Ballerini on turning 30, 'The Voice' and power of vulnerability

Kelsea Ballerini has spent the better part of the past decade making her mark on country music. With a voice that’s as tender as it is commanding, she’s proven her ability to navigate heartache, healing, and hope through her music. But now, as she steps onto arena stages across the country and into the high-profile role of coach on “The Voice,” Ballerini is pushing herself in new, bold directions. “I’ve always believed that growth comes from stepping outside of what’s comfortable,” Ballerini shared during a recent phone call. “Whether it’s taking on something like ‘The Voice’ or playing to a crowd that might not typically listen to country music, it’s a challenge that excites me. It pushes me to be bolder in my music and more fearless in my performances.” Ahead of a recent performance at LA’s Crypto.com Arena, Ballerini reflected on the unique energy of performing in the city. “I think shows in cities like that, especially where I have so many friends — I’ve gotten to spend so much time in LA, whether it be playing shows or doing ‘The Voice’ over the last 10 years — and just discovering that there’s such a love of all kinds of music there, including country, I think it’s been really beautiful,” she shared. “When there’s shows in places like Nashville, New York, or LA, where I have so many friends and familiar faces in the audience, it makes me peacock a little bit and really be on my game.”

Ballerini’s new role on “The Voice” has also stretched her in ways she didn’t expect. For those unfamiliar with the reality TV series, “The Voice” is a singing competition where contestants perform a blind audition for a panel of celebrity coaches, hoping to earn a spot on their team. If a coach likes what they hear, they push a button that rotates their chair toward the stage, inviting the artist to join their team. But, if more than one coach pushes the button, the power shifts to the artist, who can choose which coach they’d like to work with. As a coach, Ballerini’s role is to guide and mentor aspiring artists, helping them hone their vocal skills, stage presence, and confidence. Joining Adam Levine, John Legend and Michael Bublé, she admitted to feeling a bit out of her element at first. “I was nervous — I knew it was something I wanted to do, but I grew up on their music,” she explained, noting how she was definitely intimidated to work alongside (and in competition with) such seasoned artists. “I was like, how am I supposed to fight for these artists against (coaches) that I’m like ‘fair enough, I would pick them.’ But honestly, they really rallied around me. We formed a group chat on day one, and there was not a single day that we left set without someone sending a message like, ‘Great job today,’ or ‘That was an amazing artist you got.’ There was always a level of encouragement.”

Following in Kelly Clarkson’s footsteps as a coach wasn’t something Ballerini took lightly either. Clarkson herself emerged from a singing competition — ”American Idol” back in 2002 — which gives her a uniquely relatable perspective. Having been both a contestant and a successful coach, Clarkson offered Ballerini grounding advice. “Kelly is my queen, yes, for every single thing,” Ballerini said with a laugh. “I called her when I got the offer, and I was like, ‘Dude, I’m nervous. What do I do?’ And she told me, ‘The whole point of the show is to lift people up. They want everyone to look their best and sound their best. That’s why the show is special.’ That helped me so much going into it.” Taking Clarkson’s words to heart, Ballerini has embraced the whirlwind of responsibilities, seeing the overlap between her tour and her television role as, what she likes to call, “a beautiful chaos.”

“Luckily, we pretaped it, so there are some nights where I’ll be getting ready to go on stage, and we’ll have it on in the background, and then I’ll go on stage, and I’ll be like, ‘I’m on The Voice right now.’ It’s everything at once, but in the most beautiful way,” she said. Turning 30 has also been a pivotal moment for Ballerini. “I think my Saturn return kicked my butt a little bit,” she admitted. “There’s a level of shedding your skin when you turn 30 and not being so shy or bashful to step into that womanhood. Especially as a woman in the South, in country music, there’s a lot of taboos to that. I think I’ve just started to not let that pressure fall on my shoulders as heavily.” That willingness to shed expectations has also extended to her openness about mental health, a topic she doesn’t shy away from. Partnering with Feel Your Way Through Foundation, Ballerini has helped raise nearly $100,000. Beyond that, she’s been vocal in interviews and on social media about her own struggles with anxiety and self-doubt, emphasizing the need to destigmatise mental health.