Callin’ Dibs on Kelsea Ballerini’s Dibs Video shoot…..
Words & Photo’s Carol Goins
If you haven’t heard the name Kelsea Ballerini yet, hold on tight because it’s going to be an incredible ride!! Kelsea’s number one hit, “Love me Like you Mean it” has her in demand all over the US. And WE were fortunate to catch up with her at the York Fair in York PA.
This concert wasn’t just her first full length show but her filming for her newest single “Dibs”. We arrived at the Fair after a crazy day of sneaking off work and sneaking out of school to find a crowd had already formed in front of the outdoor stage. After setting up in front of the stage we wandered around seeking out a member of Kelsea’s management team, also a friend of mine! It’s always great seeing her outside of our once a year Nashville “date” during CMA Fest (which I might add was my very first meeting with Kelsea in 2012). Just the week before this show, Kelsea was nominated for TWO CMA’s! My friend indicated that Kelsea had been on a whirl wind tour since the announcement and she hadn’t even had the chance to call home to Mom. Can you imagine? Your very first song….and TWO CMA noms! Amazing.
Carnival sounds filled the air and shrieks of joy from teen fans greeted Kelsea when she came out to do her sound check. She was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a pre-birthday gift from a fan who presented her with a leather bracelet with the words Never Grow Up on it. The fans favorite song being “Peter Pan”. Kelsea was so thrilled with the gift that I later learned she gushed to her management what a wonderful gift it was and how much she loved it.
The crowd began to grow as she finalized her sound check and she quickly disappeared only to return minutes later dressed in an adorable teal blue jumper. Thankfully it was a shorts style jumper as it was quite short and pretty revealing to those in front of the stage. She was so excited for all of us to see her shoes. Yes, her shoes! Apparently Kelsea is a big shoe fan. And they were pretty awesome and worth bragging about!
Decked out in “I’m Calling Dibs” t-shirts with signs blazing the lyrics, the crowd sang along to “Yeah Boy”. Looking around the crowd you could just feel the energy and see the happiness on every one’s faces. When it finally got to the BIG moment of the night, everyone was screaming with excitement. It was time. Time to be a part of an amazing experience. Her music video for “Dibs”. Camera men scanned the audience over and over capturing the fans exuberance. Singing loudly, not once, but two times through. By the time the song ended, every single person was smiling. Kelsea, herself, looked a bit overwhelmed with all of the love. Here is the lyric video to keep you going until the official video is released
Her next number was the much loved “Peter Pan”. She caught the eye of the young lady who brought her the bracelet and you could see how appreciative she was. And we could clearly see that her acknowledgement to the young girl meant the world to her.
Kelsea ended her 14 song set with her hit song, “Love me like you mean it”…. to everyone’s dismay. They weren’t ready for it to be over. As with every show at the York Fair, each artist does a meet and greet after their set. The line for Kelsea was well over 300 long. She stayed. She stayed until each fan had an autograph or a photo. She stayed and thanked every single fan that came out to see her.
This young lady is going to be a name you will hear alongside the likes of Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert etc. Her ability to connect with her fans will be one of the number one factors in her rise to fame. A great song is one thing. Great personality and appreciation of your fans is another. And Kelsea has that. She loves and appreciates each fan. I feel so very fortunate to be blessed to have met this young lady both before her number one and again after. She is overwhelmed. She is on a racing roller coaster through this crazy life called country music. But this girl hasn’t forgotten who she is. If you haven’t heard of her yet…..don’t worry, you will!
