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 opened up Twitter to find that country-turned-pop artist Taylor Swift was listening to her self-titled EP on repeat.
“Basically, she had gotten my EP — I don’t know how, but I’m fine with that — and then she listened to it and liked it, and she reached out a couple weeks later and we hung out,” she said.
Among other female artists like Hillary Lindsey, Natalie Hemby and Nicolle Galyon, Ballerini said she received some of her earliest inspiration from Swift.
“She’s one of the big reasons I started writing songs,” Ballerini said. “Her first album came out when I started writing songs, so to have someone that I look up to like that listen to my stuff and like it is one of the biggest compliments ever.”
Swift’s Tweet included the song “Yeah Boy” — a song that Lipscomb’s crowd got to hear, too.
Ballerini said several of her college friends came out to hear her perform, but one Lipscomb student even got to join her on stage.
Senior McKenna Smith and Ballerini sang an a capella version of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend.”
Students can hear more from Ballerini soon, as her first full-length studio album, The First Time, is set to be released on May 19.
“It’s a first — a huge first, and I’m stoked about it.”
Aditional reporting by D’Nashia Jenkins
Carousel photo and photo gallery by Erin Turner