Kelsea Ballerini Gushes Over Falling In Love, Teases 'New Chapter Incoming'

Kelsea Ballerini teased her forthcoming chapter in her music after moving forward from the deeply vulnerable EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, that she wrote to process her divorce. The award-winning singer-songwriter, 30, said in a new interview with Los Angeles, California-based Flaunt Magazine that she’s working on a project that shares a glimpse into the chapter in her life that takes place after Rolling Up The Welcome Mat.

Ballerini released the heartache EP and accompanying short film on Valentine’s Day in 2023, months after her divorce, and expected to release it silently and never play the songs live. Listeners, however, resonated with the music so deeply that the response called for an extended EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good), to follow months later.

Now, Ballerini wants her music to show “what it feels like to be falling in love and feeling a new level of safety. Having the space in my life to experience all of it first had to happen for it now to reflect in the music,” she told Flaunt Magazine. Ballerini added in her interview, without spilling too much information, that the country album is underway with a team of “all women” working on it.

Ballerini and her boyfriend, Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes, celebrated their one-year anniversary together in January. The pair began talking in December 2022, when Ballerini slid into Stokes’ DMs on Instagram (she’s since shared a screenshot of that initial conversation). They first sparked dating rumors when Stokes posted photos on Instagram, including one sitting closely with Ballerini at the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 9, 2023. The “HEARTFIRST” star confirmed the following month in a podcast interview that she and Stokes were dating.

Though Ballerini hasn’t said much about her next chapter yet, she performed an unreleased love song on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, Tennessee. Ballerini debuted “To The Men That Love Women After Heartbreak” with songwriters Karen Fairchild and Hillary Lindsey.

“The reality is, I’ve been singing about a chapter of my life that is far past me now,” Ballerini said on the Opry stage at that time, referencing Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. “And I’m writing about the chapter of life that I’m in, and it looks very different, and I kind of wanted to share a bit of it now. I’m very gently and slowly starting to make the next record. I really want to take the time to handle it with care.”

Stokes commented, “oh hello you’re hot 🥵,” on Ballerini’s Instagram post on Monday afternoon (March 18). Ballerini shared a few snapshots, photographed by Adam Franzino, from her Flaunt Magazine interview. She teased her “new chapter incoming,” and thanked the magazine for “the california frolick and cheeky chat about past present and future. 🤍”