Latest / Inside Country with Wayne D / How Kelsea Ballerini Landed The Voice Gig, You Won't Believe It

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How Kelsea Ballerini Landed The Voice Gig, You Won't Believe It · Inside Country with Wayne D

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  It's gonna be like a therapy session. I hope you're ready. Oh that's
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  my love language. Are you kidding me? It's Wayne d in studio with
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  the lovely and talented Miss Kelsey Ballerini. How are you so good? I'm
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  happy to be here. Listen your life. It feels like you kind of
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  were in like chill mode. You put out some music and like, all
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  of a sudden, you lit your world on fire because the Voice, some
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  coffee, some new music, all the things. Why why all at the
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  same time. Yeah, well, I don't you know, it's interesting that
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  it seems like I've been chill. I feel like I have not been chill
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  at all. But I guess when everything gets announced at once, it seems
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  like. But you know, I've been working on this record NonStop since like
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  last year, since like I guess November, no before that even, and
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  you know, like the Voice announced like we've had that plan for a couple
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  of months. So yeah, I guess it seems like a lot, but
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  it's been it's been a crazy few months. Let's let's start with a Voice,
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  because you got some new music we're going to hit on in a second
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  hit too. Have you been approached before this to be a part of whether
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  it's Idle or the voice or a similar I've I've done some stuff with the
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  voice. I was like, kind of. They did this thing called the
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  comebackstage like six years ago, I think, and I was the fifth coach,
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  so I did that, and then I was Kelly's advisor, and then
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  Kelly got six so I filled in for her in her actual seat a couple
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  of years ago. And then when Blake left the show, all the producers
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  came to town and they were having dinner. They're having meetings with several country
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  artists. That's all I knew, and I was one of them. And
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  you'll be so proud of me. I you know, I knew the producers
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  from from the work on the show. And at the end of dinner,
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  I had the audacity to lean across the table and I just said, Hey,
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  I really want this, and I promise you, like I know that
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  I'm newer, I know that you're probably talking to legends. I can do
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  this, I can do this, and I will I will do it well,
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  I promise, and I really I want you to know that I really
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  want this. And as soon as I said, I was like, go
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  on Kelsey. But I've I'm so proud of myself for doing that and putting
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  myself out there like that, and the timing just worked out really really well
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  to be able to do welcome that and tour NonStop last year and then this
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  year come up for air and do that. So how does it? And
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  I'm going to just say this as loose as possible, how do you have
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  the balls to say that? How do you? Cause? I mean that's
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  a totally obviously you got the personality, You've done TV stuff before, You've
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  performed in front of thousands of people, but like this is this is way
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  different, It is way different. I just chase the things that scare you.
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  I just I'm in this place in my life and I don't know if
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  it's turning thirty or whatever, but I just I want to do things that
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  challenge me and things that scare me. And being in that chair on a
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  massive TV show is terrifying. I'd be lying to say that it's not,
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  but it's something that I know will challenge me in a really good way as
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  an artist. And I think I've learned a lot the last ten years.
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  I'm also still actively learning so much my bucket list is still stacked. There's
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  a lot I want to do, So I think it'd be really cool to
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  be, you know, like the baby coach and just figure it out with
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  them. I will say you probably, as this gets clipped and shared on
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  our socials and people will hear the interview on the radio, you probably just
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  inspired a lot of tattoos saying chase the things. That's scary true, but
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  it's so true, you know, And like the worst thing that can happen
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  is you fail and then you move on to something else, and that's okay.
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  But like making music is always going to be the thing that I protect
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  the most and I put the most love and intention into. But the ability
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  to ask yourself what else is so liberating. So I'm gonna ask you to
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  be super honest. Yeah, therapy, let's go. And that is for
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  anybody that is tuning into the channel that is your life right now. Looks
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  awesome, right, this is happening, This is happening career wise. What's
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  the time you fell on your face and you had to look at me and
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  be like, we're gonna get our ish together and we're going to keep going.
