Introducing ROSE & IVY Stories Starring Country Music Star Kelsea Ballerini

Over the past few years, we have been delighted to share ROSE & IVY Journal, a bi-annual digital publication to readers around the globe filled with original content across fashion, beauty, travel, food and women in entertainment. As we have grown and evolved, we realized there are so many stories that we would like to tell and so we are excited to share with you something new, ROSE & IVY Stories. We will aim to create a new chapter each month, so be sure to follow along on social media so you don't miss it. We are thrilled to kick things off with country music star Kelsea Ballerini—we hope you enjoy our first edition.  

You can also flip through this story on Issuu.

Interview by Alison Engstrom

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Can you tell us about your journey from when you first started in your hometown of Knoxville to the nashville stage?

I was around music all of the time growing up, my parents always had it on in the car and at home—both have such a vast love of music—but it wasn’t a career they pursued. My parents are both super smart, they have real-life jobs (laughs). I never knew that being a singer was a career path that you could take. I started falling in love with music while doing the glee club at my high school and leading worship at church. My parents split up when I was 13 and I needed an outlet to get me through that season, so I started writing songs. I couldn't play any instruments at the time, so I would write a poem and sing into GarageBand. All of my early stuff was me singing melodies with nothing behind it. I think my mom saw it go from a hobby to a passion; it wasn’t something where she would drop me off to dance class twice a week and by the time she picked me up, I was over it. It was something that I really fell in love with. At the time, and lucky for me, Taylor Swift had just launched and I was like wait, she is a young songwriter who writes her own music and is doing it—I wonder if I could do it too? Having someone like that—which is why I am so vocal about having more females in country music—showed me it was an option as a career path, something I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t have someone to look up to.

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When did you start playing the guitar?

Picking up the guitar was out of necessity. I was 12-years-old and I didn’t have anyone to write songs with. The nice thing about the guitar is that you can be someone like Keith Urban, who can shred on any song at any time, or you can allow it to be a simple four cord and write a song over them. For me, it’s always been a tool to get the songs out there, but there is no way I am a guitar slinger (laughs).

What was the moment that things changed for you? 

I moved to Nashville when I was 15. I met someone early on who was high up at a music company and my mom and I went there to meet with him. I played some songs and he was like, you are good, but if you truly want to do this, you need to be here and you need to do it every day. It needs to become your 9 to 5, writing songs, meeting people and playing Puckett's and Bluebird. I left my hometown, where my dad still lived and uprooted my mom; it was such a big decision and I put a lot of healthy pressure on myself. I said that if I was going to do this, I needed to make it count and make it work. I had this mindset when I moved to Nashville that there wasn’t any other option other than making it work.  I didn’t know what that meant, looked like or the scale I wanted it to work, I just needed to make music count.

How long until you got signed with Your record label?

I finished high school and then I went to college for two years. I would take classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then Tuesday and Thursday were my music days. I would write or meet with whoever would meet with me or do shows. Those two years in college, I resented them so much at the time because all I wanted was to be touring or in the recording studio, all things that I romanticized so much. But those two years—with the friendships I made and the relationships I had—were so crucial for me to have as a human being before getting into the music industry. I feel like I grew up, learned and got my bearings on who I am. I’m so glad I had strengthened and sharpened those things before I became a real artist. At the end of my sophomore year, I was offered a publishing deal. I left college halfway through and my full-time job was to be a songwriter; it changed everything because I went from writing a research paper to writing songs all day, every day. That was when I found the sound that ended up being the first record that was able to cut through the way that it did.

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Let’s talk about your newest album kelsea. The album feels so honest and real, but upbeat and hopeful at the same time, especially songs like ‘Homecoming Queen’ and ‘Love and Hate’. What was the starting point of the album?

I didn't stop writing from my first album, I just kept going. The album was pretty much written within the last year and the first song was Love and Hate [editors note: it’s our favorite song on the album, it’s so good]. Initially, I didn't know what the album was going to be; my last album was a chronological story of my life, over the past few years. So for this one, I was aimlessly writing and hoping that it would all come together at some point. I knew I was making an open and self-aware album when one particular weekend, I was on the road opening for Keith Urban and I had two of my songwriter friends out with me. We wrote Homecoming Queen, A Country Song and Club within a day and a half, it was the real start of the album. It was going a little bit deeper and tapping inwards, rather than just my perspective on the world.

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Another song, ‘la’, explores the notion of climbing and achieving your dreams, but also the insecurity that can come along with that. On Instagram you said you wrote this song when you were “feeling equal parts like somebody and like nobody” and “on top of the world and filled to the brim with anxiety”. Can you share more about that? 

