Lainey Wilson and Kelsea Ballerini had big years in 2023. Wilson took home Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards among other accolades. At the same time, Ballerini’s deeply personal EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat made major waves for the East Tennessee native. Additionally, she made her Saturday Night Live debut and headlined her first arena show at the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both artists started 2024 with Grammy nominations. Wilson took home the Grammy for Best Country Album. Now, they’re both looking to carry last year’s momentum into 2024.
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Kelsea Ballerini Plans to Announce a New Album Soon
The Knoxville New-Sentinel reports that Ballerini just renewed her deal with Black River. She renewed the deal after shunning big labels like Universal and Warner without even considering them. “It’s great to be able to continue the relationship in a place where I feel safe to just do whatever feels right,” she said. “It feels so safe and that allows me to just be free to create. I feel like I want that for every artist, and I’m so glad that I have that [at Black River],” she added.
Ballerini and Black River are keeping the details of their deal close to their collective vest. However, the independent company will represent her in “all aspects of entertainment.” Additionally, the singer hinted at pursuing projects outside of music. “Knowing that the love of my life is writing music and making records, I’ll always guard and protect that the most, but I’m also interested in ‘what else?’—because why not,” she said.
The report states that Ballerini plans to announce her next album “within the next few months.”
Lainey Wilson Teases New Music with Studio Video
Last night, Wilson shared a video of her and a group of musicians working on new music in the studio. The short clip reveals several interesting things about what’s coming from the “Watermelon Moonshine” singer.
First, the video shows a group of musicians playing together in a large recording space. This likely means that Wilson plans to record her next album live in the studio as opposed to recording all of the different instrumental and vocal parts of the song and letting an editor piece them together after the face. Both methods of recording are valid. However, recording live in the studio allows the organic cohesion of the band and singer to come through more clearly than the other method.
Maybe more excitingly, the clip shows that Wilson is recording “Country’s Cool Again” which is also the name of her upcoming tour. The video shows a look at the song sheet. It reveals that Wilson co-penned the song with Aslan Freeman, Dallas Wilson, and Trannie Anderson in March 2023. The sheet also reveals some of the song’s lyrics. Here’s the first verse of “Country’s Cool Again.”
I’s born in boots on humble ground. / These kinda roots, yeah they sure don’t grow out / Yeah even in a guitar town. / My crooked drawl the way I sung / My mama’s genes sure stuck out like a sore thumb / in a metro city crowd. / Oh me, oh my how things changed / I can’t believe my eyes these days.
Featured Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
