Kelsea Ballerini Talks Pop-Country, Female Artists And Healing
Kelsea Balleirni loves country music, of course, but she’s just as fond as other genres. The rising star recently sat down with The Independent to discuss that, the increasing female presence in country music and why albums are still important.
The traditional versus pop country argument has persisted for decades, but Kelsea generally ignores it. “I get comments about it a lot,” she tells the publication. “But I think it’s a really cool eclectic time in country music. You can hear Little Big Town who are folk country, Chris Stapleton [who is] soul country, Sam Hunt who iss R&B country, [and] me who’s pop country. You can hear the influences we listen to. I grew up on a farm in east Tennessee and my first concert was Britney Spears – that’s my music.”
If all we have is our story, I wanted to tell mine #UNAPOLOGETICALLY. Available everywhere NOW 💋 https://t.co/Wv8tkB6JXA pic.twitter.com/enlwt64DkE
— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) November 3, 2017
She’s happy about the number of females who are making a splash in country music, too. “Attitudes are changing, and radio’s been really good to me,” she continues. “Maren [Morris], RaeLynn, Lauren Alaina … We all have influences that are outside of country and you can hear it.”
Asked about the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting October 1st in Las Vegas, Kelsea heralded music’s ability to heal. “Even as a fan, when I go to shows, there’s something magical and unexplainable about that connection of singing a song together,” she offers. “That’s why people show up for concerts. To have someone take that away … So it’s up to us as country music artists to keep going.”
Read the entire story here. Stay up to date on Kelsea’s touring schedule here. Her new album Unapologetically is out now.
Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin’ country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.
