Balmain blazer,
Nickho Rey earrings.
HAIR AND MAKEUP BY KELSEY DEENIHAN AT THE WALL GROUP
O
ON A RECENT RAINY NIGHT IN
Manhattan, Kelsea Ballerini kicked
back at an East Village bar, wearing a
sweater dress and high ponytail after a
long photo shoot, and ordered a glass
of white wine. Before sitting down to
chat though, she posed for one more
photo — wine in hand — in the arch-
way of the same room where she had
just struck poses for the camera.
Hours later, the image ended up on
her Instagram with the caption, “press
day, vino night” — a typical post for
the bubbly but savvy Ballerini, who,
since her 2015 breakout, has focused
on social media as a crucial tool to
telegraph the fact that yes, she’s a
chart-topping country artist, but she’s
also a 26-year-old from a small town
in Tennessee. Emphasizing the latter
has become increasingly challenging
since her last album, 2016’s Grammy
Award-nominated Unapologetically,
and it’s a big reason why her next, due
March 20, is simply titled Kelsea.
“I’ve just started to regain owner-
ship over my life,” says Ballerini, who
signed with Jason Owen’s Sandbox
Entertainment in 2018 after parting
ways with her longtime manager,
Icon Management’s Fletcher Foster.
She credits Owen with pushing
her to take some time off the road
while finishing the project. “I was so
nervous to not run myself into the
ground for four months,” she admits,
“because that’s all I knew.”
During her downtime, she
remained active on social media,
cryptically tweeting lyrics and
posting studio shots on Instagram,
while also sharing glimpses into her
world outside of music: a Grecian
getaway with her husband, country
singer Morgan Evans; early mornings
with her dog, Dibs (named after her
second No. 1 on Billboard’s Country
Airplay chart); happy hour with
fellow Nashville star Maren Morris.
Her approach is working: With
2 million Instagram followers and
nearly 1 million on Twitter, Ballerini
is the most-followed female country
artist among those who have debuted
in the past five years.
Ballerini’s widespread appeal of
course stems first from her music,
which incorporates more pop produc-
tion than many of her country peers
— something especially prevalent
on Kelsea. Though none of her own
songs have landed on pop radio, Bal-
lerini is on the cusp of a crossover:
She featured on The Chainsmok-
ers’ 2018 hit “This Feeling” (which
reached No. 9 on the Pop Songs chart
in February 2019) and opened on
Kelly Clarkson’s Meaning of Life tour
last spring. And lyrically, Kelsea is
Ballerini’s boldest album yet, whether
she’s reveling in the joys of downing
a bottle of wine, talking about sex or
revealing her struggles with anxiety.
Those may sound like perfectly
acceptable topics for a 26-year-old
to sing about — and in Nashville
today, it’s true that they’re no longer
as taboo for female artists like Bal-
lerini and her contemporaries. Still,
she is ever-conscious of the image
she’s projecting to fans — especially
younger ones — and maintaining an
unfiltered presence on Instagram
helps reassure them that she hasn’t
changed, even if her lyrical content
has. “I always lead with the young-fan
lens,” she says. “I’m so protective of
that because I know that there’s not
many females right now, especially in
country, for little girls to look to. But
I also think being a role model means
[being] someone that is authentic,
talks about their real life and isn’t
just cookie-cutter.”
She learned that approach first-
hand as a fan herself, watching acts
like Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers
and, above all, Taylor Swift engage
directly with their followers. “Even
as [Swift has] reinvented herself for
every season and record, she has al-
ways kept her fans right at the front
of every decision she makes,” says
Ballerini. “I think I always was like,
‘Well, Miley’s doing it, Taylor’s doing
it. I want to do it too.’ ”
“Kelsea knows who she is, whether
it’s when she’s writing songs, at a
fashion show or onstage,” says Lucia
Kaminsky, head of digital at Sandbox.
“That translates onto socials.”
Kaminsky’s team — which manages
Ballerini’s social media, streaming
strategy, overall brand design, digital
content and fan club — meets with
Ballerini a few times a month to
ensure that their communication
isn’t “just an approval process.”
But when it comes to social media,
Ballerini mostly takes the reins. “She
really does know how to use all of
[the platforms],” says Kaminsky.
“That’s unique, to be honest — not all
artists are comfortable doing that.”
(She notes that Ballerini particularly
“shines on Twitter at midnight”).
Though Ballerini says she has no
plans to join TikTok (“That’s for the
kiddos,” she says with a laugh), she
knows developing her social media
presence is as important as anything
she does in the studio. She’s already
thinking about starting a line dance
challenge to promote her next new
song. “It’s the way that I hear directly
from the people who give a shit,” says
Ballerini. “It has become my way
of measuring success. For so long, I
was searching for it in a No. 1; I was
searching for it by selling out a club or
theater. That connection with fans —
them being honest with me, me being
honest with them — has become how
I value where I’m at.” HAIR AND MAKEUP BY KELSEY DEENIHAN AT THE WALL GROUP. INSTAGRAM (5): COURTESY OF @KELSEABALLERINI.
50 BILLBOARD • FEBRUARY 29, 2020
