At the young age of 23, who would of thought that someone could have broken so many chart records, including being the 1st solo female country artist to get a number one hit with her debut single since Carrie Underwood in 2006. She is also the fifth solo female country artist to get back to back number one hits with her first 3 consecutive singles from her debut album. I had the pleasure of interviewing the talented and extremely sweet Kelsea Ballerini.

Kelsea talks about her debut album and tells me that she wrote this record when she was 19 years old. “I got to put it out when I was 21, but most of that lyric in perspective and story was from my teenage years at my high school and college years. It’s been really amazing to see these songs that I wrote when I didn’t even have a record deal. I was just writing songs with my friends, and to see that turned into having four songs on the radio, you know, that changed my life and that’s been a really cool thing.”

Kelsea says, “Writing songs is forever my favorite part of what I do, and I will always say that when the day comes that being an artist quits me, I will happily go write songs for the rest of my life. I just feel like it’s really fun to be able to use it like a diary and really be transparent about the truth and how you’re actually feeling. It’s really fun to be able to tap into other people’s stories close to you, and take other people’s experiences and write them for them. Those are kind of the two forms of fun writing that I really love. But anything that I record as an artist, I always just take some of my life and what I’ve been going through. I found that like the majority of my fans around my age, they are walking through the same kind of heartbreak, or the same kind of love, or the same kind of insecurities that I am. And if I write about that transparently, then they’ll probably feel the same way.”

Growing up on a farm in East Tennessee, Kelsea’s first concert was Britney Spears and she says, “I feel like that’s the perfect title of my music because it is country pop. My first single was, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” which is definitely the most, pop pushing song on the record. I think for me as a country artist, we brand ourselves and we base ourselves on being like truth tellers. The truth is, I love doing music, and I love every kind of music. And I love to write every kind of music and I feel like as long as I’m allowed to share that part, then that’s a good thing. I think it’s really cool. You can turn on the radio right now and you can hear country pop, and country rock, and country R and B, and country soul. You can hear all of it, and it’s a really cool time. I think it gets more fans involved.”

“Peter Pan” is Kelsea’s favorite song to perform. She responds, “That song changed everything, even lives. Everyone else sings it so loud, it’s my favorite moment always!” Kelsea is now touring with Lady Antebellum and says, “They play for like an hour and a half, and it’s so inspiring to be able to open up for them, get the crowd pumped, and then walk off stage and watch them sing these songs that have changed and shaped country music. That’s the kind of artist that I want to be.”

Touring for Kelsea, she says, “It’s like summer camp. As far as off stage, you really get to know each other’s band and crews, and you explore different cities together. You hang out, and have summer nights together and it feels like summer camp, and it’s really cool and you leave making new friends.”

After all the success that Kelsea has had, I asked her how that has changed her life. She responded,”It changed everything. I think the biggest thing is just, traveling so much, I feel like I’m hardly ever home, but that’s not a bad thing at all. That’s the biggest change. I went from being in Nashville all the time to being in Nashville like two days every two weeks. So yeah, that’s probably the biggest change.”

I told Kelsea that the outfits she wears are amazing and I asked her if she is involved in the process of picking them out. She said, “I’m super involved with it, I’m the biggest girly-girl ever and it’s no secret that I love glitter and I love bright colors and all that, and when I’m off stage. I’m literally in a T-shirt and sweatpants right now and that’s how I choose to live. It’s my favorite thing ever. But when I’m on stage, you kind of get to amplify your persona. So yeah, if I don’t look like a disco ball when I walk out on stage, something is wrong! Just like music, it is more of expressing yourself. I’m 23 and it’s fun to wear a pink body suit with sparkles on it every now and again!”

Kelsea tells me her biggest musical accomplishment to date is having her songs on the radio. She says, “That to me is like the biggest award you can ever get. And getting a Grammy nomination was definitely a big deal, and getting an ACM was amazing. But I think just having my songs on the radio is my test of success for myself personally!”

Don’t miss Kelsea Ballerini performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on February 16th. It will be a show that you don’t want to miss!