It’s time to introduce you to some new music… In country music, Kelsea Ballerini has been one of my personal favorites for a while now. Since seeing her live at this year’s C2C Festival in London, I like her even more. She just recently released her new single “I Hate Love Songs”, so all the more reason to write about her.

Kelsea Ballerini is one of the new and fresh country music artists that had surfaced a few years ago. People keep asking me how I find out about new artists. This one I’ve discovered through one of Gavin DeGraw’s (not to confuse with country star Tim McGraw) previous drummers Ian O’Neill, who went on tour with her a while back.

Kelsea Ballerini pushing country music’s boundaries

I think we can agree that Kelsea’s music is pretty much country pop. I do love how many of her songs have quite a few typical country elements that pop out. One of the songs that brings out that nice mixture of country and pop is “Yeah Boy” – also one of my favorite songs btw. Check it out: Kelsea Ballerini – Yeah Boy

The 24yr old singer from East Tennessee says she didn’t really grow up with country music despite living on a farm in, let’s say, country-territory. Luckily she did find her way to country music soon enough. With only 19 years of age she signed a deal with Black River Entertainment, on which she then released not only her debut album “The First Time” but also her recent sophomore album “Unapologetically” that came out November 2017.

While her first album was more like scratching the surface of her emotions and experiences (she wrote songs about her parents’ divorce and her insecurities for example), she dug a little deeper for the second album. Having experienced a big heartbreak and falling in love again, her life changing with the success of her first album and other experiences made for some great song-material.

Award Nominations and New Single

Kelsea didn’t only make an impact in the country music scene. Apart from several award nominations in country music, she also got nominated for a GRAMMY as “Best New Artist” or back in 2015 for “Rising Star” by Billboard’s Women in Music. She went home with an ACM, iHeartRadio Music and 2 Radio Disney Music Awards. Not bad! Also, can you believe, she’s one of only 4 female country artists that earned a Top 10 spot on the Billboard 200 Charts in 2017!

Following her hit singles “Love Me Like You Mean It”, “Peter Pan” or “Legends”, Kelsea Ballerini just released her newest song off her album “Unapologetically”: I Hate Love Songs:

In her new song Kelsea Ballerini pokes at a few lovey-dovey clichés, which makes her even more likeable in my eyes. She thinks Cupid is stupid and hates names in a heart shaped tattoo 😉 But in the end, she can’t resist saying those 3 words after all. She just recently got married to fellow country music singer Morgan Evans – who by the way is a great singer too. I was lucky enough to catch him at C2C as well.

Catch Kelsea Ballerini on Tour!

Unfortunately there are no more European tourdates out as of yet, but, if you’re in the US, you’re in for a treat. Kelsea is not only performing the Stagecoach Festival this year, she’s also back on the road with her Unapologetically Tour in April and joining Keith Urban on his “Graffiti U Tour” later this summer! Make sure to check her schedule and get yourself tickets to see her.

Follow Kelsea on her socials:

Kelsea Ballerini on Facebook
Kelsea Ballerini on Twitter
Kelsea Ballerini on Instagram
Kelsea Ballerini on YouTube