"Ex-Old Man" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Kristen Kelly Kristen Kelly is an American country music singer from Lorena, Texas. While signed to Arista Nashville she released her debut single, "Ex-Old Man". The song was the first from her self titled ep, produced by Tony Brown and Paul Overstreet. “E ...

. It was released in April 2012 as Kelly's first single. Kelly wrote the song with

Paul Overstreet Paul Lester Overstreet (born March 17, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He recorded 10 studio albums between 1982 and 2005, and charted 16 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts, including two ...

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song two and a half stars out of five, writing that "the plucky, mid-tempo cut showcases her big country voice, but seems written too long after the fact." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song a favorable review, saying that "the melody recalls classic hits of the distant past but it also has a sunny disposition to it as well." Ben Foster of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B+ grade, writing that "it’s a refreshing change of pace to hear a new artist taking a back-to-basics approach – revisiting a classic yet often ignored country music theme, with a simple drum and acoustic guitar-driven arrangement that actually makes the song feel like country music."

Music video

The music video was directed by

Anna Mastro Anna Mastro is an American film director, music video director and television producer. A native of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, Mastro graduated from the University of Washington at the age of nineteen. She became a protege to dire ...

and premiered in August 2012.

Chart performance

"Ex-Old Man" debuted at number 60 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of March 24, 2012.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Kristen Kelly songs Arista Nashville singles Songs written by Paul Overstreet Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) 2012 debut singles 2012 songs