Kelsey Hart never had the goal of being a country music singer. Right out of high school, the Kentucky native went to barber school and got his license. His friend who lived right down the street had a guitar and often stopped by the shop where the pair would sing together to pass the time. This led to them starting a hometown band.

For a year, Hart was the frontman for their local band, but by age 20, he decided he needed to learn the guitar. The hometown band eventually fizzled out, but by then, Hart knew enough songs on guitar that he could play solo at bars or wherever they would have him.

By 2016, Hart split his time between Kentucky and Nashville, where he cut hair part of the week and wrote songs part of the week.

He advised, “I wanted to be a singer and an artist, but to get going, you’ve got to have the songs. People told me, ‘Get in writing rooms and write the best songs you can.’”

Hart was talented enough to get a publishing deal with Curb Records in 2020, and by 2021 they signed him as an artist.

His first single, “Give You Mine,” is about giving his world to a girl if she will have him. It was a huge success, garnering millions of streams. But the song “Life With You” struck me and stirred others profoundly. It debuted in the top 10 on Billboard's Country Digital Songs chart, reaching the Number 1 spot on SiriusXM's The Highway Hot 30 Weekend Countdown. 

He stated, “‘Life With You’ is the first song (I wrote) that resonated like that and connected to people. It's hard even to fathom what a song can do when it does that.”

With his other hit singles, “Crazy ‘Bout You,” and “Without You In It,” I wanted to know who was the muse who inspired these heartfelt tributes and love songs.

His (now) wife, Auminee, inspired his mega-hit “Life With You” and his other love songs. He confirmed, “I actually wrote the song not long after we started dating. That’s where my headspace was at the time.”

Because it was written from his heart, so many can relate to the words, Baby I love doing life with you/ You're everything I wanna wake up to/ Give you all of my heart/ The moon and the stars/ 'Til my time here on Earth is through/ 'Cause I just love, baby I love doing life with you.

Hart continues to use his relationship with his wife to inform his songwriting. His latest single, “Gone With The Wind,” speaks of a guy guarding his heart until she came along.  With the words Like a twister through the heartland/ Jumpstart a tin man/ You take me places I ain't ever been the guy finds himself where he never expected to be as he thanks the Lord “for a storm like that.”

Penned alongside Jesse Frasure, Lee Thomas Miller, and Blake Bollinger, “Gone With The Wind” offers Hart’s first taste of new music following his full-length debut, Life With You, released to critical acclaim last year. On the verge of surpassing 1 million TikTok views, the album’s title cut has amassed upwards of 117 million global streams and is currently Top 30-and-climbing at country radio.

Many singer/songwriters I have featured have told me that heartbreak sells. Misery loves company. But Kelsey Hart, who genuinely writes from the heart, has proven that love also sells. For those who have or hope to find true love, his songs offer a message of hope that is sometimes missing in country music.

The in-demand lyricist – who has written songs recorded by Jake Owen, Dylan Scott and Trace Adkins - will share his emotional fan favorites, as well as other handpicked selections from his debut and fresh additions to his catalog like “Gone With the Wind,” on tour this spring supporting Restless Road. The trio’s “Goin’ Out Like That Tour” is scheduled to launch March 27 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and will visit 20 cities across the U.S. and Canada before wrapping May 31 in Fort Myers, Florida.

Stream or purchase “Gone With The Wind” HERE. For a complete list of tour dates and more, visit www.officialkelseyhart.com.

You can follow Kelsey Hart on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and all music streaming services.

    – – –

Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and X.