As you know, we first launched New Country Buzz back around the end of 2014 / 2015. Her song “Love me like you mean it” was top 30 on the charts (I think #28) when we did this interview. We also picked the picture we used from back then to keep this fully 2015! This interview was posted on Feb 11, 2015 but recorded on Feb 10th, 2015.
We also used to record the interviews then transcribed them them text and post. For The Chris & Sandy Show as you know, we changed the format and made it a live show.
Hope you enjoy this blast from the past with Kelsea:
NCB – How does it feel to have the album that you are working on have the songs be all written or co-written by you?
Kelsea – It’s awesome and I think it’s important for me. I do not think I would be an artist if I wasn’t a songwriter first. There are so many good songs around Nashville, but writing and co-writing for me has made the album more personal. It made it me and that’s really important to me for my first album.
I have been writing for this record since I was 12 years old. I feel like it’s really a snapshot of my life from ages 12-21. It’s all real and I am so excited about it.
NCB – Where does most of the inspiration come from for your songwriting?
Kelsea – When I first started writing it was all about my life, my family, boys or whatever. But I think a great song can pull inspiration from other people’s lives, or movies or books and anything around them. That’s something I have been trying to focus on. There are a couple of songs that have that. They are now a story that I have gone through, but it’s inspiration from somewhere else that I kind of related to the experience and then wrote about it.
NCB – If you could co-write with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Kelsea – That is a great question. My favorite songwriter is Hillary Lindsey. She’s very much alive, LOL. She’s in Nashville and I have never met her yet, but she is one of the reasons I wanted to be a songwriter. I think she’s the ultimate storyteller. I would adore to write with her or Ryan Tedder. Ryan Tedder is amazing too. Those are kind of my top two.
NCB – Did you write “Love Me Like You Mean It”? And if so, what inspired that?
Kelsea – I did! I was singing in the lobby of Black River with three of my good guy friends that are songwriters as well and we all had already written songs that day. We were just hanging out at the end of the day. We had pizza, of course, because everything is better with pizza LOL. We were just hanging out and one of the guys played a few things on my guitar and all of a sudden we just wrote this song. It was just fun. There was no pressure at all. We were singing it and it just felt really good. One of the guys built a demo for it and sent it to me a couple of weeks later and I just remember I had this moment with that song. I thought to myself, oh my gosh, I think that’s it. I think that’s my song.
That was before I even signed my record deal so to have that moment a while ago and to see what has happened now with it has been a really, really cool journey.
NCB – It proved that your guy’s feeling was right.
Kelsea – YEAH! Gut feelings are good.
NCB – Where were you when you first heard the song played on the radio?
Kelsea – I was on a 21 week radio tour and it’s really cool because you get to hear it a lot when you go to the stations, because they will play it for you. You will get in your car and they will tell you when it will be on, but the first time that I heard it was unexpectedly. I was in Nashville actually, I was merging onto the interstate. I had my GPS in one hand and my window down trying to merge. My radio was turned down, almost all the way down, but I heard the beginning of the song and I FREAKED out. I really did. I freaked out. I have a video of it and I am like I am going to get in a car wreck but I am so excited.
NCB – Who was the first person you called?
Kelsea – I heard it on The Big 98 WSIX and I called the PD there and thanked them, but I called my mom, first of course. I was crying, then she cried, then we just had a little cry party. After that I called the PD and thanked them.
NCB – How does it feel to have a Billboard top 30 single?
Kelsea – Well, that is crazy! It feels great. Honestly, it’s just so rewarding. It’s a humbling and awesome feeling to see something that you created, which has been a dream that I have had for a really long time, start to come to life and to see it work. I am so happy with my first top 30 on Billboard.
NCB – It’s not done yet and I have a feeling it’s going to go higher.
Kelsea – That is so exciting. I really hope it does, but I am very thankful that it’s doing well.
NCB – Who were or are some of your biggest musical influences?
Kelsea – I grew up listening to a lot of top 40 pop and also a lot of like Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and Diana Ross. So I have this weird mix of hooky melodies and weird grooves and stuff like that. But I love the simplicity and classic-ness of the other styles. I grew up on a farm so I just came out country, so I think the mix of all of that really started my songwriting. I started writing songs that were country before I knew what country was. I remember writing these songs at 12 and 13 and thinking I love these and am proud of them, but I do not know where they fit because I was listening to pop radio.
One day I heard the song “Stupid Boy” by Keith Urban, that’s when I really discovered country music. It was weird because I was already kind of writing it, I just didn’t know it.
I went out and got the Keith Urban record,Dixie Chicks, Sugarland and Taylor Swift. Those were my first 4 country records.
NCB – Has Nashville been everything you thought it would be?
Kelsea – Yes and more! Absolutely, Nashville is the coolest place. It’s such a creative community whether you are an artist, writer or a graphic designer. There are just so many creative jobs in Nashville. It is such a team process, so building that team and being able to collaborate with people that are just smart and creative has been so fun. Coming from Knoxville, you don’t have that community there of songwriters and other artists. It’s really important. It’s just a cool city and I love it here.
NCB – How does it feel to be named one of CMT’s Next Women of Country?
Kelsea – It’s so cool! I remember when I was new to town, I was 15 and I couldn’t drive yet. My mom works full time so I just stayed at home by myself a lot all that summer. Every morning I would wake up and watch CMT videos. Even walking into the CMT building was like mind-blowing for me. I walked in and I had my little introduction showcase with them. Leslie Fram called me the same afternoon and said, “I would love to invite you to be a part of our CMT next Women of Country”. I could have just died. There is such an awesome, strong group of women right now in country music and to be recognized as a part of that is special. It makes me feel really honored.
NCB – Do you feel it’s harder for a woman to break into country music right now?
Kelsea – I think it has been harder the last couple of years, but I think it is changing right now too. I am constantly doing stuff with other female artists like Maddie and Tae and Raelynn. They are just doing so well. Maddie and Tae just had a huge number 1 and Raelynn has a top, I think 15. They are girls. They are killing it. There is a huge group of us and I feel like we are all strong in what we do. I think country radio is listening, and not only listening, but also being supportive of it. I think it’s about time.
NCB – How excited are you about debuting at the Grand Ole Opry on Valentine’s Day?
Kelsea – I am so excited. I am literally saying “Kelsea just don’t cry until you get off the stage”. LOL, I have been to the Opry twice now to watch, so to go from being in the audience to on the stage is a big step. I feel like as a writer, playing the Bluebird was like the place for me. When I played it for the first time, I will never forget it, because it was such a special moment. I feel like the Grand Ole Opry is that for country artists. It is just a huge honor. I just hope I don’t cry on stage or trip in my heels.
NCB – Was it awesome how you got the news from Lady Antebellum?
Kelsea – It was so awesome. Oh my gosh, yes. I love them. I am such a big fan of theirs. I adore Hillary and she is a friend. I was on the red carpet for an awards show and I had no idea. Then I was interviewing them and it was on my last interview. It just surprised me. I will never forget that moment.
NCB – We see that you have your first headlining show on February 18th in Nashville, what can you tell us about that?
Kelsea – I am just starting to put full band shows together, but I have studied tours and shows since i started getting serious about music. I am very fascinated about touring. I love bells and whistles. I love any little thing that you can take it from being a performance to a show. We are trying to plan a lot of little bells and whistles for this Nashville show. I am very excited about it, and also showing people in town what I have been working on. I am excited to let them hear some of my new music and kind of share all that with my friends, family and people in the industry that haven’t gotten to see it yet. It’s going to be really cool.
NCB – We also see you are going to be out on the road with Tim McGraw and Billy Currington. How did that come about?
Kelsea – I just signed with CAA and they are fantastic. So, I have some openings for Billy and Brett coming up really soon and then this summer I am doing fairs and festivals and those are opening for Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. I will probably stand beside the stage shaking while watching them.
NCB – Where do you want to be in 5 years?
Kelsea – Probably on a tour with a hydraulic lift, LOL. For me my ultimate goal is to tour in arenas. That’s like my biggest dream. So, I hope I am lucky enough to be able to do that in 5 years.
NCB – What’s one thing you want to be remembered for in your life with your music?
Kelsea – I really hope that anyone who gets my music or that I get to meet through my music feels like we are friends, and feels like whatever they are listening to is real and it’s their life too. If I get to meet them, we are like BFF’s ,all of a sudden. That’s so important to me having that connection with people. I am so thankful for the people that support my music. Getting out there and meeting them has been so awesome and such a blessing. So, i guess that’s what I want to be remembered for is being a friend.
NCB – What advice would you give a musician just starting out?
Kelsea – I would say don’t box yourself in. One of the biggest struggles I had when I first moved to Nashville was finding out who I was and what I wanted to say. Every other voice that is successful is successful because it’s their voice. You have to find your own. It was such a long process for me, but not just worrying about where it fits or how it fits, just knowing that it’s true to you. That’s what always works, ALWAYS!
NCB – We had more, but we cut it short to honor your time.
Kelsea – Dawn says we have time for one more question.
NCB – Okay, we will give you an easy one. What do you do for fun when you are not doing music?
Kelsea – MUSIC! LOL, No I am a big homebody so if I am not out on the road or working on music here in Nashville, I am in my apartment in my pajamas watching Net Flix. That is constantly what’s happening.The following two tabs change content below.
Latest posts by Chris Benton (see all)
- Actor Miguel Gabriel - August 27, 2024
- Unfiltered & Inspiring: Comedian Carlos Mencia Talks Comedy, Life Plus MORE! - August 22, 2024
- Adam Thomas Ziemba Speeds into the Spotlight with Debut in Racing Drama ‘One Fast Move - August 20, 2024
