by Erin Turner | Apr 9, 2015 | News Slider
After several firsts, singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini visited the place where her country roots were nurtured. This former Lipscomb student headlined Student Government Association’s 2015 Spring Concert to a very familiar crowd Wednesday night in Shamblin Theater. “I always dreamed about being an artist and songwriter and doing it for a living, but did not know how to do it,” Ballerini said. But it didn’t take her long to figure out how, as she recently cracked the charts with her song “Love Me Like You Mean It” that debuted in November 2014. This Knoxville, Tennessee native moved to Music City to kick off her career when she was 15 years old, and she landed at Lipscomb several years later. “[Being at Lipscomb] was two of my favorite years of my entire life,” she said. “The whole time I would just go to school and then go to the writer’s round to co-write. I kept trying to do both at the same time until I found the right opportunity.” Just halfway through her sophomore year at Lipscomb, Ballerini signed a deal with Black River Publishing. Her career took off from there, as she debuted on one of country music’s most famous stages — the Grand Ole Opry. Ballerini said the last few months have been nothing but firsts. After hearing her own song on the radio, her music got in the hands of some of her biggest inspirations. “One of the craziest things that’s happening is people that I’m fans of are becoming friends and reaching out, and kind of speaking into my life and helping me,” she said. Most recently, this rising star...
by Crystal Davis | Feb 14, 2012 | News Slider
Kelsea Ballerini isn’t taking the advantages of living in Music City for granted. At the age of 13, Kelsea started writing songs. She always loved music, she said, and figuring out itwas her true passion was “just the cherry on top.” Kelsea, a freshman who originally grew up in Knoxville, decided to move to Nashville to pursue singing and songwriting. Kelsea, currently undecided on a major, is still figuring out what to study at Lipscomb. Though majoring in music is not out of the question, she’s not focused on studying it right now since she’s already successful on her own. Last year, Kelsea played a show with country artist Emily West, whose song with Keith Urban, “Blue Sky,” recently hit the top 10 list. Kelsea also had a song on hold for Beyonce’s new record, and a song she co-wrote was featured on Nickelodeon’s hit show “Victorious.” Her music is, by her own definition, “country bluesy poppy soul.” Kelsea is an open book. She tries to be “as genuine as I can about whatever it is that inspired me to write,” she said. Kelsea said she doesn’t feel the need to “sugar coat things or beat around the bush.” She said she thinks people value writing that shows who the artist truly is. Kelsea said she would love to write with Hillary Lindsey of Lady Antebellum. Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars and John Mayer top the list of who she would most love to sing with. Kelsea said her most memorable moment was meeting of a fan who absolutely adored her. At an airport in Chicago, a young girl approached her to get an autograph. At...
