Kelsea Ballerini says New York City move is already reshaping her creative outlook

• Kelsea Ballerini told PEOPLE her New York City move is already influencing her music creatively
• The singer has made five albums and two EPs in Nashville before relocating to New York
• Ballerini has dreamed of living in New York City since her first visit there aged 14 on a choir trip

Kelsea Ballerini has spoken enthusiastically about her decision to relocate to New York City, revealing that the move is already having a tangible influence on her music and her sense of self.

Nashville to New York: a creative leap

The 32-year-old American singer-songwriter sat down with PEOPLE magazine on Thursday, on the sidelines of CMA Fest in Nashville, where she was also serving as a judge for SoFi's Amplify Your Ambitions contest. During the conversation, Ballerini was candid about the creative motivation behind her relocation.

"I've made five records and two EPs in Nashville and I think I 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 told the outlet.

The Subject to Change hitmaker described the results of the move as genuinely energising.

"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," she quipped.

"Feeling very Carrie Barshaw"

Ballerini's latest remarks build on comments she made to the same outlet in April 2026, when she revealed the more personal dimensions of her New York adventure — including admitting she was "feeling very Carrie Barshaw" after struggling to operate the stove in her new flat.

She had reflected at the time on the experience of living alone in a new city.

"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," the Cowboys Cry Too songstress added.

A dream two decades in the making

Ballerini's connection to New York City stretches back further than her recent move. The singer had been dreaming of living there since her very first visit to the city at the age of 14, made as part of a choir trip. She released her EP Mount Pleasant in November 2025.