REGINA HALL
COUNTRY SINGER KELSEA BALLERINI TALKS GOING POP ON HER NEW ALBUM AND MARRIED LIFE WITH MORGAN EVANS
The 49-year-old actress stars in the second season of comedy Black Monday (new episodes released each Sun.; Stan) and tells WHO about the last …
… thing she took from a set
A pair of Uggs. They are grey and sequined. I know because I’m wearing them right now.
… time she was outside her comfort zone
I feel it with my new job. I’m a huge fan of Allison Janney, and I worked opposite her [in upcoming film Breaking News in Yuba County]. But let me tell you, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than being on Lip Sync Battle. And I lost!
… time she was starstruck
When I met the Dalai Lama. I love him so much. People asked him all these serious questions. I asked him for a kiss.
… time she said “I love you”
Twenty minutes ago. To my mommy. Actually I end every conversation with all my friends and family with “I love you”.
… girls’ night out she went on
I was just with four friends I grew up with in D.C. One of them is the mayor. It’s so crazy – we’re adults now. I was like, “Look, guys, no-one’s in jail! Or married to someone in jail.”
With her third album, Kelsea, out now, country star Kelsea Ballerini, 26, chats to WHO about her A-list collaborators, her anxieties and her life with her husband, Australian country singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, 34.
What did you want to say with this album? This one is just me trying to figure my s--t out, like “Who am I now?” It’s a little more personal – that’s why we called it Kelsea. You experiment with a lot of sounds this time around.
There are a lot of pop and country elements on this record. It made me scared; I was like, “If there’s as many beat drops as there are banjos on this album, are people going to think that I’m not a country artist anymore?” But I never will jump ship.
You address dealing with social anxiety on a few songs. Where does that stem from? Part of it is I don’t know where I fit in the celebrity culture because [I think] I’m a D-list country singer and I find myself in a room with A-list people and I don’t know how to navigate it or how to talk to them. It makes me go in my head.
You and your friend Halsey duet on ‘The Other Girl’. How did that happen?
I met Halsey at her show in Nashville and we just clicked – we went out that night and did karaoke! I wrote this song as a duet and played it for her at her house. She was able to relate to it – we’ve both been in relationships where we’ve been cheated on. It was so fun.
You also have a song with Kenny Chesney! We’re both from Knoxville, Tennessee, which is why he’s on the song. Growing up, he was the hometown hero. A couple of years ago I was about to play [in Times Square], and he took a photo of my face on the marquee, got my number, texted me and said, “Proud of you, hometown girl, love Kenny.” When I
wrote ‘Half of My Hometown’, I sent it to him because I think we grew up really similarly, and there’s no-one else I’d want on this song – and I can’t believe he did it.
You and Morgan celebrated your second anniversary in December. How has your relationship changed?
I think as we’ve settled into marriage we’ve hit kind of the comfortable phase. I’m so independent by nature; I like to be able to be self-sufficient. Now I’m finally like, “Needing someone else is not you being codependent.” It’s a real vulnerability that I’ve had to get to, to allow myself to get there.