Kelsea Ballerini is on the verge of making country music history! If her latest single, “Peter Pan”—which is currently sitting in the No. 3 spot—hits the top of the Billboard charts in the coming weeks, Kelsea will become the first female artist to have her first three singles from her debut album reach No. 1.
The notion of that is all too surreal for the young lady from Knoxville, Tenn., to comprehend.
“When I made this album [The First Time], I got to write the whole thing, and all I wanted was for it to be heard and I didn’t know what capacity or any of that. I just knew that I wanted the songs to be heard,” Kelsea tells Nash Country Daily. “The fact that they’ve been embraced like they have—I mean [to have a] No. 1, that’s the number one most played song in the country at that week. That’s a crazy thing for me to even wrap my head around, so it’s bigger than I could have even expected.”
Written by Kelsea along with songwriters Forest Glen Whitehead and Jesse Lee, “Peter Pan”—about an ex-love who can’t seem to grow up, invoking the spirit of the childlike fictional character Peter Pan—showcases a deeper side to the 22-year-old.
“Making this record I wanted to cover [ages] 12–21, which is kind of broad,” says Kelsea. “A lot of it was finding myself and being young. ‘Love Me Like You Mean it’ and ‘Dibs,’ those are very flirty, fun, kind of carefree songs and that’s a big part of me, but ‘Peter Pan’ was the one that I feel like kind of got to get a little deeper in and kind of get a little songwriter in, which I really wanted people to see.”
You can also see Kelsea this fall as she heads out on her first-ever headlining tour, The First Time Tour, kicking off in Houston on Oct 21.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to watch and learn from the people I’ve gotten to open up for the last few years and I’ve gotten to watch these legends put together these shows,” adds Kelsea. “Now, I have three songs that hopefully people know and I kind of wanted to get up close and personal with people and let them see more of me. It’s going to be fun putting together the bells and whistles and a big ole show. I’m stoked!”
One thing that Kelsea wants to have on tour as part of the show? A confetti cannon. “I want a confetti cannon so bad,” she said.
Go see Kelsea on The First Time Tour and see if she gets the confetti cannon of her dreams.
Check out the clip of Kelsea in the NCD studio below.
