This has been a year of firsts for up-and-coming country singer-songwriter, Kelsea Ballerini, who recently released her debut album, The First Time.

“’First’ has been a theme in my life over the last year,” Ballerini said. “And it will probably continue through the next year.”

With a record-breaking number one, gold-certified debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” and a top 10 and climbing subsequent single, “Dibs,” Ballerini seems to be taking the country music world by storm. Recently, she accepted the Rising Star award at Billboard’s Women in Music event.

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the 22-year-old singer will be visiting the Majestic Theater in downtown Madison.

“I’m still introducing myself through my concerts,” Ballerini said. “My goal is for the audience to walk away and feel like they really know me.”

When listening to Kelsea Ballerini’s music, it is clear that one of the singer-songwriter’s biggest influences is Taylor Swift. Ballerini writes from the same place of vulnerability and makes a point to tell the whole truth in her songs.

As it would turn out, Swift recently featured Ballerini as one of her surprise guests on the widely renowned 1989 world tour.

Similar to Swift, Ballerini began singing at a young age in her church choir and glee club. At the age of 12, she began to write her own songs. Three years later, Ballerini moved to Nashville, Tennessee in pursuit of a musical career.

Like most musicians, Ballerini met challenges on her way to success. Facing the male-dominated country music industry at the time proved to be her biggest hurdle.

“Overall, I think I had to take the time to let myself grow up a little bit,” Ballerini said. “I had to decide what I wanted to be about. I had the time in high school and in college to live my life, grow into who I wanted to be and to figure out what I wanted to say.”

In the future, the musician hopes to collaborate with at least one other artist on every record and continue to establish herself as a songwriter.

Ballerini believes much of her success today can be accredited to working hard — and simply being kind to people.

“This time last year, I was playing shows for maybe 12 people who may or may not have known any of my songs,” Ballerini said.”It has been so rewarding to see how quickly things have grown and to see how many people have resonated with my songs.”

Primarily due to the positive response from her fans, Ballerini’s favorite track on her record is “Peter Pan.” The song explores a familiar defeated relationship from the female perspective as the “lost boy” who refuses to grow up.

Kelsea Ballerini’s music is perfect for the country-music lover who longs for something real. The musician strives for her fans to know her not only as a singer, but as a person. Overall, Ballerini first and foremost intends to keep her songwriting and her fans at the forefront of her career — and everything she does.