"Half of My Hometown" (stylized in all lowercase letters) is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artists

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...

and

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...

. It was released to country music radio on April 19, 2021, as the fourth single from Ballerini's third studio album ''

Kelsea ''Kelsea'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the third studio album by American country artist Kelsea Ballerini. The album was released on March 20, 2020. ''Kelsea'' debuted at numbers 2 and 12 on the Top Country Albums and ''Billboard'' 200 charts ...

''. Ballerini co-wrote the song with

Ross Copperman Ross Copperman (born October 1, 1982) is a Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter and producer with 29 number one radio hits. After his experience as an artist in the UK, Copperman discovered his talent for writing and producing country mus ...

Nicolle Galyon Nicolle Anne Galyon (born July 22, 1984) is a singer, songwriter, producer, record label executive, & publishing executive from Sterling, Kansas. She has written songs for Lady A, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Florida Ge ...

Shane McAnally Shane McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Originally a solo artist for Curb Records in 1999, McAnally charted three singles on Hot Country Songs, including the No. 31 " Are Y ...

, and

Jimmy Robbins James Michael Robbins (born September 3, 1989, in Raleigh, North Carolina) is a country music Award-winning American songwriter and producer. Biography In addition to having penned ten number-one singles, he won a CMA Triple Play Award in 2014 ...

. An alternate recording of the song is also included on Ballerini's fourth studio album, '' Ballerini''. The song won both Musical Event of the Year and Video of the Year at the

55th Annual Country Music Association Awards The 55th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony was hosted CMA Award winner Luke Bryan. Background After a video clip surfaced in early 2021 ...

and was nominated for Single of the Year at the 56th CMA Awards.

Content

"Half of My Hometown" describes the conflicting emotions of a person who feels conflict between staying in their hometown, or leaving it in favor of an improvement. Ballerini recorded vocals for this song immediately after writing it and some demo vocals were retained in the final edit. The song makes references to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

- the hometown of both artists - inspiring the decision to enlist Chesney to feature on the track. Chesney says he "couldn't say 'yes' fast enough" after hearing the song.

Critical reception

In a review for ''Kelsea'' on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

wrote that Chesney's inclusion on the song "seems designed to reinforce allerini'scountry roots." Jonathan Bernstein of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' labelled the song a "heartwarming acoustic anthem," in his review of ''Kelsea''. Cillea Houghton of ''Sounds Like Nashville'' wrote that "the starlet takes on a more serious tone with the observational "half of my hometown"," and called the song "a standout moment" on the album. An unnamed reviewer for ''Off the Record UK'' wrote that "the addition of Chesney's distinctive vocal is the masterstroke here to make it the standout track on the record," and adds that "it is both catchy and full of nostalgia."

Music video

The video was directed by Patrick Tracy. It features Kelsea picturing an alternate life where she stayed in

instead of pursuing her dream as a country star interspersed with clips of her performance of the song with Chesney at the ACM Awards.

Live performances

Ballerini and Chesney performed the song together at the

56th Academy of Country Music Awards The 56th Academy of Country Music Awards were held on April 18, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee and broadcast from various locations around Nashville. The evening was co-hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton. Maren Morris and Chris Stapleton receiv ...

on April 18, 2021, one day before releasing the song to radio. The performance served as the single's live debut. Ballerini performed during the live finale part 2 of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' season 20, Kenzie Wheeler performed Chesney's vocals of the song.

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{CMA Video of the Year 2020 songs 2021 singles Kelsea Ballerini songs Kenny Chesney songs Black River Entertainment singles Male–female vocal duets Songs written by Kelsea Ballerini Songs written by Ross Copperman Songs written by Nicolle Galyon Songs written by Shane McAnally Songs written by Jimmy Robbins