MaRynn Taylor got the opportunity of a lifetime, when she was invited to open for Kelsea Ballerini, on Ballerini’s Live On Tour. The tour not only put MaRynn in front of large audiences, but allowed her to get close to Ballerini as well.

“It was incredible,” Taylor tells Everything Nash. “I got to do all 35 shows with her, all arenas. She’s just the coolest person ever. To get to open for somebody that is just a great artist but also kind, I think it’s really rare to find sometimes. And so, she was just so supportive of me, and we’re really good friends and like sisters now. I was so blessed to be able to go on that tour.”

Taylor not only opened the shows, but also became a student of Ballerini, watching her side stage every time, and taking plenty of notes.

“Every night. Every single night,” Taylor says. “And I was in my pjs most nights too, so fans would find me, and I’m dancing on the side, ’cause I’m a fan. That was so fun. I learned a lot.”

Taylor indeed learned plenty from Ballerini, lessons she is taking with her as she continues to grow her own career.

“Just her stage presence. How real she is,” Taylor says, sharing some of what she took away from her time with Ballerini. “Every show is different. Sometimes you have a click in your head, you have things you have to do that aren’t rehearsed. But she talked to fans, and it was like something new every night. And so, she was so good at that.”

 

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Ballerini gave Taylor a very generous gift towards the end of the tour, one that Taylor is already putting to good use, thanks to the advice her former tour boss gave her.

“Towards the end of the tour, we had a hang in the green room,” Taylor remembers. “Her gift for me at the end of the tour was a Louis Vuitton bag. And it was so sweet. We were sitting on the floor. It was like Christmas, and she gave it to me. And she goes, ‘My first tour, I went on tour with Rascal Flatts, and they gave me one, and I could barely touch it. I want you to take it, and I want you to travel. I want you to touch it. Do what you gotta do, girl.’ And it was so sweet of her to do that.”

Taylor took Ballerini’s advice, and proudly uses the expensive gift.

“That’s my bag now,” Taylor says. “At first, I was very much like, ‘My grubby hands? No, I can’t touch it.’ But now I take it everywhere with me, and it’s like that little reminder.”

Taylor has a new single out, “Same Girl Same,” which has an unfortunate back story for Taylor. Fortunately, she proudly plays the song during all of her live shows, even though it was written as a cautionary tale.

“I played that one on tour, and that one is kind of like a girl’s girl song,” Taylor explains. “My ex showed up at a show with another girl. I saw them, and I was just like, ‘I know what shoes she’s in. I know what she’s going through. I feel awful for her in this moment, ’cause she did not know whose show she was at.’ And so, I wrote that song, like ‘Same Girl Same.’ I’ve been there. So that’s out now.”

“Same Girl Same” is part of Taylor’s new album, which she says will be out in August.

There’s another song on it called ‘Dirty Blonde,’ which is a little bit of a response to ‘Same Girl Same,'” Taylor reveals. “The hook is, ‘You’ll never do a dirty blonde dirty again.’ And, I’m a dirty blonde. So, that will be on there, and a lot of other heartbreak songs. There’s no love songs.”

In addition to getting ready to release new music, Taylor is also getting ready to head back out on the road, this time opening for Jake Scott in July and August.

“I get to do direct support for him,” Taylor boasts. “I’m obsessed with Jake. He’s pop, but he leans country as well. So I’m excited to meet his fans, and play his rooms, and learn from him as well … I feel very lucky that he chose me to open up those shows for him.”

Find “Same Girl Same” and all of Taylor’s music and upcoming shows at MaRynnTaylorMusic.com.