Kelsea Ballerini

“I think that every time a country artist steps outside of the country boundary, it just brings more ears to us.”

“I love getting facials. I've even started doing microdermabrasion to keep all the makeup and dirt out of my pores. And when I'm traveling, I'll always grab a moisturizing face mask.”

“I went to my first CMA Music Fest when I was 14 and waited in line for two hours to meet two people: Taylor Swift and Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum. It's very ironic but not accidental that those two people refer to me as their 'little sister' now.”

“It took a while to learn to eat healthy on road. It's really hard. Really, really hard. But on the bus, I can use the stovetop in the morning to make a veggie scramble. And have lots and lots and lots of coffee. I try to have protein for dinner so I have energy for the show.”

“I think that, as artists, all we can do is be who we are. I think that if we do that, then we're automatically not anyone else.”

“I've studied live shows and artists for so long. I got the tour documentaries and all that and watched them. I love a show. I love an artist that can do all of it.”

“I was a huge Jonas Brothers fan, unapologetically, when I was 12 or 13.”

“I grew up on a farm in eastern Tennessee with a very southern lifestyle, so my roots are super country and southern, but my first concert was Britney Spears. I think that you can hear both of those influences in my music.”

“I wouldn't be an artist if I didn't have Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift to look up to.”

“Being a songwriter is really the base of being an artist, for me.”

“I was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I didn't really know how you would become a singer. I didn't even think that I could do it. I didn't even dream about it. But when I was 12, it was that year where I got tall, boys got cute, everything was weird. Then my parents split up on top of that, so it was a big year of change for me.”

“I've gotten to be part of a lot of incredible tours and have learned so much from the people I've had the opportunity to open for.”

“There's this misconception out there that at any level of celebrity, you have someone to do hair and makeup when you're out touring, but no, it is just not the case. I do it all myself.”

“It's been really cool to me to watch someone like Sam Hunt, whose lyrics and roots are in country but you can hear that he listens to Drake and Justin Timberlake - and that's OK. It allows songwriters to be more honest because it's like, 'This is who I'm listening to.'”

“The whole heartbeat of the first record is young, which I think is what made it relatable to young girls.”

“I really want people to know I'm a songwriter.”

“I starting writing when I was about 13 or 14 years old.”

“I wanted to be the girl that talks about getting a guy. I felt like that was a different approach to writing.”

“'The First Time' is a song that I wrote by myself on my front porch, in real-time, as that situation was happening to me.”

“When I was 12, I was going through an awkward time. Writing music helped me find my voice and express the things I was feeling.”