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  I mean, the putting out subject to change, like was right when
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  I was getting divorced, and I didn't get to hide. I mean I
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  like, I put that album out and got my butt on stage every night,
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  and it was hard, really really hard, and you saw it,
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  like I broke down every other night, and I just challenged myself to not
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  be embarrassed and to let myself be human and know that for whatever reason,
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  that was how that journey was supposed to go. But that was hard.
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  That was really hard without going like to behind behind the curtain. Why was
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  it important for you to be transparent in the life changes you were going through,
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  because you could have just stayed home and been like, I know,
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  I'm going to wait till the water. Yeah. I think for me,
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  just the decision to put out that record, like making the record and writing
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  about it, I would have done whether I was like a semi successful artist
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  or not, like that's just how I deal with my life. But I
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  think putting it out, you hear a lot of songs about breakups and divorce
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  and whatever that are like you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep your car
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  and it's all your fault and burn your stuff. And I listened to those
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  songs a lot, but I think there's a lot more nuance to it sometimes
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  and being able to write the record really help me and I just for me,
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  I really often think about what do I need to hear and if I
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  need to hear it, then maybe someone else does. And that's why I
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  make music. So that's why I put it out with that was it was
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  there ever a point where You're like, maybe I'm being too vulnerable And the
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  second part of that question, the second part of that question is at any
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  point did you sit back and go, this is helping me more than I
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  realized. Yeah. I think when I first out rolling up the welcome matt
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  and immediately like we got SNL and like all that, and I was like,
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  oh my god, like this is already becoming way different than I had
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  anticipated. And at first I kind of like rejected the idea of making these
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  songs a big part of my life and my my set on tour and stuff.
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  But then as soon as I did, those are the songs that I
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  looked forward to singing the most because it was like the air in the room
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  change and like everyone put their shields down and stopped worrying about like you know,
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  if they looked cute in their selfies, and we all just leveled with
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  each other and we were singing about a human experience that is a life change
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  or a breakup or you know, whatever version of that they related to.
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  From the first single we ever heard from you to the most recent project,
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  obviously, life is completely different. Yeah. So if we hopped in a
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  time machine you me tay, it would probably be like a forward station.
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  I don't want to go back with wood panels. I's not go back.
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  I don't want to go back. Listen, We're going to the beginning.
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  What would Kelsey today look at Kelsey then and be like that's cute. But
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  I wouldn't. I wouldn't tell myself a thing, you know, like have
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  I done everything perfect? No? God, No, in life or career.
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  No. But like I like my journey. I'm really I'm proud of
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  what's happened in the last ten years. And I'm proud of like the big
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  number ones, and I'm proud of the songs that just didn't work. I'm
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  proud of like the Growing Pains. I'm proud of being a woman on an
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  independent label and breaking records. I'm proud of, Like I'm proud of all
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  the things and even the things that didn't work how I thought they were supposed
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  to, they were supposed to work exactly how they did. And it feels
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  like you brought up your record label. It feels like they almost lifted you
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  up to help you get started. Yes, and then you have flown Since
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  Why is that important for you? Because at this point in your career you
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  can kind of pick where you go, right, why is this journey the
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  important one? Well? I just I don't know. I think being able
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  to feel supported, whether it's you know, like your label, your team,
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  your friends, just being with people that see you and know you and
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  trust you, I think is really valuable. And I have so many friends
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  that are in different situations that have a different experience with their labels and their
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  teams. And for me, they trust me to make music. And you
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  know, I finished the record the last two days in the studio and Gordon,
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  the president CEO, came down and he hadn't even heard some of the
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  songs yet, but he trusted me to just make the record that I was
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  going to make. And I know that that is not everyone's experience, and
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  that really matters to me. To be able to have that artistic freedom from
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  the beginning. Country music is crazy how it's it went through like the pop
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  phase or the broke country phase or whatever, and then it feels like country
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  kind of slowed down and now it's in this massive research it's and you're part
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  of the strongest class of female artists in country music in I mean maybe as
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  long as I've been alive, which we're not talking about this is your therapy
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  sessions, Slash. What does it mean to you to be a part of
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  this massively strong class of female artists. Oh, it's awesome. I mean
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  I wouldn't know what it looks like to be a woman in country if I
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  didn't have women on the radio growing up, you know, Shanaia, Tricia
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  Faith why noa Like I only knew that I could do this because of them.
