Walmart yodel kid of viral video fame announces debut album
It was only a matter of time, just a couple of months actually, before a preteen boy captured in a viral video yodeling in a Walmart put out a record.
Mason Ramsey, the adorable 11-year-old whose version of a Hank Williams classic has been watched more than 50 million times on YouTube and spawned multiple remixes, will put out his first album on July 20.
Titled “Famous,” the EP includes a mix of new songs and country classics, including the song that made Mason an overnight Internet sensation, “Lovesick Blues.”
Raised in the small town of Golconda, Illinois, Ramsey said his grandfather taught him to sing when he was three years old and he started performing at nursing homes, restaurants and fairs.
“When I started to sing, I guess you could say it was good for a 3-year-old,” Ramsey said in a telephone interview.
But it took him weeks to discover that his impromptu Walmart performance had gone viral because his family didn’t have Internet access at their home. They got a call from producers with “The Ellen Show,” and he was flown to Los Angeles - his firstever plane ride - to be a guest on the show.
Ramsey signed a record deal with Big Loud Records and Atlantic Records, and he’s been popping up everywhere, from Coachella, Stagecoach and the Grand Ole Opry.
He will be opening for Florida Georgia Line at their Las Vegas residency later this year.
The FBI’s hunt for a serial killer fuels Ellison Cooper’s intense debut that introduces FBI special agent and neuroscientist Sayer Altair.
Cooper’s relentless energetic storytelling elevates “Caged” beyond the typical serial killer novel as the author weaves in real science to create some unique twists. Cooper also wisely avoids the overly gruesome details that mar many serial-killer novels as she makes her story more about people and their personalities.
The prickly Sayer makes a fine heroine for this new series. Sayer usually is the smartest person in the room, with a complicated background that adds texture to the story. Her career takes priority as she grapples with the pain of losing loved ones, leaving her incredibly lonely. Her spur-ofthe-moment decision to take home a little dog found at a crime scene is a start to caring about others once more.
Cooper punctuates “Caged” with believable twists that take myriad paths as it leads to a realistic conclusion.
She indulges Sayer with a few character cliches — she has a problem with authority and vows more than once that she will find the next victim “if it was the last thing she did.” But Cooper also imbues Sayer with a distinctive voice and a “burning pitch” for justice.