Kelsea Ballerini Says Her Song 'Blindsided' Was 'Responding' to Ex Morgan Evans' 'Over for You'
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans
Kelsea Ballerini is speaking about the inspiration behind her latest project.
In an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, the singer-songwriter opens up about the inspirations behind her new EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which makes several references to her ex-husband, Morgan Evans.
"I don't want to lose the openness that I've always tried to have," Ballerini, 29, told the outlet, explaining her decision to open up about divorcing the fellow country star in her new music as well as an interview with the Call Her Daddy podcast.
Before the divorce was finalized in November 2022, Evans, 37, released a ballad called "Over for You" which seemed to allude to his split from Ballerini, who's now dating Outer Banks star Chase Stokes. He sang: "How long have you been waiting to take our pictures down? / How long have you been breaking? Why am I just finding out? / It kills me to know / That you were drifting alone."
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Rolling Up the Welcome Mat was then released on Valentine's Day. When asked in the NYT story if the project was crafted in response to "Over for You," Ballerini said: "Yes and no."
"I don't know if I would have written a song like 'Blindsided' had I not been responding to something that was already out there," she explained, nodding to the standout track that features the lyrics: "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?"
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The EP was created alongside songwriter-producer Alysa Vanderheym, who told the NYT that Ballerini "knew exactly what she wanted to say" with the project. "It's so unfiltered — she just went there, she didn't even second guess it — which is so inspiring to me," she said.
Ballerini noted that she didn't focus on "commercial country artist" appeal but rather pure honesty with Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. "I feel really seen, and understood, as an artist right now," she told the outlet.
