Kelsea Ballerini has built a career on being straight-forward, fresh, and willing to share with those who love her music. As much friends as fans, when she wrote and recorded the very personal Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP (Black River Entertainment) with producer Alysa Vanderheym, it was a matter of sharing her heart with the people who knew her best.
The multiple Grammy® nominee and Country Music Association Award winner who was recently the subject of a major New York Times profile was Saturday Night Live’s musical guest earlier this year returns to the fans who have inspired her to host three intimate conversations and screenings of her Rolling Up The Welcome Mat short film. Tickets for the three events, titled “Under The Welcome Mat: Exclusive Rolling Up The Welcome Mat Short Film Screening & Conversation with Kelsea Ballerini” become available July 20. Fans can find tickets at kelseaballerini.com.
“There’s never been a moment to stop and talk about what the response to Welcome Mat has meant to me,” Ballerini says of the events. “Everything moved so fast after the release and took on a life much bigger than I ever anticipated. After feeling and hearing the response on tour every night these last few months, I wanted to make sure to honor this musical chapter more fully. So, while Subject to Change was out there doing everything it’s supposed to do, you supported me with this project that I needed to make for myself and my heart loudly. I can’t thank you enough, but these three events are me trying.”
Kicking off at the Grammy® Museum in Los Angeles on August 1, Ballerini will screen the short film she wrote and directed, taking fans behind-the-scenes of the process and her vision. She will also talk about the inspiration, writing and recording of making Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, giving fans a glimpse into this season of her life, as well as answering questions.
From LA, Kelsea will head to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in the East Tennessee singer/songwriter’s adopted hometown of Nashville on August 8 followed by a final screening and conversation at the intimate Whitby Theater in New York City on August 10.
The three events culminate with an NBC Today Show Citi Concert Series performance on August 11 on the plaza at Rockefeller Center. Not only will Ballerini perform her current Top 20 and climbing Country radio hit “IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO),” she will treat viewers across America to selections from Rolling Up The Welcome Mat which reflect her handful of postcards and polaroids from a time in her life that is now over.
“Sometimes I write songs to figure out where I am, how I feel,” says the woman who just closed a sold-out headlining run as well as being the sole support on Kenny Chesney’s 2023 tour. “I write to honor my feelings and get them out because that’s the purest way I know how. The purpose of this EP and short film was to release those very naked, honest feelings in hopes anyone feeling similar highs and lows would have a few songs to feel not alone to. Every step of this Rolling Up The Welcome Mat chapter has been a new experience, which you helped make feel not scary by being alongside me every step. Now, I need to move on now – and maybe you do, too – but before we do, these three events are all about being in one space, together, sharing all of it. I want to bring you deeper into how it all came to be and why you’re such an important piece of all of this. I want to say ‘thank you’ so, if you’re in Los Angeles, New York, or Nashville, please come join me.”
Earlier this week, Ballerini announced a new partnership with SONIC Drive-Ins to spotlight her favorite SONIC drink remixed: Ocean Water® with Blue Raspberry and Lime.
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