Don Tupset is the best sports musician you’ve never heard of. His canvas is a corner of YouTube you probably haven’t visited, singing songs about Kentucky basketball that far too few have appreciated. It doesn’t matter if you like Kentucky, hate Kentucky or are simply indifferent — Don Tupset is life. His songs began early in 2012 with a simple Christmas carol.
This bearded Kentucky basketball fan who writes songs about the team is a national treasure
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
There was a three year layoff before Tupset would sing about Kentucky again and he broke out with the smash-hit “The Ballad of the BBN.”
A room full of echoes, a B harmonica and a cap -- Tupset had not yet grown his amazing beard. We know that song ended in a cliffhanger, so here’s the conclusion.
Any great artist’s career has movements. So too has Tupset, who changed up his style throughout 2015, finally settling on a more Appalachian style of music with the release of “My Heart Knows What the Wildcat Knows” in October 2015. It’s here we saw the emergence of his now-signature beard.
What really elevated Tupset’s career to cultural icon is the seminal piece “Where There’s a Willis, There’s a Way,” written about UK forward Derek Willis. It’s here that the singer’s beard is fully realized.
It’s been over a month since Don Tupset released a Kentucky song. In between his sports works you can hear him on such Mitch McConnell diss tracks as “#McConnelling For the Ladies of KY,“ ”Bye Bye Mitch McConnell,“ ”It ain’t Mitch Babe“ and his taut political work ”I’m getting over the GOP,” which also referenced McConnell.
Tupset is the John Calipari of sports songs. An unparalleled talent more people need to appreciate. It’s entirely too long until college basketball returns, but the only thing we need to get us through is more Don Tupset songs.
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