Kelsea Ballerini revealed a word of advice she received from pop megastar Taylor Swift as she reminisced on the early days of her career. The East Tennessee-born songstress, 31, spoke with Willie Geist on Sunday Today on the heels of her fifth studio record’s debut.
Ballerini began writing music when she was around 12, when her parents divorced. She and her mom moved to Nashville in pursuit of her career as a singer-songwriter when the “First Rodeo” star was 15. Ballerini released her debut album, The First Time, when she was 21. Since then, the Grammy-nominated artist’s career has skyrocketed; however, it wasn’t without endurance through a few rocky moments along the way.
“My first-ever experience…it was at an independent label that does not exist anymore. And I walked in, and I played a song that I’d written by myself. And he looked at me at he said, ‘there’s already a Taylor Swift,’” Ballerini recalled.
Her music quickly caught Swift’s attention, though, as the “Fortnight” powerhouse wrote in a tweet in 2015: “Driving around with the [Kelsea Ballerini] EP on repeat.. SO lovely:),” with hashtags “Yeah Boy” and “Love Me Like You Mean It.” Those were two of Ballerini’s biggest hits on her debut record, along with “Peter Pan” and “Dibs.” Ballerini marked the 10-year anniversary of her first single, “Love Me LIke You Mean It,” with a reimagined version earlier this year.
“I remember I asked her [Swift], I was like, ‘you know, I’m a girl on an independent label. So, this is proving to be a little difficult for me,’” Ballerini said in her interview with Geist. “And she was like, ‘you have to become undeniable, whatever means to you, whatever that looks like to you.’ Then no one can tell you ‘no,’ because what is ‘no?’ You just pivot.”
Throughout the conversation, the pair also spoke about Ballerini’s album-making process, how her newest record reflects her life in this moment, her mother’s reaction to the candid apology her daughter delivered with “Sorry mom,” boyfriend Chase Stokes’ reaction to Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (Ballerini’s deeply vulnerable EP opening up about her divorce), and more.
Ballerini released her fifth studio album, Patterns, on Friday (October 25). The highly-anticipated project includes “Baggage,” “Two Things,” “Wait!,” “Cowboys Cry Too” with Noah Kahan, “I Would, Would You” and more. Ballerini said when the album arrived that she took a “beautiful and brutal look into myself and the people I love the most. The celebrations and challenges in the name of betterment, growth, and all around elevated vibes. The healthy habits that I hold close and the ones that gotta go. Written from my truest self, but meant for you to project onto your own lives and try on for fit. Whether you relate, want a song to cry in the back of an Uber music video style to, dramatically/drunkenly tell someone how much you love them, or scream sing about moments gone wrong before they went right…it’s all yours.”
Ballerini will celebrate Patterns’ arrival with a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night (October 29) in New York City. The show will also include sister duos Aly & AJ and Tigirlily Gold. In January, Ballerini will kick off her first headlining arena tour with Maisie Peters and Marynn Taylor. See the dates here.
“The whole time I was making this album, I was visualizing and dreamscaping ways to bring it to life for our live show, and it was something I couldn't wait more than five days after its release to do,” Ballerini said in a statement. “When good things happen, when new chapters begin, you want to share them with your people. This time around, it just so happens to be in a bucket list venue in the heart of a city that is landmarked heavily in the music and visuals of PATTERNS. I'm so giddy to be celebrating this album release at Madison Square Garden...see you in New York City!”