Kelsea Ballerini Says She's Excited to See 'What My Kind of Country Sounds Like in a City' After N.Y.C. Move (Exclusive)
Kelsea Ballerini Says She's Excited to See 'What My Kind of Country Sounds Like in a City' After N.Y.C. Move (Exclusive)
Rachel DeSantis, Chris BarillaThu, June 4, 2026 at 10:35 PM UTC
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Kelsea Ballerini in New York City in March 2026.Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty -
Kelsea Ballerini recently moved to New York City
"It's, to me, what my kind of country sounds like in a city," she says
She is judging SoFi's Amplify Your Ambitions contest, which awards financial prizes to aspiring musicians
Kelsea Ballerinimoved to New York City earlier this year — and she's already finding inspiration in the Big Apple.
The "Patterns" singer, 32, spoke to PEOPLE while judging SoFi's Amplify Your Ambitions contest as CMA Fest kicks off in Nashville on Thursday, June 4 and revealed that her recent move will likely be reflected in new music.
"I've made five records and two EPs in Nashville and I think I just am in this place in my life where I just wanted to see creatively where changing my landscape and my backdrop, what that would bring out," she says. "It's really proving to feel really inspired and different in a good way, but it's, to me, what my kind of country sounds like in a city."
Ballerini's most recent release, the EP Mount Pleasant, came out in November.
Kelsea Ballerini in New York City in March 2026.Credit: John Nacion/Variety via Getty
She previously opened up to PEOPLE in April about her move to N.Y.C., joking that she was "feeling very Carrie Bradshaw" because she hadn't figured out how to work her stove.
"I moved here by myself and I'm in an apartment by myself, and I haven't done that in a long time. If I'm in Nashville, I'm with friends and family. And then if I'm working, I'm with people all the time," she said. "So it's really been a new self-discovery challenge for me, but I've gotten to make new friends and they're just so wonderful."
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The singer — who has said her time there is not permanent — said she'd had dreams of moving to New York since she first visited at 14 years old on a choir trip.
"I was like, 'I will do a chapter of life in New York.' I never knew what it would be, but I knew that I wanted to do it," she said. "And then honestly, I just felt like, 'Why not now?'"
Kelsea Ballerini and SoFiCredit: Courtesy SoFi
Ballerini partnered with SoFi to host and serve as a judge for the digital financial institution's Amplify Your Ambitions contest, which will award one $200,000 grand prize and two $50,000 runner-up prizes to the top three competitors at an intimate Nashville concert on June 4.
Musicians were able to submit a video and written essay ahead of time explaining how they'd use the winnings, and SoFi chose three finalists. Ballerini is judging the competition alongside the company's Chief of Financial Empowerment Vivian Tu and Grammy-winning songwriter Shane McAnally.
"I think about those years before I had my first real opportunity and those are the years where you're really investing the most in yourself, whether it's time or finding the right relationships. But it's also financial," she says. "You have to really invest in yourself to play the gigs, to hire a band, to buy your first guitar, whatever it is. Studio time. Gas money. All of it. And I think with these artists that have made it to the top 3, they're all gonna have a really life-changing moment with SoFi today, and to be a part of that is really exciting."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
