Mason Ramsey (Yes, the Walmart Yodel Boy) Is Back with “Blue Over You”

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Yes, the Walmart yodel boy. He’s back, though he never really left. But he’s back doing music that’s inspired by the Golden Era of country, at least for a song. And it’s a good one.

It’s nearly impossible to gauge the long-term prospects of a young singing prodigy, because puberty has the ultimate say so on what they will eventually develop into. For Mason Ramsey, he could have fared worse. He’s still only 17 though, so much is still yet to be determined.

You go back and listen to his early tracks, and Mason sounds like a chipmunk. That’s not his fault. After he became an incredibly unlikely viral sensation singing “Lovesick Blues” by Hank Williams in 2018, the industry got a hold of him and did their worst. He was signed to Big Loud Records, paired with Joey Moi of Florida Georgia Line fame, and was singing terrible tracks co-written by Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley within months.

But you kind of knew none of that would really matter in the long run. They were just trying to exploit the moment commercially. The kid was 11 years old at the time. His balls needed to drop, and he needed to have his heart broken. A broken heart is what has given rise to “Blue Over You” that Ramsey co-wrote with his producer Dan Fernandez.

“Blue Over You” isn’t the first taste of music from Mason Ramsey recently. He released another single called “Here All Day” earlier this year, and a five-song EP in October of 2023 called Falls Into Place. Generally speaking, these offerings fall into the rather formulaic approach of mainstream country songwriting and production, with perhaps some slight favoritism shown to more traditional sounds with steel guitar present in the mix.

But “Blue Over You” is where that old soul of a young man raised by his grandparents on traditional country comes forth once again, with a bit of an Elvis/Sun Records influence as well. Compared to all the other tracks Ramsey has released over the last year, and since his voice has matured, “Blue Over You” is by far and away the most popular. Because of course it is. This is what we want from Mason Ramsey. We want old school sounds, not some tired attempt at a radio single that’s unlikely to take off anyway.

Mason Ramsey was before his time singing “Lovesick Blues,” becoming more of a meme than anything. But that whole phenomenon was also a strong precursor to the traditional country resurgence country music is experiencing as we speak. It was like a premonition when a young kid singing at a Walmart awakened an elemental craving in music fans that was going underserved by the current regime in country.

But that was 2018, and this is 2024. You don’t need to curry favor with radio to create a career. You simply need to craft a good song, and the audience will find it.

If there is any issue with “Blue Over You,” it’s that the music forgoes the steel guitar, which the track is begging for. Nonetheless, the song is going viral. Not “Lovesick Blues” in Walmart viral, but viral like a good song that touches a nerve should.

You can tell with the recent rash of singles and the EP from Mason Ramsey, his camp is probing to see what will ultimately stick for him and his long-term prospects moving forward. They struck gold with “Blue Over You,” and hopefully take the hint that this is what the public has wanted from the Walmart yodel boy the whole time.

© 2023 Saving Country Music

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