Kashus Culpepper’s first ‘Act’ started just 6 years ago, when he picked up a guitar

This summer, Kashus Culpepper is going to be playing amphitheaters around the country. He’ll be opening for country star Jelly Roll, which is something that may have sounded surreal to Culpepper just a few years ago.

In 2020, Culpepper was in the Navy, on deployment to Spain, when he picked up a guitar and taught himself to play for his fellow service members.

In today’s session, Culpepper talks about how he went from performing covers to Act I, his full-length debut album. He also talks about his life before the Navy, growing up in small-town Alabama, and how he holds on to his Southern roots. Plus, Culpepper performs in front of a live audience for World Cafe.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.