Kelsea Ballerini Is Now ‘Fully Immersed’ in Crafting Her Sophomore Album

Kelsea Ballerini's career trajectory has been the stuff that most artists only dream of: Her debut album, appropriately titled The First Time, landed in the Top 5, and her first two singles, "Love Me Like You Mean It" and "Dibs," both topped the charts and went gold. The 22-year-old will have a lot to live up to with her sophomore record, but Ballerini is only concerned about showing growth, both as a woman and as an artist, with the project.

"I’m fully immersed in my next album now," the singer tells The Boot. ""Peter Pan" is the one I’ve been waiting for, and I’m really excited to see what it does. I hope that people see a different side of me with this song, and then I want it to lead into a whole new chapter, which I think we’ll do with the next record. I’m definitely working on it."

Ballerini calls "Peter Pan," her third single, "my baby." Written by Ballerini, Forest Glen Whitehead and Jesse Lee, the song is "the one that I’ve been really waiting to get out there," she admits.

"I feel pressure to make good music. But that's pressure that I put on myself," Ballerini maintains. "The fact that radio has embraced my first two songs, for whatever reason, I feel like "Peter Pan" is finally giving them a little more depth, and I think that, as a country music audience that they’re catering to, that’s what they want to hear. Hopefully it goes over really well."

Clearly, Ballerini knows what fans want to hear: In addition to a hit album and No. 1 singles, she recently won her first ACM Award, for New Female Vocalist of the Year.

"It sounds so weird," she says of her permanent title as an ACM Award winner. "I keep my head down, and I go a whole lot. And so, every now and again, I’ll look up, and it freaks me out a bit, so I just put my head down and keep going."

Ballerini will hit the road with Rascal Flatts this summer, on the Flatts' Rhythm & Roots Tour. A list of all of her upcoming shows can be found on her website, and "Peter Pan" is available for download on iTunes.