Kelsea Ballerini - "half of my hometown" (f/Kenny Chesney)

[sabre14]

Artist: Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)
Single: "half of my hometown"
Writers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Nicole Galyon, Jimmy Robbins
Album: kelsea
Label: Black River Entertainment
Impact Date: April 19th, 2021

Kelsea let the cat out of the bag that the Kenny Chesney feature, "Half of My Hometown" would be the next single. "hole in the bottle" is at #5 on Mediabase his week, so a few weeks out from it being official but figured a thread is okay. 

[bigfan101]

Perfect choice to close this era for her. Should be a smash

[.indulgecountry]

YES!!!!

I was thinking her teases on social media were alluding to her moving on after "hole in the bottle," which I was okay with, but this is the one song on the current album that would've been a missed hit for sure, so I am thrilled by this news!

[gardyfan]

Hmm maybe it will be the ballerini version?

[raylatch98]

Oh god I hope it is not the ballerini version because it is not radio friendly at all while the kelsea version is a smash. 

[jab820]

Two of the best back to back single choices she could make. I love this song! Since being launched as radio's sweetheart she sure has had some fumbles as of recent. So excited for this to cruise to #1 and hopefully she can launch KB4 (5?) afterward without making the same mistake she did on the last two album era launches.

[zdm1998]

I feel like this will become one of her biggest hits. Beyond ready to see this chart. Wonder if her April 19th hint a few weeks ago is the impact date for this, due to April 19th being a Monday, as well as the day after the ACM awards.

[CoJoFan]

I could see this being another top 10 for her!

[thewp]

Jan 10, 2021 18:23:39 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Hmm maybe it will be the ballerini version?

. Kenny isn’t on that one though.

[gardyfan]

Jan 10, 2021 19:45:13 GMT -5 thewp said:

Jan 10, 2021 18:23:39 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Hmm maybe it will be the ballerini version?

. Kenny isn’t on that one though.

Hmm because it shows him being on it on the track list. Interesting.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Decent choice. Not as awesome as hq? or hitb, but the production is quite nice and the harmony is beautiful.
As a duet song, I would not mind having a bit of Chesney's solo around the bridge part though.

[Tylerjamesnerd]

I was scrolling through Twitter and saw the tweet and almost spite my sprite out lol. Wonderful choice from Kelsea!! I hope it smashes and really sets up her next era well.

[Elusive Chanteuse]

Absolutely the correct choice to close out the era with! This will definitely be a smash.

[fearlessarrow]

This was the other obvious choice for a single besides "hole in the bottle" which has successfully brought Kelsea back to the upper reaches of the chart, so good to see Kelsea's team continue with solid choices. I'm looking forward to her ending the era on a high note with two back-to-back hit singles considering "homecoming queen?" and "the other girl" didn't exactly set the charts on fire (although I maintain that HQ is something that needed to happen for her professionally speaking - it shows her growth as an artist and I have no qualms about her team going with that one as the lead single). 

[Crimsonio]

YES FINALLY THIS IS HAPPEING

[edph1]

I can never hear Kenny on this to be honest, they’d be smart to make him more prominent.

Was kinda hoping Bragger would be a single but I guess it probably wouldn’t be something country radio would play...

[Deleted]

It's pleasant. I like it more than "hole in the bottle" which annoys me but not as much as "homecoming queen?" which is similar lyrically but I think much catchier than this.

[g8erboi]

This is a pretty song and the lyrics are super strong, but, honestly, the melody is rather weak compared to her other singles and I feel like the general public might find it uninteresting/boring a la "To Hell & Back". I could see this performing similarly to "Legends" tbh.

[zdm1998]

Kelsea just got off of an Instagram live celebrating hitb going #1 and reconfirmed this will be going to radio next. She said it’s releasing April; I would probably guess April 19th (which was the date she had in a picture randomly as an Easter egg a few weeks before she said this was going to be a single.)

[taylor]

Perfect choice to follow "hole in the bottle," and it should easily get her right back to the top. April 19 would make perfect sense as the impact date--allows awhile for HITB to wear off and is the day after the ACMs.

[sabre14]

Just sent to country radio. Impacts April 19th.

[Tylerjamesnerd]

Mar 24, 2021 11:32:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Just sent to country radio. Impacts April 19th.

is Kenny still being featured? I heard from someone that they might be taking him out.

[sabre14]

Mar 24, 2021 11:38:16 GMT -5 Tylerjamesnerd said:

Mar 24, 2021 11:32:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Just sent to country radio. Impacts April 19th.

is Kenny still being featured? I heard from someone that they might be taking him out.

He’s featured on the song sent to radio.

Doesn’t mean some stations have to credit Kenny, however. He should be credited on the charts though.

[.indulgecountry]

You can only even really tell that Kenny is on it from his one ad-lib near the end of the song, similar to Tim McGraw on "Bring on the Rain" back in the day, lol.

[jhomes87]

I can hear Kenny's vocals easily on this.. *shrugs*

Also, this is easily the best single Kelsea has ever released, and including Kenny on a song about Knoxville, TN was absolutely genius. The lyrics of this song are just great, and it has a nice, breezy melody. I think this has a great chance of reaching #1 and being one of Kelsea's biggest hits when all is said and done.

[LBTrocks]

Love this one, very strong melody and perfect choice for radio.

[raylatch98]

Yeah it is very easy to hear Kenny Chesney on this as his vocals are very prominent in the chorus and bridge, as this isn't like Devin Dawson on "One Beer" where it is pretty much impossible to hear him.

[bboat11]

I mean, it's also very easy to hear Tim McGraw on background vocals throughout the entirety of "Bring On The Rain" if you pay attention. But that doesn't mean that the average listener is going to be paying enough attention to notice. Indulge's point wasn't that their parts are nonexistent, it's that they are similar levels of nonessential. The comparison is apt, lol.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 24, 2021 23:30:14 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I mean, it's also very easy to hear Tim McGraw on background vocals throughout the entirety of "Bring On The Rain" if you pay attention. But that doesn't mean that the average listener is going to be paying enough attention to notice. Indulge's point wasn't that their parts are nonexistent, it's that they are similar levels of nonessential. The comparison is apt, lol.

Yep. Thanks for weighing in because that is exactly the point of my comment, lol. I definitely don't think a majority of listeners are going to hear Kenny's minor background vocals behind Kelsea's and be able to instantly pick him out. It's not like they did a great job of making his inclusion overt aside from giving him a brief solo ad-lib at the end, compared to something like say "When I Get Where I'm Going" where there's no way to hear that without telling Dolly Parton is featured since she's 1) got a very distinctive voice and 2) her ad-libs and harmonies are highly noticeable. "Bring on the Rain" seemed like a perfect comparison to me. *shrugs*

[Tylerjamesnerd]

New audio on YouTube and it seems they made Kenny’s voice more prominent on the song. Am I hearing that wrong???