I struggle so much with being present in successful moments because I don't want to be too hung up on myself, I would never want anyone to think of me like that, or, I’m already on to the next thing. I am so programmed with what’s next, what's better, how can I get better, or how do we get to the next goal. It is hard for me to see where I sit in a celebrity culture I guess, so I feel awkward all of the time (laughs).

You have some special collaborations on the album with Halsey (‘The Other Girl’) and a song (‘Love and Hate’) co-written with Ed Sheeran.  How did those come about? 

It was so natural on this album, which is why there are so many collaborators. On my last two albums, it was really hard to even get in the room with a hit songwriter because I was a new female artist on an independent label. Luckily, this time the opportunities flourished and I was able to be in the room with people that I always wanted to collaborate with. I think it was because I had two albums that were mildly successful, without big-name collaborators, that I only wanted people on this album who were friends and I loved their music and them as humans. Halsey and I met two years ago and we become fast friends, so it was such a natural act to have her be a part of this album. Kenny Chesney is my hometown hero—he is also from Knoxville—as soon as he knew I was from there too, he took me under his wing. Having him on this album was a huge honor but there was no one else I would have sang that song with. I love collaborating—it’s something that’s new to me but when you put two people together, especially people you wouldn’t expect and it works, it opens both people’s horizons. It’s super cool.

You’ve talked about how you became more like your younger self this past year—I love that. 

That’s my filter for every decision. I think back to when I was 13, when I had unobstructed dreams. I didn't think of any uphill climb or biases, I thought I could do anything. I think that’s really pure. When I have a big decision to make, I ask my 13-year-old self, what would she think about it? I think that’s a good filter for my life. I hate that as we get older we grow out of it.

You’ve had some major successes including becoming the only female country artist to achieve number one with your first three consecutive singles from a debut album, two Grammy nominations and the youngest person inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. Have you been able to process all that you have accomplished or is it still sinking in?

It is crazy, I look back on the last five years and I remember every step of it. I remember getting a publishing deal and writing my ass off for an entire year. I remember getting the record deal and doing a 22-week radio tour where I had never been so exhausted in my life, but I felt it working and I wanted to keep working. I remember getting my first summer tour and I had 30 minutes as the first act, with the sun shining in my face, and trying to have people listen to me. Even though it has been quick, it has been every step, I didn't skip anything. I did the grind and I think that makes me a little more appreciative of everything that has happened because of all of the baby steps. 

You have talked openly about equality for women in country music. How have you seen women-representation in country music culture change anD evolve? 

It’s hard for me to talk about country music radio because they have been so good to me and have given me a megaphone for my music. I just want the same opportunities for other females. What I know is just because it takes a little bit more for our voices to be heard, you are hearing the sharpest, most talented and unique voices come through, like Tenille Townes, Ingrid Andress and Ashley McBryde. I think that they are so unique and polished, so I guess you could say it’s the flower coming out of the concrete. It’s what's happening because of the difficulty in maybe the lack of opportunity. You are seeing a lot of powerful females come out of that. 

I just started talking more about this, because my husband is a country male artist, so I always say it’s not the guys who have to step down or the women who have to step up, there just needs to be more of a balance. Me saying, I wish there were more females voices on country radio is not me saying anything to downplay the men. I love the men in country music, I am married to one!

You’ve mentioned how you are trying to be more intentional with your downtime. In this go-go-go culture we live in, it can be so difficult to slow down and rest without feeling guilty for it. How do you practice intention in your life and what have you discovered in these quieter moments?

I think it’s value and balance. I used to believe that if I took a vacation or went home for the weekend that I was going to get outrun or outworked, but that is not the case. I conditioned myself that the only way I was going to continue to work was if I continued to work, if that makes sense. I had to step back and figure out what means the most to me and it was having a real life to write, talk and sing about. Finding balance and having a real friend group with real conversations and reinvesting in family, home and what that means has been so healthy for me, it makes me a better artist. 

What has been the most surreal moment so far of your career? 

It’s hard to say; I think in general sitting with the cool kids. It’s showing up to an awards show and Garth Brooks saying my name; sitting in the same row as Carrie Underwood or being backstage and having Reba congratulate me on a performance. I think it’s the feeling that this country music community, which I grew up being absolutely enamored with, has embraced me has been the most surreal thing.

‘kelsea’ is out now

follow Kelsea Ballerini on Instagram

Hair & Makeup by Kelsey Deenihan

Shot on location at The Lexington Hotel in the Lady Ella Suite