Kelsea Ballerini isn’t afraid of reinventing herself — both on stage and off — and her current chapter in New York City is just the latest example.
“I’ve always wanted to have a little New York moment,” Ballerini, 32, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Amplify Your Ambitions Singing Concert & Competition, presented by SoFi, in Nashville on Thursday, June 4, while kicking off the 2026 CMA Fest. “I’ve always romanticized that, and I never knew if music would bring me up there or some part of my job, but … after putting out [my album] Patterns and then the Mount Pleasant EP, I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna just step away for a second. I need a shift.’”
Ballerini added that she was ready to have her “Carrie Bradshaw moment” — and city life is living up to her wildest expectations.
“I have a stoop!” she gushed. “I sit out on it every night. Glass of wine, and I’m just people watching with my little podcast. It’s so nice.”
Ballerini noted that her time in NYC will only end up being a “little chapter,” but it’s already “been really fun.” She’s also learned a few valuable lessons since settling in.
“I think it’s reminding me to stay really open in life, that you never know when you can make a new friend, and you never know when you can reconnect to your independence, and what that can look like in different seasons,” she told Us. “And I think I’m still on my journey to find the best dirty martini in the city, so I have two months left to find it.”
For Ballerini, the move from Nashville marked a special milestone.
“I’ve been in Nashville since I was 15, and so all my friends are here, my family is here in Knoxville,” she said, “so this is the first time that I’ve kind of done something truly on my own, and it feels exciting.”
Her inner circle, of course, includes other women taking the country music scene by storm. When asked which fellow artist will always be there for her no matter what, Ballerini named Carly Pearce.
“I think there’s such [a] beautiful camaraderie between all the women [in country], there really is, and I can say that genuinely,” she explained. “But Carly and I are sweatpants friends, like, we kick it, you know?”
Last month, fans saw rising star Ella Langley thank Ballerini on stage at the 2026 ACM Awards while accepting her Female Artist of the Year trophy. Looking back at her own career, Ballerini opened up about the importance of paying it forward to other artists.
“I think in every stage of your career — in every career, but I can speak to mine — it is so important to ask questions and find mentors and people that just can come alongside you and grab onto you and hold you up and push you forward,” she told Us on Thursday. “For me, I remember … God, this was, like, 12 years ago now. ‘Love Me Like You Mean It,’ my first single was not even top 40 yet, and Taylor Swift tweeted about it, and it changed my life.”
Ballerini continued, “Since then, Faith Hill has become such a warm voice to me, and Wynonna [Judd] has let me truly sit on her couch, and be like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ And Karen Fairchild, and Alison Krauss, and Trisha Yearwood. They have carved such a path in this industry, and to be able to have them to look forward to really excites me to hopefully do the same.”
As for her own next steps, Ballerini teased that she’s “lucky enough to be a part of quite a few collaborations” in “a couple different genres” that she’s “really excited about.”
Like always, fans can expect to hear Ballerini share her vulnerable side through her lyrics — but maybe less so online following her split from ex Chase Stokes.
“I think in music it’s the safe place to have that forum to say all the things that are worth celebrating, and some of the things that you’re like, ‘Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing,’ or whatever it is,” she told Us. “As I’m getting older, I’m learning that I just want to keep it in my music now, and the rest of my life I just get to, like, hide out in NY.”
Ballerini was back in Nashville on Thursday as SoFi hosted the live finale of its Amplify Your Ambitions Contest at Analog at Hutton Hotel. The nationwide competition — created in partnership with Ballerini and the Country Music Association — spotlights emerging artists and helps address the financial barriers that can stand in the way of building a career in music.
After performing in front of Ballerini and other judges, Karen Hardy was named the winner, earning a grand prize of $200,000. Runners-up Shantania and The Kentucky Gentleman were each awarded $50,000.
Ahead of the contest, Ballerini gushed all about her partnership with SoFi.
“What’s really incredible about this Amplify Your Ambitions [contest is] we have narrowed over 500 submissions down to three artists, or three acts, and they’re all incredible. I think about 12 [or] 13 years ago when I was waiting for that first break, and you’re investing so heavily in yourself, especially financially. It takes a lot. The winner’s gonna get $200,000 and the two other artists are gonna get 50,000 and that is life-changing money to invest into yourself and your life and your career. It’s one of the reasons that I really do love partnering with SoFi. They are always helping their members try to move forward and invest back into themselves.”
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