Who Is Kelsey Hart? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

Every artist has their own unique path to country music. Today’s spotlight artist, Kelsey Hart found his way to music organically and humbly. The Kentucky native grew up always loving music, but not exactly knowing that music was in the cards for him. Continue reading to learn more about his story.

“I grew up singing from the time I was really old enough to talk and grew up in church singing, and from that point started doing talent shows,” began Hart. The singer recalls listening to a lot of gospel music growing up, and later discovering country music on his own.

“I always liked Blake Shelton and Brett Eldredge. I always gravitated towards the big singers and enjoyed their vocals. Blake, and Brett, and I always loved Brooks & Dunn’s stuff. Before I knew who those guys were, growing up in church, I listened to a lot of gospel, like quartet kind of stuff,” he shared.

When high school came around, Hart found himself forgoing music and focusing more on sports. However, later, things started to shift back to music. “After high school, a couple of my buddies and I started a band and did a thing just in my hometown. We did that for a couple of years, and ended up winning a battle of the bands and got to come to Nashville to record our first EP.”

Hart recalls the electric feeling of playing to a crowd with his band for one of his first times. “When we started a band and the first time we ever played live, we played for a pretty big crowd in my hometown – that was the first moment that I even had an idea that it might be something. I was probably 19 or 20, and that was the first time that I ever thought “wow” I can get paid for doing this a little bit?!”

The Turning Point:

When his band won the battle of the bands and got to come out to Nashville to record four original songs, Hart realized how important songwriting was. “I never wrote a song before 20 or 21. […] We pretty much sat down and literally just came up with four songs that probably didn’t make a ton of sense, but for us at the time, it was a big deal and we got to go in and record them.”

Around that same time, Hart was connected to a woman named Laurel Kittleson. “She worked at Big Machine Label Group at the time and she pretty much found me and told me she thought I had a chance if I moved down here. She started setting me up with writes and putting me on the right path. I did that for a few years.” Eventually, Kittleson took at job at Curb Records, where Hart was offered a publishing deal.

“I remember these guys talking about publishing deals my first couple of weeks down here, and I remember not knowing what they were talking about. I finally asked one of my buddies after one of those writes,” he shared. Adding, “He explained to me the whole deal with how it worked, and I remember my mind being blown that people got paid to write a song. So fast forward, a couple of years and a ton of writing in between that time, and I did learn what a publishing deal was. It was one of those things that I kept being put in rooms with people that were a lot better than me and I finally learned how to craft a song together.”

After many songs and putting his vocals on demos, a year later, Hart was offered a record deal with Curb Records too.

Today:

Flash forward to present day, Hart is now a Curb Records recording artist, cranking out new music to feed his growing fanbase. Most recently the singer showcased a new side of his personality and talent with his newest release, “Country In Business.”

On the way to a writer’s retreat, Hart and his songwriting buddy had the title ‘Country In Business,’ and wanted to bring it up; however, they never did. “We were on our way back home and we didn’t bring up ‘Country In Business’ and neither one of us could understand how it flew over our head to bring it up at the writing retreat.”

It turned out to be all about timing, as the song came to fruition just a few days after the retreat ended. “It was one of those songs that happens when it’s supposed to happen […] The next week we’re writing with my producer and he plays some tracks and the first track that he played is pretty much the bare bones of [the song],” shared Hart.

Hart later added, “We just wanted to try to write the song without being so cliche and also we just wanted to paint the picture of all the things that country folks are still doing and have always done, and just tip our hats to guys and girls that are keeping country in business, literally.” The sentiment embodies the single, “Country In Business” perfectly.

Hart is showing no signs of slowing day. More new music is in the works, and a new song is slated for release this October. Keep your eyes and ears open for Hart and his music!

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