Kelsea Ballerini spills on what changed her 'life, career'

Kelsea Ballerini has experienced a sense of being atop a "Mountain with a View," since the publication of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.

The country music artist and Pantene Healthy Hair Ambassador spoke with People magazine for Pantene about her honour to have her 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome nominated for best country album at the 2024 Grammy Awards, as well as what she's learned from the project's positive reception.

“I think just this last year of my life has just changed everything about the way that I think about my career and my personal life,” Ballerini, 30, says.

She notes that the popularity of the EP, in which she opens up about her divorce from country music artist Morgan Evans, has motivated her to continue composing songs that are always sensitive.

“I think I earned my freedom as a songwriter,” the hitmaker declares as a result of the experience.

“The thing that I learned that I just really hold closely now is there's no amount of truth telling or detail that will make it not relatable,” the CMA Award winner shares. “I think for a long time, even though I was writing about my life and my emotions, I would try to round the edges, because I'm like, ‘I want everyone to feel themselves in this,’ or see themselves in the story.”

However, she states that the idea of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat was that it "wasn't for anyone else."

“I made it very selfishly … quite literally emotionally because I had to,” the singer-songwriter explains of the project featuring songs like Penthouse, Blindsided and others. “I put my dog's name and addresses and receipts, and all these things, and it connected more than anything else I've ever put out.”

As a result, Ballerini is "actively working on a new record" and will never stop following her intuition and heart.

She adds, “Making a new record now and a different place in my life with that freedom feels so yummy.”