Kelsea Ballerini Receives Plaque Before Second ‘Under The Welcome Mat’ Fan Event

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Pictured (L-R): Kelsea Ballerini, Black River’s Dawn Delvo, Gordon Kerr, Rick Froio, Doug Johnson and Tanya Schrage. Photo: Catherine Powell

Kelsea Ballerini held the second of her three “Under The Welcome Mat” fan events on Tuesday evening (Aug. 8). Before the intimate gathering, Ballerini’s label, Black River Entertainment, presented her with a special plaque celebrating her accomplishments from the beginning of her career to now, including her seven No. 1s, 31 RIAA certifications and over six billion all-time streams, outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater. After the surprise presentation, she offered a heartfelt thank you, surrounded by family, friends and some of Nashville’s top industry professionals.

Ballerini announced the expanded Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good) at the first fan event in Los Angeles. The project, out tomorrow (Aug. 11), includes “Penthouse (Healed Version),” “Interlude (Full Version),” “Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay)” and the brand-new “How Do I Do This.”

“The best part of Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good) is knowing I don’t need to talk about this stuff anymore,” said Ballerini. “My whole life is ahead of me, so this expanded version is to let people know there’s real freedom in breaking down, in facing the emotions because it gets you to where your life can really shine.”

“Recording Rolling Up The Welcome Mat the way we did, was, in a lot of ways, catharsis,” she continued. “But with the updated version, I am asking from my fans that they help this be ours and simply let the music be the music. I don’t want to dig back into experiences that it was written about nearly a year ago. As a songwriter, producer and artist, I am very proud and protective of this record. And as a woman and human, I am also proud and protective of the new, happy season of life I’m in. I’m happier than I’ve ever been[,] and anyone listening can be too.”

During the second exclusive event, fans and industry members were treated to behind-the-scenes insights into the project following a screening of Ballerini’s short film Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, which marked her first time in the Director’s chair and earned two Gold Telly Awards as well as a Silver Award.

Fans were also able to give “Interlude (Full Version)” an early listen before Ballerini performed “Leave Me Again.”

The final fan event will take place tonight (Aug. 10) at New York City’s Whitby Theater. To encapsulate the energy from the three events, Ballerini has created exclusive, limited-edition T-shirts specific to each market that reveals a new lyric from “Interlude.”

Additionally, she plans launch the new record on NBC’s Today with a live Citi Concert Series performance tomorrow.

Liza Anderson
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