Kelsea Ballerini Explains Why She Is Including so Many Sad Songs on Her Next Album

Kelsea Ballerini is very happily married to her husband, fellow singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, so it might seem odd that she is including so many sad songs on her upcoming third studio album. But the 25-year-old says it is because she is so happy with Evans, that she could finally explore why her former relationships didn’t work.

“I think now that I’m married, it gives me such a perspective on the other relationships that failed me,” Ballerini told The Tennessean. “I’m writing the most heartbreaking songs I’ve ever written because I understand what went wrong before now. I think the older I get … the more confident I feel about writing that kind of stuff. I write my songs, and I play guitar, and I write about what I’m going through. I’m just really excited to clean the slate again.”

Ballerini’s sophomore Unapologetically included three hit singles, including her recent No. 1, platinum-selling “Miss Me More.” But it’s the next record that Ballerini says will show her true authentic self, more than ever before.

“I learned what it can do,” noted Ballerini. “I learned what makes it special. And, I stopped trying to sing like my heroes. I think vocally on this record I’m really excited about where that is laying.”

Ballerini has already accomplished more in a few years than some artists do in a lifetime, including joining the Grand Ole Opry, which makes her committed to working even harder than ever.

“I’m a 4-year-old when it comes to this,” Ballerini acknowledged. “I’m a baby. Doing an arena tour and joining the Grand Ole Opry, those are two things I didn’t think would be on my horizon for a long time, if ever. It makes me really grateful, but it also makes me want to earn it just in case it was early. I want to make sure the music I make … that I have this intentional time to make right now, is worthy of being an Opry member and worth of being in an arena.”

Ballerini has kept many of the details of her next set of tunes to herself, but she did reveal that she collaborated with some of her favorite artists.

“It’s been so much fun to get in the room with people that I’ve looked up to forever, like Ryan Tedder and Julia Michaels, and Ed Sheeran,” Ballerini told PopCulture.com and other media. “It’s really fun to be able to write with other artists too. I haven’t really done that before and so you’re in the room and they have the perspective of what it’s going to be like on stage, and how you’re going to be able to communicate it in interviews, and all that stuff.

“They have that knowledge, so it’s a different perspective writing with them,” she continued. “But it’s been really fun and just different. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a songwriter from that.”

Photo Credit: Getty images / Robby Klein