Kelsea Ballerini: ‘So Grateful’ To Have Noah Kahan On ‘Cowboys Cry Too’
When it came time for Kelsea Ballerini to start working on new music, she didn’t know where to start. The country star admitted that she “panicked” just a bit because she wanted to keep that same “level of vulnerability and intention,” as she did for the release of her 2023 EP, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, which changed her life, and her career, in many ways.
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It all worked out in the end because Ballerini found an artist with whom she immediately had “songwriting synergy” and who has been added to just about everyone’s playlist this year: Noah Kahan. Together, they have introduced the next chapter of not only Ballerini’s life but also her new music to her fans.
Ballerini officially released a new song with Kahan today (6/28) titled “Cowboys Cry Too.” The 30-year-old posted a series of photos on Instagram alongside her new duet partner with the caption, “In a world that says ‘saddle up and be a man’, i hope this song finds you in your humanness. to the cowboys, cowgirls, and anyone who listens…let ‘em out. cowboys cry too is available now.”
Writing “Cowboys Cry Too”
“I remember I was sitting on my back porch one morning in November, and I just had my guitar with me, and I wrote the verse and chorus of cowboys and immediately went to the studio and finished it that day. I loved the idea of of writing a song from a woman’s perspective, kind of taking on the idea of like, toxic masculinity and like really being so appreciative of the men in my life that, exercise vulnerability and, and have like, you know, emotional awareness,” Ballerini told Backstage Country.
She continued, “I just thought it was a message that was really interesting to hear from a girl’s perspective. As the record started kind of forming, I realized that that song could even maybe be more special if we had a male counterpart telling the same story. But I knew that that would take an artist that was willing to kind of go there. And I’m such a fan of Noah, like ‘Stick Season,’ come on, are you joking?”
Asking Noah Kahan To Collaborate On “Cowboys Cry Too”
Ballerini knew right away that Kahan was not scared to go deep after listening to his very own storytelling showcased on his 2022 album, Stick Season. After writing “Cowboys Cry Too,” she sent Kahan a text asking him if he’d put his story in the song, only if he felt “tied” to it and could “relate” to what she was presenting him at the time.
“So the week before we did our collab on that show (2024 ACM Awards), we were working on ‘Cowboys,’ and I hadn’t heard what he had written because he wanted to play it in person and he just word for word sang the verse that he had written. And I was just floored and so grateful for just the way that he cared, about that song. And it just made it so much better,” Ballerini exclaimed.
Ballerini’s “Cowboys Cry Too” is the first to come from her highly-anticipated new album, yet to be announced.
