Kelsey Waldon - They'll Never Keep Us Down (2020) [Hi-Res]

Singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon has announced plans for the new covers EP They’ll Never Keep Us Down, her first release since 2019’s White Noise/White Lines. Out November 20th, the project includes versions of Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” featuring Adia Victoria and Kyshona Armstrong, and the title track, originally by bluegrass great Hazel Dickens.

Waldon’s choice of covering the Civil Rights Era protest song “Mississippi Goddam” underscores the present-day social unrest being addressed by this release, turning Simone’s song into a hypnotic, fiddle-driven country number with Victoria and Armstrong chiming in about the racist violence that plagues the country. Waldon also embraces her bluegrass roots for the pro-labor union message of “They’ll Never Keep Us Down,” originally recorded in 1976. Proceeds from a limited-edition vinyl of the release will benefit non-profit advocacy groups Hood to the Holler and Appalachia Citizens’ Law Center.