Famous country singer’s “harrowing” experience performing personal songs

As Kelsea Ballerini continues to climb the ladder of fame, more women are beginning to see themselves in her story of resilience, according to Variety.

This was something she’s noticed during her recent onstage performances as fans listened to her singing music from her 2023 Grammy-nominated album “Rolling Up the Welcome Matt,” which details her marriage and divorce from Australian singer-songwriter Morgan Evans.

“That EP was about the dark time in my life,” Ballerini told Variety. “And singing any of those songs live was never the plan if I’m being honest. I very quickly had to detach from what I wrote to get through it.”

Although she’s found the experience of performing the personal album to be “harrowing,” as fans project their “own difficulties onto hers,” Ballerini also had to deal with some of the difficulties thrown at her.

This included a recent show when a fan in the front row presented her divorce papers to Ballerini to autograph, which the country singer politely declined.

Another audience member interrupted Ballerini’s performance of her song “Penthouse” to scream “[expletive] him!” about the song’s subject, Evans.

“Guys we have to stop saying that,” she told the crowd. “Seriously, we’re three years past it. Everything’s fine now. I sing the song for you now; it’s not about me anymore.”

The amount of traction “Welcome Mat” brought made Ballerini “terrified” to release her newest album “Patterns” because “so many more people had ears on my music, which has always been the goal. But it was just as beautiful as it was really difficult.”

Ballerini told Variety that “Patterns” is “the most interesting record” she’s made because it was created with women who allowed her to lead her own story.

Ballerini’s new chapter in her story includes her current relationship with “Outer Banks” actor Chase Stokes, for whom she wrote a song called “To the Men That Love Women After Heartbreak.”

“He loved it,” Ballerini said, according to Variety. “When we first started talking, I hadn’t put out ‘Welcome Mat’ yet, and he stood beside me through that whole musical chapter. But when it was time to write ‘Patterns,’ I wanted to write about the things we were learning in our relationship. And I think with a lot of patience and therapy, we mutually have grown a lot in these last two-plus years.”