uh, it's going to be an incredible night of country music. I already know that. And a big thanks for uh to Kelsey for joining us. And uh thank you all for listening. Be sure to subscribe, follow, and catch more artists conversations. YouTube.com forward slash at Skip Happens Podcast. As always, thanks for hanging with Skip Happens. Kelsey, I love you. Stay right there. We're gonna say goodbye to everybody.

Speaker 2:

Yes, sir.

Speaker:

Good night, y'all. Thanks for watching.

Speaker 2:

See y'all.

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Skip Clark

Host