Music always in perfect focus for Ballerini | CCMF 2016

Even in her free time, Kelsea Ballerini, never loses focus of the muse that makes up her profession and her pastime: her music.

“I love what I do,” she said, happy to spend all her free time to find new ways to fine tune her performance. “My hobby is writing songs.”

The native of Knoxville, Tenn., will play Saturday, on the the second full day of the second annual Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach, sharing a bill with such artists Chase Rice and Chase Bryant, all leading up to Tim McGraw, the night’s headliner.

Talking last month from home in Nashville, Tenn., Ballerini said that after this call that morning, she was heading to a meeting with record label personnel to pick the first five songs for her second album, the timeline for which is forthcoming.

The singer-songwriter burst onto the horizon in 2014 with “Love Me Like You Mean It,” ahead of her debut CD last year, “The First Time” from Black River Entertainment. The third single – a follow-up to “Dibs” – “Peter Pan” has cracked the top 30 in its climb on the country charts to start this summer.

Ballerini called “Peter Pan” her favorite of the 12 numbers on “The First Time,” all of which include her name in the writing credits, with the title track a solo composition. She said collaborating on music, working midday, like a day at the office, has worked well, but when penning tunes by herself, “it’s usually at night.”

Shooting the video for “Peter Pan” also let Ballerini had a blast, with long, flowing dresses in the wind, a parachute tied behind the car she drove, and the ups and downs of romance, in scenes shared with with a pilot of stunts in a single-engine propeller plane.

“I know the feeling like with ‘Peter Pan,’” Ballerini said, and in line with her spoken words of optimism after the music closes, “I wanted to end it on a high note.”

When asked about being a role model for girls, Ballerini said in hearing from parents who like the chords she strikes with youth today, she appreciates fulfilling that function.

“That’s the best compliment you can give me,” she said, loving the sight of mothers bringing their daughters to shows. “I take a lot of pride in that. That’s important to me.”

Talking with Ballerini reflects a maturity, confidence and drive that the 22-year-old found years ago. She credits moving to Nashville at age 15 for her head start on growing up.

“I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life,” Ballerini said, citing a “couple of things that made me grow up,” such as her parents going separate ways.

The start of May brought Ballerini two more honors: a Radio Disney Music Award for Freshest Best New Artist (all genre), as voted by fans, and an American Country Countdown Award for Breakthrough Female of the Year (Hear the weekly ACC show, with host Kix Brooks, 6-10 a.m. Saturdays on WLFF-FM “Nash 106.5.)

Ballerini also made a cameo as herself May 4 on the “Nashville” nighttime series, singing “Peter Pan” – just eight days before the shock waves resonated from ABC abruptly announcing the cancellation of the series after four seasons, and many special guest singers in real life.

Speaking the day after her appearance on the show, Ballerini said, “I’m definitely not an actress,” but performing before cameras rolling for the “Nashville” episode only makes her appreciate more “all the times I get to be on stage.”

She said having this part on “a show with such a huge audience” also gave another outlet for other people to hear her music, maybe for the first time, and like a music video, she sees such experiences “as so much fun,” especially with the “cinematic” elements to this form of performing.

With the Nashville Predators advancing to the second round of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring for the third time in six seasons, Ballerini said of living in Music City – and with Bridgestone Arena being known as maybe the loudest venue among home teams – “how can you not be” a Preds fan?

After the festival this weekend, Ballerini will return to Carolinas in a week, for she and Chris Lane are opening for Rascal Flatts on the trio’s “Rhythm & Roots Tour,” with stops at pavilions on June 17 in Charlotte and June 18 in Raleigh.

Ballerini said she looks forward to hopping into “the sound booth” after her sets, and watching Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney swing through their slew of hits from the past decade, which include “Prayin’ for Daylight,” “Mayberry” and “Banjo.”

“It’s cool,” she said, “because I remember going to their shows in Knoxville, and I went and saw them as a fan.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Music always in perfect focus for Ballerini | CCMF 2016."