Over the last few years, country music has seen an explosion of incredibly talented female vocalists. And it was just a few years ago that an aspiring artist, by the name of Kelsea Ballerini, sat in the seats and stood in the crowds watching her favorite artists perform. Now, Kelsea is the one on stage singing her music to sold out crowds. And for Ms. Ballerini, everyday is surreal to her because of her experience as a fan. “I feel like everyday is surreal to me. I’m so grateful for the 12, 13, 14 years that I spent being a superfan because it taught me so much and now being on the other side of it, I am so appreciative of it. I’ve been a fan for so long and I know what the side looks like,” she tells New England Country Music.
Kelsea has truly come from being an up-and-coming act to a household name. She has been nominated for several country music awards in the past couple years and has been included in categories with other female vocalists like Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert- two female artists who have been at the top of the genre for many years. Kelsea is blown away by the fact that she is simply nominated in the same categories as them. “I wouldn’t even know what it looks like to be in country music without Carrie and Miranda. For me, they are part of my whole history of country music. From the time that I first started listening to it (country music), they were on the radio. They are legends to me. So to be in categories with them, it’s an honor and I will always be happy to watch them win,” Kelsea explains. One award that she was able to take home was the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Vocalist of the Year– an award that Kelsea was ‘stoked’ to win. “I was really stoked about being New Female at the ACMs. Just because I love being able to walk alongside Maren and Cam and Maddie and Tae and all these amazing women. We’ve all worked really hard and come up together so being able to be nominated for that with my friends and then actually get it was really cool too.”
Not only was Kelsea named as the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Vocalist of the Year, as previously mentioned, but she also made history earlier this year by being the first female country artist to have her first three consecutive singles from a debut album reach Number One on the charts. And if someone told Kelsea that she would do this, she would ‘probably say they were crazy.’ Kelsea goes on to say, “I made this album with my friends and none of us had ever had a song on the radio before and honestly there’s no reason that it should’ve worked like it has. That being sad, the fact that there have been three Number Ones off of it- that made history. And being able to share that with my friends, the people that I made this album with and the people that believed in it when they had no reason to, that’s the coolest part.” In October, she released the fourth single off the album- a song titled ‘Yeah Boy,’ and one that Kelsea thinks exemplifies the heartbeat of the record. “The heartbeat of my whole first album is super youthful and fun and flirty. ‘Peter Pan’ kind of took it away from that for a second and gave it a little more depth. I just felt that since it’s the last single from this record, it would be fun to circle back to that heartbeat of it before we change gears in the next album.” The next album is in the works and half of the record will be done by the end of the year. “I am so, so ready to get it out there. It’s a snapshot into the last 2 years of my life which has been a lot of growing up. The normal stuff that 22, 23 year olds go through. Heartbreak, finding love, settling into myself as a girl. All of the things that people go through and I have written about it all.”
Kelsea’s success can also be attributed to her dedicated touring as she’s hit the road with Billy Currington, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum and several others. Opening for these great acts as taught the young songstress so much but she says that she learned the most from her time with Rascal Flatts. And it wasn’t necessarily how they took the stage or the audio-visual aspect or anything like that but instead the family-like team that comprises the Rascal Flatts road crew. She describes, “Just seeing how everyone on their entire team works so well together and loves each other- they have such a loving, family camp. Me, as a small artist, I am starting to bring more people on board. So it was so good to see how they run their show and how everyone respects each other and loves each other. And how they treated us as openers, me and Chris Lane, they were so good to us. That was really special to see.” In 2017, Kelsea will be hitting the road with fellow rising country star, Thomas Rhett. “I love Thomas, I love his wife, and I love his music. We’re all friends and it’s really cool to be on the road with your friends. He’s the hottest thing in country music so I’m lucky to be on that tour with him,” she says.
But before Kelsea hits the road on the Home Team Tour, she is playing for thousands of fans on her very own headlining The First Time Tour. Kelsea describes the tour as being ‘amazing’ so far with a handful of dates already under her belt. But for her, the most important thing about this tour is the ability to thank her fans. “I’ve never headlined before and it’s such a different energy because I’ve gotten so used to opening for some of my favorite bands and every night is a challenge- you go out there and try to make people like your music. And then with headlining, it’s walking out there and these people know every word to every song on my album- songs that I haven’t even released yet. The truth is they’re the ones who tweet the lyrics and tell their friends about it and turn it up on the radio. They’re the reason that it has worked. So just being able to come to their city and sing it with them and hug them and say thank you is a big deal to me.” The First Time Tour will stop at Boston’s House of Blues later this week for Country 102.5’s annual Holiday Jam. Kelsea says, “Boston is the biggest show on the whole tour. I remember, I came to Boston not long ago for a one-off headlining show, and it was my biggest crowd I ever had. So Boston is always one of my favorite places to come to. I have a feeling Boston might be the best show of the whole tour.”
With all of her contributions to the genre, Kelsea Ballerini has truly become a role model to so many people. From aspiring artists who see what dreams coming true looks like to young girls who just want to look up to a strong and successful female. And that is something that is so very important to Kelsea. “I remember being a young girl and looking up to Taylor Swift- she was the one for me. You look at how they do their hair, you look at what they wear, you look at how they tweet, you look at everything. When you look up to someone like that, everything that they do matters. So now being on this side of it, I am really careful, but I’m also still really honest because I never want to put out a personality that’s actually not me. I never want to disappoint anyone. If any little girl ever looks up to me, I want to make sure I am someone that they can actually look up to.” We can tell you one thing, when speaking to Kelsea, it was apparent that she is as authentic as she seems to be on television and radio. She isn’t successful just because of the success of her music on the charts but instead because of the person that she is. With her incredible poise and personality, her career in country music will be long and fruitful and one day Kelsea may just be considered a legend of her own as she is most definitely in the forefront of a new generation of country music.
You can follow Kelsea on Facebook, Twitter, and her official website.
You can get her debut album, ‘The First Time,’ on iTunes here.
Limited number of tickets still available for the Country 102.5 Holiday Jam featuring Kelsea. Get yours here.
Main Photo Credit: Guerin Blask.