Kelsea Ballerini Says Noah Kahan Was 'So Open and Vulnerable' on 'Toxic Masculinity'-Inspired Single 'Cowboys Cry Too'

Kelsea Ballerini is putting her heartfirst into her new music.

The country star, 30, sat down with with Kelleigh Bannen on Today’s Country Radio on Apple Music Country for an episode premiering Friday June 28 to discuss the release of her new song with Noah Kahan, “Cowboys Cry Too” and her forthcoming album.

Ballerini said she believed "Cowboys Cry Too" would be "more impactful" if there was a male counterpart who could "rip open his chest and bare his soul and tell his side of that story."

The "Stick Season" singer, 27, seemed to be the perfect fit to do so.

"I'm such a fan of Noah, that whole record," she said. "He is so willing to just be so open and vulnerable."

The "Penthouse" performer continued: "And so I texted it to him and he was like, 'I love writing about this concept of men being vulnerable and not being scared to go there. And can I just have a couple weeks on the road to work on a verse?' And I was like, 'Absolutely.'"

A week before the ACMs, where the pair performed a duet of "Stick Season" together, they got into the studio together.

"I was so grateful because he didn't round any edges," Ballerini said of working with Kahan. "He was like, 'Here's my story, here's my perspective.' And I was just like chill bumps on chill bumps. I was so grateful."

The "Mountain with a View" musician also discussed her not-yet-announced new album, which she says is "done."

"As a whole thematically, it is a record from a 30-year-old woman," Ballerini said. "And I am really proud of that because I really wanted to take the sentiment that I learned through Welcome Mat of stop rounding the edges. The more specific, somehow the more universal."

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Themes on the new project include growth and self-reflection, new love and evolving relationships with her parents at this stage her my life.

"I write about those things in the most filterless way that I could have," Ballerini said. "And I learned that from the last record."

Tune into the episode in-full this Friday, June 28 at 7 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. CT / 10 a.m. ET or anytime on-demand here.