Kelsea Ballerini Reveals She’s ‘Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good)’
The expansion of her cinematic project will include updated lyrics and one new track.
Kelsea Ballerini; Photo Courtesy Instagram Stories, By Catherine Powell
Before Kelsea Ballerini officially closed the book on her emotionally charged chapter that is Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, she sat down for a conversation with a room full of her fans and announced the August 11 release of Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good).
During her first intimate fan gathering that took place at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on August 1, Ballerini gave the audience a glimpse into the expanded, healed version of her critically acclaimed project.
The conversations of this evening were guided by British-born, UK- and American-based filmmaker Julie Anne Robinson, who was on hand as Ballerini took a deep dive into the writing and creative process behind “Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (A Short Film).”
“Having shared everything with my fans, I knew I wanted to tell them first – and I wanted to tell them,” Ballerini shared via press release. “I wanted to be in an intimate space, with them, walking through everything that happened, explaining some of the artistic decisions and letting them know how much their reaction to this music has meant to me.”
The East Tennessee artist’s expansion of Welcome Mat includes a new track titled “How Do I Do This,” as well as updated lyrics in “Penthouse (Healed Version),” “Interlude (Full Length)” and “Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay).” These fresh releases reflect Ballerini’s recent performances that have come as a result of her journey to finally finding peace and healing from her 2022 divorce with fellow country artist Morgan Evans.
Each song began as a painfully honest representation of what she was feeling at the time of the split that was so heavily consumed by the public eye. So Ballerini decided to put pen to paper and let her music speak for itself during this difficult period of her life.
“I wasn’t worried about anything other than presenting the songs as honestly as possible,” the multi-platinum artist explained. “Most started with me and my guitar.”
After a year of whirlwind emotions that also featured new-found happiness through her relationship with Outerbanks actor Chase Stokes, the “Subject To Change” singer is finally putting it all behind her with Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good), as it was designed to put this conversation to bed forever.
Taking to Instagram to share the news, Ballerini asked her fans for a favor in return for her new recordings.
“with this, comes a favor. from the deepest and purest part of my heart, i ask that you help this be ours and let the music simply be the music, not dig back into the experience that it was written about nearly a year ago. as a songwriter, producer, artist i’m proud and protective of this EP, and as a woman and human also proud and protective of the new, happy season of life i’m in.”
She continued, “my real hope is for us to continue growing, healing, and evolving together with acceptance and kindness (even when we unleash our inner fire breathing dragon singing the new versions of these songs). am i right? 😉”
In addition to announcing this project and taking questions from the audience, Ballerini treated the room to the new “full” version of “Interlude” and performed “Penthouse (Healed Version).”
Her next set of exclusive conversations with fans will take place on August 8 in Nashville and August 10 in New York. To mark the occasion, Kelsea Ballerini has created limited-edition t-shirts available in each market that reveal a new lyric from “Interlude.”
“Some people wear their hearts on their sleeve, this is a way to wear something that says you grew and came even more into your own on your chest. It’s a wonderful way to tell your truth without saying a word,” she shared of the new merch.
Last year, the triple-GRAMMY nominee embarked on three sold-out legs of her own headlining tour and then joined Kenny Chesney on the road for his I Go Back Tour. Kelsea Ballerini has yet to announce her next set of tour dates.
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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