Kelsea Ballerini Has 'Encounter With Fire Ants' While Filming Music Videos

Kelsea Ballerini hinted at new music videos in the works as she teases her next chapter of music following Rolling Up The Welcome Mat and Subject To Change. Ballerini shared a video on her Instagram story on Tuesday afternoon (May 28). she wrote: “did I just have an encounter with fire ants? Yes. Will the music video(s) be worth it? Also yes.”

Ballerini has previously confirmed that she’s working on her next album. She said in an interview with Flaunt Magazine earlier this year that hopes her new music can reflect “what it feels like to be falling in love and feeling a new level of safety.” Ballerini slid into Outer Banks star Chase Stokes’ DMs in December 2022. The couple began talking and sparked dating rumors when they were spotted together for the first time in January 2023. Stokes shared a photo of them on Instagram at the College Football Playoff National Championship. Ballerini confirmed the budding romance in a podcast interview the following month. She and Stokes celebrated their first anniversary in January.

The new music that reflects feelings of falling in love will follow Ballerini’s deep personal EP that she wrote to share her story of heartache and healing after divorce. Rolling Up The Welcome Mat arrived in February 2023, followed by an extended edition, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good), months later. The EP quickly followed Ballerini’s latest full-length album, Subject To Change. Most recently, she debuted a reimagined version of “Love Me Like You Mean It,” 10 years after the original single’s release. Ballerini delivered her first live performance of the new version at the 2024 CMT Music Awards.

In November, Ballerini 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.”