Music has the ability to do so many things. But one thing that music often does is inspire. And we love to see when stars influence the youth of our country to follow the dreams and make music of their own.
Meet Landon Wall. Landon is 13 years old and lives in a small town called Trinity, North Carolina. He has been playing guitar and singing for nearly half of his young life and his favorite artists are Hunter Hayes, Brad Paisley, Kip Moore, and of course, Merle Haggard. But another one of Landon’s favorites is country songstress, Kelsea Ballerini. One day, Landon and his father were driving down the street when Ballerini’s Number One song, ‘Peter Pan,’ came on to the radio. His dad wondered, “What would Peter Pan’s side of the story be?” A few days later, Landon had Peter’s side of the story in a song he called ‘Lost Boy.’
‘Lost Boy’ is a super creative response to Kelsea’s smash hit. And we’re amazed that someone of Landon’s age and experience came up with such a great song and concept. While Landon would have loved for Kelsea to hear ‘Lost Boy,’ he didn’t know if she would as she’s one of the busiest artists in country music. But with the power of social media, Kelsea saw the video of his song. Landon describes, “One day I started getting messages on Facebook from friends I have in Nashville saying they saw a tweet from Ms. Kelsea. When I went to check, she sent me a tweet saying, ‘OH. MY. HEAVENS. LANDON, COME TO A SHOW AND LET ME HUG YOU. THIS IS BRILLIANT.’ – Yeah, I was a happy guy!”
As many young and aspiring artists do, Landon had plans to play at the infamous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville where he’d sing some of his songs including ‘Lost Boy.’ He took a chance and sent a tweet to Kelsea saying that he would be playing the song that night at the Bluebird, just in case she didn’t have plans. Well the stars lined up and Kelsea either didn’t have plans or changed her plans as she took the time to head to the Bluebird and surprise Landon.
“I had NO clue she would actually show up,” Landon told us. “I couldn’t believe my eyes! I don’t think I was really thinking anything at that point! It felt like time stood still for a few moments! I was completely speechless other than to occasionally utter the words,’Yes, ma’am’ (to Kelsea),” as Landon is truly a young Southern gentlemen with great manners. Looking back on the surprise, Landon describes, “It was a dream come true! Completely AWESOME! I’m so grateful she took the time to surprise me!! Oh and she sings like an angel!”
He went on to say, “As a young artist, I think it’s important to have role models and mentors to look up to and learn from. I feel blessed that God has brought people into my life that I can learn from. A year ago, Hunter Hayes invited me to perform with him on stage at the Carolina Country Music Festival and now, Ms. Kelsea took the time out of her busy schedule to come see me perform. They both went out of their way to share the spotlight with a young artist. I hope one day, I’ll have the opportunity to do the same.”
So with these incredible experiences under his belt and a bright future ahead of him, what are Landon’s goals? “When I was younger (7-9) my goal was to sell out Madison Square Garden and play the Grand Ole Opry. I would still like to accomplish these goals, but now I mostly want to touch people with my music as many as I can.”
We here at New England Country Music wish Landon the best of luck in his music endeavors and goals. With great mentors, great talent, and hard work, we have no doubt that this young man can accomplish his goals and then some.
You can purchase ‘Lost Boy’ on iTunes here.
You can follow Landon on Twitter, Facebook, and his official website.