Some artists define your coming-of-age long before you shake their hand. Last year, I met my favorite pop-country icon, Kelsea Ballerini — a lifelong dream come true. In 2015, my friend gifted me a Justice gift card for my 10th birthday. While checking out at the pink-and-glittery children’s clothing store, the cashier told me I still had $10 left on the card. Eager to spend it, I looked around, grabbed a copy of Kelsea Ballerini’s debut album “The First Time” on CD and placed it on the counter.
Occasionally, I would see her “Square Pegs” music video during Disney Channel commercial breaks, which made me feel inclined to listen to more of her music. When my mom and I got back to the car, we played the CD from start to finish — then played it again and again until we had memorized every word. Now, more than a decade later, she remains one of my favorite artists.
I am not a casual music listener, and I never have been. It’s rare for me to adore an artist, but when I do, that artist is on repeat for years, and no one in my life hears the end of it. Ballerini, one of my biggest songwriting inspirations, is one of those artists. She has a way of writing immensely vulnerable, specific lyrics that feel pulled straight from the deepest, most hidden parts of my mind.
Her new EP, “Mount Pleasant,” released on Nov. 14, 2025, showcases that emotional transparency. She has been in the spotlight for much of her career, navigating a highly publicized divorce and other rocky relationships. Like many women in the music industry, she has faced scrutiny from both the media and the public for her supposed “pattern” — pun intended — of tumultuous relationships.
She doesn’t shy away from how this commentary has affected her, singing throughout the EP about insecurities, comparisons and assumptions that come with being in the public eye. On track three, “Emerald City,” co-written by Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym, Jordan Reynolds and Nicolle Gaylon, she paints a vivid picture of jealousy and envy.
In the bridge, she sings, “I’m just a girl, kinda jealous, kinda insecure / And I hate how it takes me / Down an old road where she used to be yours.” These lyrics capture a complex emotion so many of us experience in a way that’s easy to digest. She doesn’t overcomplicate or over-poeticize her words. She speaks from the heart, saying exactly what she feels in the way she feels it. That authenticity is what connects me so deeply to her music. Still, people always say never to meet your idols, so I feared for the day I might meet her — if I ever got the chance.
Like many of us, I receive an absurd number of spam emails, most of which I skim or skip. But something that felt like fate compelled me to open one with the subject line, “A Special Invite from Spotify and Kelsea Ballerini.” To my complete surprise, the email contained an invitation for a guest and I to listen to her album “Patterns” early in New York City, with little additional detail. I had no idea where the event would take place, what to expect or whether she would even be there at all. Still, I RSVP’d and marked it on my calendar.
On the day of the event, Spotify sent a follow-up email revealing that it would be held at the famous Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side — a place she mentions in her song “Two Things.” When I arrived, I spoke with a few girls who had also been invited. They had accidentally walked into her soundcheck, confirming that she was there. In a scene straight out of a Pinterest board, her team had set up a large “Patterns”-themed photo booth and offered free mocktails with Ballerini-inspired names.
She came out to play her music and share the meaning and inspiration behind each song. Afterward, she made her way around the room to greet attendees. When I got the chance to meet her, I expressed to her how meaningful her music has been to me. She said she admired me being a college student in NYC, and encouraged me to stick with my music and songwriting.
I met her again the next day at Rough Trade in Rockefeller Center during an album signing. She remembered me from the night before and spent a long time talking with me. She was as authentic in-person as the girl I had come to know through years of listening to her songs, making my 10-year-old heart just as happy as the young woman standing in front of her — hugging her and taking pictures. I feared meeting her would ruin the artist I had grown to know and love, but instead, it confirmed exactly why she deserves the success she has achieved.
