Mason Ramsey’s DMV Debut
Image courtesy of Noelia Veras
By Thomas Holmes and Noelia Veras
A crowd littered with drunk college students sporting cheap dollar store cowboy hats and the occasional young child with their parent waited impatiently for the sensational yodeling 12-year-old Mason Ramsey. On October 12, Ramsey performed at the MilkBoy ArtHouse in College Park, Maryland as a part of the How’s Ur Girl and How’s Ur Family PT. 2 tour.
Prior to Ramsey’s performance, two opening acts took the stage. Jenna Paulette, from Dallas, Texas, was the first opener, performing a handful of her original songs. Paulette melded country music conventions which pop music, adequately appealing to many of the college girls in the crowd.
ERNEST, a Nashville singer/songwriter followed Paulette. ERNEST was touring with Ramsey to promote his new album “Locals Only.”
Mason Ramsey may only be 12 years old, but he definitely has a distinct stage presence. Ramsey sang a mix of covers and original songs, infused with his youthful tone and the occasional yodel.
As soon as Ramsey spoke to the audience it was apparent how young he actually was due to his shy demeanor. However, his shyness certainly went away when he began to belt both his original songs and the classical country songs on his setlist.
In March 2018, a twitter video showing Ramsey singing Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” in a Walmart went viral, gaining more than 20 million views. The young boy was shot into the public eye at just 10 years old, performing on the Ellen show and even the mainstage Coachella.
Ramsey was a featured guest on The Ellen Show in April of 2018. Ellen, along with the crowd, was captured by the charming 10 year old and his love for everything country. After Ellen invited Ramsey to perform on her show, she surprised him with the opportunity to play at the Grand Ole Opry; Ramsey had mentioned earlier in the interview that performing on the historic Nashville stage was one of his life-long dreams.
Mason Ramsey’s performance was incredibly impressive due to his level of talent and young age. His presence was charming and his moments of shyness were welcomed by the crowd. Although most of the songs he sang were not originals, he managed to make them his own and added a youthful tone to classic country songs that were originally released many years ago. Ultimately, Ramsey’s career has only just begun, he is still very young and has so much potential as a singer and as a performer that this will most certainly not be his last performance in the DMV area.
