Yodel Boy from Walmart has grown up and wears Gucci.
Mason Ramsey has been singing since he could speak, but he didn’t really get into singing until the ripe old age of 11.
That time, he walked into a Walmart store in Harrisburg, Illinois, near his hometown of Golconda, Illinois, randomly sang Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” in the aisle, and then started yodeling.
A customer he didn’t know took a video of him and posted it on social media, and within days the performance had more than 25 million views. Ramsay suddenly became a celebrity.
Ramsey lived with his grandparents in a rural area of 648 people, but with no Wi-Fi, internet, cell phones or even cable TV, he didn’t immediately realize he had become an overnight sensation.
“I didn’t find out about it until about a week later, and it just sort of took off from there,” Ramsey, now 16, told WWD Friday night before a sold-out concert at the Mercury Lounge.
“My cousin who lives about two miles from us has the Internet, and she’s the one who found out about it. And then there’s Ellen, the Jimmy Kimmel Show, the Today Show, Jimmy Fallon, and so many more. I started getting calls from places.”
Before Ramsey knew it, the Wal-Mart yodel boy was caught up in a whirlwind of appearances on “Ellen,” “Good Morning America,” the Grand Ole Opry, the Grammy Awards, and countless other TV shows. It wasn’t long before he signed a record deal with Big Loud Records, a subsidiary of Nashville’s Atlantic Records, making him the youngest country artist signed to a major record label in nearly 20 years. became.
Since then, Ramsey has released two EPs, charted the gold-certified single “Famous,” headlined two tours, performed a Las Vegas residency, and racked up worldwide streams in 2018 alone. has been viewed over 300 million times.
And on Friday, Ramsey released a five-song EP, “Falls Into Place,” four of which he helped write. This is the first new song he has released since 2019.
“Over the past few years, I have taken some time to move back home to Golconda and do some important things in my life, such as finding my first job, going to prom, and working on my truck modification. I was able to do that,” he said. “I also spent more time playing the guitar and was able to focus on writing and figuring out what I really wanted to say with my music.”
It also gave him a chance to get his yodel back.
When he entered adolescence and his voice changed, the unthinkable happened. I couldn’t yodel anymore. But one day, as he was sitting by the lake, he began to sing and miraculously his singing skills returned.
“I actually lost my yodel for quite some time,” he said. “And this time last year, I actually got my yodeling back. So now I’m singing and practicing to get stronger.”
But the fact that he even yodels in the first place makes Ramsey an enigma among other artists of his generation. It stems from the fact that his grandparents were big fans of old-fashioned, traditional country music, especially Hank Williams, and he was exposed to that music from an early age.
“We always listened to Hank Williams,” he said. “If it wasn’t in the house, it was in the garage, and if it wasn’t in the garage, it was on the way to wherever we were going.”
Ramsey now jokes that all of his favorite artists have passed away, from Williams to Jim Croce to Elvis, but he admits that he also loves AC/DC.
He is regularly referred to as an old soul, and sings about it on one of the songs on his new album, “All I Wanna Be.” “Everyone says I’m an old soul, but the truth is they don’t know. They branded me like a patch on a Wrangler jeans. From the little aisle at Walmart to the big old stage. “I went all the way and sang my heart out to a crowd bigger than I ever dreamed,” he sings in the autobiographical song.
Another cut, “Reasons to Come Home,” also offers a glimpse into his life. The slightly melancholy song was released with a video that included a “little dot on a map” of his hometown and footage of his elderly grandparents. The chorus goes, “If the people I love are gone, I don’t think I’ll come back to a place like this. There’s no reason to go home anymore.”
These songs, along with other more uplifting songs in his repertoire and Elvis-inspired stage moves, are sure to connect with fans during his tour next year.
Ramsey is a bit shy and soft-spoken when talking about his life, but he lights up when it comes to music. “Singing is just something I love to do. I don’t take it for granted. I take it very seriously.”
Despite his success, Ramsey remains suspended. It might have something to do with his family. Her visit to New York was accompanied by her uncle and aunt (whom her husband calls Mama Bear) and the team’s senior protective team members. When he was at home (always on the go and homeschooled), he had chores to complete, and while taking a break from music, he worked at his family’s local sub shop. There is also.
for his 16 year oldth Last year for his birthday — he turns 17 on Nov. 16 — his family bought him a truck, and he’s been proudly working on it ever since. “It’s a 1968 Chevrolet K10. It’s blue and its name is Bigfoot,” he said. “I wanted a truck with no airbags, no seat belts, just a lap belt.”
His love for vintage is also reflected in his fashion choices. For his visit to WWD, Ramsay wore black jeans from All Saints, boots or two-tone loafers from Stacey Adams, and a blue jacket from Asos or a white leather jacket from American Breed. But the best item in his wardrobe was a vintage Gucci shirt his aunt found for him at The RealReal.
“I feel like music these days is missing a little bit of the old vibe of the ’50s and ’60s,” he says. “I want to incorporate that into my music and fashion as well.”
His fans will get a more detailed glimpse into his life when a documentary tentatively titled “Yodell Boy” is released. The film is complete and his team is looking for a distributor.
But until then, Ramsey will continue to focus on his music and career. His old-school style prevents him from being accepted by mainstream radio, but he doesn’t care.
“I want to do music for the rest of my life,” he said. “I love my fans so much that I’m going to continue to move forward and pursue this. Country music is very hard to break into. The way I describe it, there’s a stadium and every door has a I mean, there are gatekeepers. But what happened to me, I just cut a hole in the roof of this stadium and fell through it, and now they just have to deal with me.”