Kelsea Ballerini has been having a banner couple of years.
After going through a very public divorce, she released two albums, toured twice, hosted the CMT Awards, and became a coach on season 27 of “The Voice.”
Now, the country-pop singer is being featured in Variety’s Power of Women Nashville issue.
I Guess They Call It Falling
Like most new acts, Ballerini has been on tour for a majority of her career. Ten years in fact. If she wasn’t stationed in her home city of Nashville – where most country stars land – she was on the road, performing for audiences.
Her latest album, “Patterns,” which also recently was upgraded to a deluxe edition landed at number four on the BIllboard 200 chart and became the first number one country album in her career.
Yet Ballerini believes she reached her goal of music stardom well before seeing these recent results.
She told Variety: “To me, the ultimate sign of ‘I made it; people are listening’ was getting on country radio. And I was happy with having achieved that goal — until I became brave enough to ask myself, ‘What else?’”
Although, Ballerini still does pay attention to the amount of listeners beyond country radio. “Patterns” would be her biggest release thus far. And her newfound position on “The Voice” not to mention upcoming tour stops including Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena have cemented her in the big time.
“So many more people had ears on my music, which has always been the goal,” she admits to Variety.” “But it was just as beautiful as it was really difficult.”
Country Singers Cry Too
With her current status, Ballerini is sure not to forget where she came from. The Tennessee native spent years crafting her own identity – outside of other country superstars.
She grew up a huge fan of other similarly styled female artists including Kelly Clarkson, Shania Twain, and The Chicks. Then there’s Britney Spears. And, of course, Taylor Swift.
Ballerini would spend many of her days watching these artists do their work on outlets like CMT.
“The school of becoming an artist was the school of being a fan,” she told Variety.
But she had to stand out – especially from her contemporary, the ever popular Swift. A music executive even told her a version of Swift already existed. The burgeoning singer didn’t disagree.
“There weren’t a lot of young female singer-songwriter girls in country music to look up to — Taylor was the North Star for me, and still is in a lot of ways,” she told Variety. “I had to grow into my own identity as an artist and a songwriter and learn to differentiate myself.”
“Everything that I loved seeing other artists do is what I wanted to do, and I’ve always had the audacity to do it,” Ballerini continued. “I don’t think I’m the most talented person in the world — I know very well that I’m not — but I trust myself enough to know that I will always find a way to make it work.”
Ballerini has largely found her own voice outside of Nashville and the singers she loves. Her producers and co-writers Alysa Vanderhey, Jessie Jo Dillon, Hillary Lindsey and Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild are a few of the people namechecked in the piece.
Ultimately, Ballerini wants to help others in similar situations of self doubt and struggle. Read the entire Variety profile here.