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  And so I think it's always important in every genre, in every career
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  field to have those people in place, those women in place, so people
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  know that that is an option for them. And and yeah, I think
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  you know iron, I always say this word wrong. Iron, Iron sharpens
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  iron, iron sharpens iron. And I just think there's a lot of really
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  really strong, powerful, smart, really smart women in our in our field
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  right now, and it's it's cool to be a part of it. Do
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  you stand back and let yourself realize that iron iron that you say iron wrong?
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  No, I'm kidding. Do you ever stand back and let yourself realize
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  that you were a little girl in a car singing Atricious song and now there's
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  a little girl in a car singing in Kelsey song. When I think about
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  that, I want to start solving. But I do think about it.
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  We'll move on country music as it has expanded. Being an artist is fantastic,
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  but there's so many artists that get an opportunity to become a brand,
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  which is a very toxic words. That's a story for another time. But
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  literally, Tay and I I got to host your Ballerini brunch, which we'll
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  get to in a second here a couple of days ago, and and Tay
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  and I got to be there and it was awesome. But literally as soon
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  as I got home that now, I turned the TV on and you were
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  literally the first thing I saw was your face in a hair commercial. Yeah,
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  which, like I was mildly offended. But at what point where you're
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  like, hey, I can do more than just the music kind of like
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  what I was saying earlier, I really the people that I look up to
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  are women that ask themselves what else? You know? Whether it's Riba who
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  is obviously a country music icon, but she also did acting. You know,
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  she has a clothing brand, Reese Witherspoon, she's an actress, but
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  then she also started a company and you know, produces things. I think
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  there's so much liberation and being able to say, like what else can I
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  do? Like how how how far can I ride this wave? How do
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  you select what to do and what not to do? And I asked that
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  because we see what you're a part of, but I can only imagine the
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  emails and the dms and the texts, and you know that you hear in
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  your team heres, how do you how do you know what to pick and
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  timing? Obviously I used to overdo it. I think I just used to
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  say yes to everything because I was It's hard not to operate from a place
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  of scarcity as an artist, because you're like, when is this gonna be
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  done? And then what you know? And so I think over the last
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  few years, I've really challenged myself to to not operate from that place and
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  and say yes to things that inspire me, not because I think that it's
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  going to make things bigger or flashier, but like, does this feel like
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  the right synergy? Does this feel like the right collaboration? And just do
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  things from that place because that also just feels more fulfilling. And if it
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  doesn't work, at least it's a hill I can die on. The original
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  Donut Shop coffee just came out with the Ballerini blend. Yeah it's delicious,
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  which, by the way, I was going to say this that day you
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  were you missed out on an opportunity. We did a Ballerini brunch, but
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  if your man came out with his own eggs, we could do Ballerini brunch
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  with Stokes Yolks. I'm just saying it's an opportunity that y'all could run.
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  Stokes Yolkes is crazy saying that goes. I feel like that's a spot you
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  could open in downtown Franklin right now, Stokes Yolks holler at me, all
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  right, I'm gonna pitch that, but but tell me how the coffee.
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  Because artists have tequila's, whiskey's wines. Yeah, this is very PG.
