Getty Kelsea Ballerini
“The Voice” season 15 Comeback Stage coach Kelsea Ballerini has had a very busy week. The country singer released a six-track EP, titled “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat,” on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2023. This EP details the end of her marriage with Morgan Evans after Ballerini filed for divorce in August 2022. “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” comes with an accompanying short film, which Ballerini wrote and directed.
Three days later, “Saturday Night Live” announced that Ballerini would be appearing as the musical guest on their upcoming March 4 episode, which is set to be hosted by Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce from the Kansas City Chiefs.
See Ballerini’s 20-minute short film below.
Kelsea Ballerini Releases New Music Inspired by Her Divorce
Evans released music of his own, a single titled “Over For You”, on October 18, 2022, two months after Ballerini first filed for divorce. Ballerini’s own record, “Subject to Change” had just come out in September 2022, and did not speak much to her then-pending divorce, as it had been written and recorded prior to her filing. The country couple’s split was finalized on October 23, five days after Evans’s single came out.
Us Weekly reported that some of Ballerini’s lyrics on her new EP are seemingly direct responses to “Over For You”. One such example appears in Ballerini’s new track “Blindsided”. In his single, Evans sings of being surprised by the news of Ballerini’s filing for divorce, singing, “Why am I just finding out? / It kills me to know / You were drifting alone,” yet Ballerini responds in her lyrics, “And now you’re saying that you’re lost / And that’s lost on me / Years of sitting across from me in therapy / I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find / Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?”
Ballerini also speaks to the highly publicized nature of her divorce and references themes of misogyny in her lyrics to the 45-second track, “Interlude”, singing, “The rumors going ’round, but the truth is kinda nuanced / I wanna set it straight, but my lawyer says I shouldn’t / And ain’t it like this town to only criticize a woman”.
Kelsea Ballerini Sets ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut With Host Travis Kelce
Ballerini will be sharing some of her new music on “Saturday Night Live”‘s March 4 episode alongside Super Bowl champion Kelce. Kelce announced his hosting position in a February 17 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”. Kelce also spoke about how he and his brother, Jason (who plays for the Philidelphia Eagles), were the first set of siblings to play against each other in the Super Bowl. Fallon confirmed during the interview that Ballerini was set as the musical guest.
Ballerini shared the announcement to her own Instagram account, as well, making reference to her new EP’s opening track by writing, “it’s not 7am and i’m not on a mountain with a view but i am in my living room screaming crying and throwing up. see you march 4th”. Ballerini shared another post on February 17 that featured a clip of her crying and dancing around her living room right after SNL officially announced her appearance.
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Kelsea Ballerini Releases New EP, Announces ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut