Kelsey Waldon at The Slaughtered Lamb
Kelsey Waldon
Jess Thristan
The Slaughtered Lamb, 6 February 2020
I always picture walking into the old, creaky pub in the classic horror film An American Werewolf In London when I hear the name the Slaughtered Lamb. I don't know if it was actually named after the movie's famous boozer but there's certainly a nod to it with the fluorescent pentagram hung at the back of the small stage. It's certainly a lot more cozy than its cinematic namesake though and apparently has become something of a hotspot for country and folk types to appear, so it certainly seems appropriate for Kelsey Waldon to play her first headlining UK show here.
It's actually been 10 years since I was last here to see Mark Olson but the little basement room is pretty much the same, in fact it seems smaller than I remembered, making it a great place to see any acoustic act. It's also nice to actually get a cozy seat to enjoy the show. Hey, I'm getting older, these things matter: I no longer rate a gig by the number of bruises I got (believe it or not, I really used to do this). The show also started promptly (and ended by 10, hallelujah!) with a young country singer from Halifax called Jess Thristan taking the stage.
Wearing a sparkly starry dress and full of smiles (and looking a lot like actress Saoirse Ronan), she gave us a pleasant set filled with country pop songs including her single from last year, The Old Me (which sounds like it could have easily been a big country hit in the States given the chance) she was warmly received as she played old and new songs, even a couple she had never played live before. Definitely one to watch and a nice opener.
When Kelsey Waldon finally emerged she had to make her way through all the people, guitar in hand, to get to the stage and I turned and there she was looking so petite yet just as I imagined she would, like a down to earth, denim-wearing country star.
She started things off on the right foot too with an old Bobby Charles tune, Tennessee Blues, which she tells us Keith Whitley taught her how to play. It's definitely a true test of a performer and the songs themselves, to be able to perform them alone on stage with just an acoustic guitar, and Waldon certainly comes from that old school, storytelling tradition so it's a great experience to see her in such a stripped back setting where her beautifully affecting voice and words are at the forefront.
When she moves into her own material you can hear that honesty and rawness all the more. The second song is what she herself calls her "Coal Miner's Daughter", the track Kentucky 1988 is all about her life and growing up in Kentucky and is easily one of the best tracks on her new album, White Noise / White Lines.
She digs further back for her next number, High In Heels, a song all about overcoming a prescription drug addiction from her first self-released album The Goldmine, proving what a fine songwriter she's been from the start (although disappointingly I seem to be the only one in the audience who acknowledges the album when she asks if we know it!)
She tells us that the brilliant, upbeat rootsy album opener Anyhow, is about staying true to yourself, "my great grandmother used to tell me two things: hoe your own roe and if you want anything done you probably have to do it your goddamn self." Later she tells us how fortunate she was to know her great grandparents, something she didn't realise was a real rarity at the time, and plays a new song inspired by them.
She also plays another new track about how she grew up living next to the river and often would come home on the water. Her friends would ask if she ever got fed up getting flooded all the time but said, "it was just home to me." Both the new songs sounded great and if there was ever any doubt, bode very well for her next record.
She also pays tribute to John Prine, who made her the first new signing to his record label Oh Boy in 15 years, with cover of one of his songs, Paradise, which is such a fitting cover for her given its opening line: "When I was a child my family would travel, down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born." She also wins my heart completely by playing an absolutely perfect cover of Neil Young's Powderfinger (she gets extra points too for not playing an obvious Neil tune!)
She ends the show with a song from her second album, I've Got A Way, the gutsy "All By Myself" where she proclaims, "I don't have to make my mind up with anybody else, Cause I can be me all by myself, I can be me all by myself."
Absolutely perfect and a brilliant way to end the show. Can't wait until she's back again and hopefully with a band next time!
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