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  No, it's I love coffee and honestly, like it's it's one of those
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  things that whether I'm home or on the tour bus or in a hotel,
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  it's like one of those little simple consistencies in my life. It makes me
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  happy. And so I was like it was an easy partnership. And then
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  they were like, do you want do you want your own flavor? I
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  was like, say, say less so cool. You talked about career bucket
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  list and there's so many more things. What things have popped up that you
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  didn't realize were like, Hell yeah, I think getting into work with heroes,
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  whether it be Shania or Kenny, that's that's a huge one for me
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  where I'm like little me would be forreaking out. And I think that's been
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  probably one of the highlights of my my career that has been more fulfilling than
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  I thought it could be. And then yeah, like like doing the Voice,
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  that's huge and a huge bucket list. And I'm making my fifth record
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  right now, Like a lot of people don't get to make five records,
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  And it's not lost on me, and I know I'm very lucky to be
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  in that position to be able to, you know, put fourteen songs out
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  again into the world. So I'm very I'm like a helicopter mom with this
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  album. I really am. That's but that's a good thing and a lot
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  of people don't get to do that right. They have to get approved from
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  twenty different places, and yeah, you're able to run with it. The
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  first song we're getting off there is with Noah Khan. How does that happen?
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  Because country music fans are still kind of getting introduced to Noah Khan,
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  you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised. I mean, I feel like,
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  not only do genre lines blend so much lately, but his record six Season,
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  I mean, it's not it's country adjacent, you know, it's all
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  about the storytelling. The instrumentation is really organic, and I'm a huge fan.
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  I fangirled him when I met him at the Grammys and he was like,
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  Hey, how long ago did you put out Peter Pan And I was
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  like, I was like, I think it was like eight years ago,
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  and he was like, I remember hearing that song and hearing that hook and
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  being like, god, I wish I would have written that. I was
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  so impressed with that that hook, so immediately it was just like songwriter synergy.
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  He's just the nicest dude, and so we all hung out at Grammy's
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  and then I had this song Cowboys Cried too. And I loved being able
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  as a woman to write a song kind of about toxic masculinity and my perspective
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  on it and honor the men in my life that are emotional, Like I
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  think it's so beautiful whenever you feel safe enough to cry in front of someone
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  or talk about your past or your childhood or whatever. I think it's just
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  I don't know, We're in a world where a lot of people feel like
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  they have to have it together all the time, and so I wanted to
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  write a song to honor those men in my life. And Noah, I
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  just thought the way that he wrote his album, he's so down to go
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  there, And so I sent it to him and he wrote his verse and
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  it just made the song a million times better. It is. It is
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  awesome too, because you hear a collaboration. Some collaborations are like, oh
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  that works, you know, yeah, but it literally feels like this was
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  born this way. I agree, No, I agree, and I you
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  know, I've gotten to do a lot of different collabs, and each one
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  kind of has a different feeling and sometimes, like I was saying earlier,
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  sometimes you kind of do it for the wrong reasons. You're like, oh,
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  they have a lot of streams, and I just don't want to operate
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  from that place ever. And this song, well, I was gonna have
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  no collabs on the album. I really just wanted it to be a storyteller
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  album. And and then he added more story to it. And there is
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  just such a beautiful artistic friendship and synergy there, and I'm really grateful he's
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  on it. The first song we get off a new album is I always
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  call it the handshake, right, this is you introducing the latest chapter of
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  your life career? What does this say for fans? And first, what
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  does it say for fans that this is the first song? And two what
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  is it safe for where you're at in life and your career that this is
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  the introduction to our next chapter? I say our because we helped write it.
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  It really took me a minute to start writing again after Welcome Back,
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  cause I was like, I don't I don't know how to follow that up.
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  And this album is so important this stage in my career, like I
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  want it to be just the best thing I've ever done. And it freaked
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  me out. I was like, you know, welcome, Matt was it
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  was so specific about such a specific thing in my life, and obviously I'm
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  not in that chapter anymore. So I was like, how do I take
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  that amount of vulnerability and honesty and move it into a happier season? And
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  it freaked me out. But then I just kept that level of honesty and
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  tackling things that mayfield taboo, are like weird to talk about or whatever.
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  And Cowboys was one of the first songs we wrote for the whole record,
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  and so you were like, this is Yeah, it feels like a perfect
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  segue and to let people know that, like the honesty is not going anywhere,
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  and you know, I put put shit in a song from growing up
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  your mother is very upset with Well, you know, sorry, Kelsey,
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  We know how busy you are. Thanks for taking the time out and we
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  can't wait to see the boys. Thank you, Sam. Yeah,