Kelsea Ballerini Says She Always Wants to 'Push Myself and Keep Growing': 'I Still Have a Long Way to Go'
Kelsea Ballerini let fans inside her life when she was navigating her split from Morgan Evans, and as she gears up to release her next album, she's open to showing she's constantly changing and evolving.
“I’m always in conversation with myself on finding the right line of still thinking I’m a new artist, and then also honoring the decade that I’ve had and not discrediting the success I’ve had. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of my career kind of with my shoulders a little bit hunched in, and I’m really trying to stand tall in this last decade of work and be proud of myself and show up for that, while also knowing that I still have a long way to go and I always wanna push myself and keep growing," the 30-year-old said in a new interview with Variety about being a role model to the next generation of artists. "So it’s really fun to be able to be friends with and in the same room and situations as my heroes, but then also being meeting the newer artists that I still really identify with, a lot of the time.”
The blonde babe, who is now dating Chase Stokes, hit a home run with Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which is why she's working hard on what her set of bops will sound like.
“Well, I think that’s kind of like what I was saying earlier: two things can be true. Like, I am a deeply emotional and committed songwriter. That is my absolute truth. It is the love of my life; it is my craft. And even in this new season of life, I’m really being diligent about making a record that has that same level of songwriting and honesty and intention as Welcome Mat in depth. In the same breath, I’m a 30-year-old girl that really is enjoying my life, and I’m in a different phase of my life now that is filled with a lot more light and joy. And I love being able to celebrate that, and there’s space for both," she said.
After hosting the CMT Music Awards on April 7, the "Miss Me More" songstress is ready for her next adventure.
“It’s my final year, yeah,” she confirmed. “I’ve hosted or co-hosted this show for four years now, and I’ve gotten to host a lot of different kinds of ventures over the last decade — and I really enjoy it. It was the first thing that I did outside of music really, that allowed me to ask myself the question: What else? Like, what else can I do? And I’m ready to ask myself that question again, and I really want to give myself the space to see what else there is. Never say never — I will never say that I won’t come do this again. I love it. I just am excited to see what else I can do.”