''The First Time'' is the debut studio album by American

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

singer

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''. ...

. It was released on May 19, 2015, by Black River Entertainment. The album's track listing and cover art was released on April 1, 2015. With the album's first three singles all reaching number one on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart, Ballerini became the first new female artist to send her first three releases to the top of the charts.

Singles

"Love Me Like You Mean It", the album's lead single, was released to digital retailers on July 8, 2014 and to country radio on September 22, 2014. The single received good reviews from critics, who praised its pop-country blend production, but criticized its flirty lyrics. The song reached a peak of number five on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart and number one on the

chart. It is the first song by a solo female to top the country music charts since " Blown Away" in 2012, and makes Ballerini the first female artist to take her debut single to the top spot since

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

's first officially-promoted country music single, "

Jesus, Take the Wheel "Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released on October 18, 2005 as the first single from Underwood's debut album ' ...

", in 2006. The official music video premiered in March 2015, and has over one million views. "

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on May 5, 2015. "Dibs" was released on July 20, 2015 as the album's second single. It became her second number one hit in March 2016, making her the first solo female country music artist to start her career with back-to-back number one hits since

Jamie O'Neal Jamie O'Neal (born 3 June 1968) is an Australian country singer and songwriter. In 2000, O'Neal released her first studio album, '' Shiver''. The album included the back-to-back number one singles " There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About ...

in 2001 with " There Is No Arizona" and "

When I Think About Angels "When I Think About Angels" is a song co-written and recorded by Australian 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 ...

". "Peter Pan" was released as the album's third single in March 2016. She performed the song on the

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

with

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

. The song topped the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts the same week, making Ballerini the first female artist to accomplish this feat. "Yeah Boy" was announced as the album's fourth and final single on August 26, 2016. It impacted country radio on October 10, 2016.

Reception

''The First Time'' was compared to the early works of Taylor Swift in a review by the British publication, ''Evening Standard'', who also described the album as "country with a small c" and stated that due to its "strong melodies" has potential for "appeal across genres." In 2017, ''

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

placed seven tracks from the album on his top 10 list of Ballerini's best songs: "Love Me Like You Mean It" at number one, "Peter Pan" at number two, "Looking at Stars" at number five, "Yeah Boy" at number seven, "Dibs" at number eight, the title track at number nine and "Square Pegs" at number ten. ''The First Time'' debuted at number 31 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number four on the

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart with first week sales of 13,500 copies. On the ''Billboard'' 200, it left the top 100 the week of August 1, 2015, spending 100 weeks on the chart. The album was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) on December 10, 2020. It has sold 306,700 copies in the US as of October 2017.

Track listing

Personnel

* Adam Ayan – mastering *

– lead vocals, background vocals * Kenneth Coca –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

on "The First Time" and "Secondhand Smoke" * Jennifer Denmark – background vocals on "Sirens" *

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973 in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a pr ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

on "The First Time" *

Shani Gandhi Shani Gandhi is an Australian music producer, engineer and mixer based in Nashville, Tennessee. A native of Perth, she moved to Ithaca, New York in 2007, to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree at Ithaca College. Her career in Nashville has paire ...

– mixing * Adam Haynes –

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

on "Sirens" * Josh Kerr – swell guitar and background vocals on "Underage" * Jesse Lee – background vocals on "Peter Pan" * Jason Massey –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, drums,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, organ,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, producer, programming,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, tracking, background vocals * Jonathan Roye – mixing *

Kevin Savigar Kevin Savigar (born 9 November 1956) is an English session keyboardist, record producer, songwriter, and composer based in Los Angeles, CA. Perhaps most recognised for his longtime collaboration with Rod Stewart, Savigar has also contributed to ...

– piano on "Stilettos" * F. Reid Shippen – mixing * Forest Glen Whitehead – banjo, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, piano, producer, programming, slide guitar, background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Time 2015 debut albums Kelsea Ballerini albums Black River Entertainment albums