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Kelsea Ballerini shared the sweet story of the moment that ignited her passion for songwriting.
Ballerini caught up with Adam Levine ahead of the new season of The Voice. Levine is returning to the iconic red chair in season 27, along with returning coaches John Legend and Michael Bublé, and first-time coach Ballerini. The season is set to premiere on Monday, February 3 on NBC and streaming on Peacock. Levine and Ballerini asked one another about the first songs they ever wrote — and how it made them feel — in a new promo for The Voice.
Ballerini guessed she was about 11 years old when she wrote. song for the first time.
“This doesn’t really count, but I forgot it was Mother’s Day,” she admitted. “We do this thing, still to this day, called a ‘gift of the heart,’ where we don’t buy anything. We’ll just write something or make something. And so, I wrote her a song called ‘Oh, Mama.’ it was really just like a formless poem that I sang to her. It made no sense, but I remember it to this day, and that was my first song.
“She cried, and I liked that,” Ballerini remembered. “I was like, ‘I like making people emotional.’”
Ballerini has since penned another balled in honor of her mother. “Sorry Mom” is one of 15 tracks that appears on Ballerini’s fifth studio album, Patterns, which she released in October. Ballerini said “Sorry Mom” serves as “a love letter to the growth of mother and daughter to woman and woman,” and said she “couldn’t be more proud to share this song with you.” Ballerini wrote “Sorry Mom” with Alysa Vanderheym, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Jessie Jo Dillon and Hillary Lindsey.
Patterns also includes “Baggage,” “First Rodeo,” “Two Things,” “WAIT!,” “Cowboys Cry Too” with Noah Kahan and more. Ballerini celebrated the album’s highly-anticipated debut with a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. She’s since kicked off her first-ever headlining arena tour with special guests Sasha Alex Sloan, Ashe, The Japanese House and MaRynn Taylor. See the dates here.