Morgan Evans Considered Leaving Nashville After Divorce From Kelsea Ballerini

Morgan Evans has admitted that the considered leaving Nashville following his very public divorce from fellow country music singer-songwriter, Kelsea Ballerini.

“The answer might be — ‘Yes, but only briefly,” Evans told Taste Of Country when asked if he considered leaving Music City. “I think, honestly, I probably considered everything. Yeah. I mean, massive life change,” he said, referencing a lyric from his song, On My Own Again.

“I keep coming back to Nashville because I love music so much. And I love the community that makes music so much,” Evans added. “I think it’ll always be a place that I come back to be creative and surround myself with those kinds of people.”

Evans and Ballerini first met in March 2016 while co-hosting the CMC Awards. They wed in December 2017 after a year-long engagement and announced their divorce in 2022.

Evans said, “I am very sad to confirm that after almost 5 years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not.”

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Evans relocated to Nashville in 2017 for his country music career. He signed with Warner Music Nashville, which led to the release of his debut US single, Kiss Somebody, which went to #1 on the US Country Chart, went 3x Platinum in Australia and topped the Australian Country Airplay Chart for 25 weeks.

Evans is returning home this September for his Life Upside Down tour. Supported by James Johnston, Evans will play at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre on September 9, Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on September 11, the Sydney Opera House on September 12 and 13, Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on September 14 and 15, Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall on September 17 and Perth’s Astor Theatre on September 19 and 20.

Evans returns to Australia just a year on from his spectacular CMC Rocks QLD 2022 appearance, which saw him headline the sold-out event alongside Kane Brown and Brad Paisley. He also joined Paisley on his Australia and New Zealand tour along with MacKenzie Porter. On that visit, Evans added a last-minute hometown Newcastle show which saw fans snap up all tickets within minutes.

He last headlined shows around the country in 2019 as part of his world tour, hitting the road off the back of a hugely successful second studio album, Things That We Drink To. The album earnt Evans a spot on Billboard’s Country Artists to Watch list that year, with lead single Day Drunk achieving 4x Platinum status in Australia and becoming a staple at commercial radio.

His latest EP, Life Upside Down is a project that hits home for Evans and is a poetic timeline of the last year. The project features five tracks including Over For You (Live In Melbourne), Over For You and On My Own Again.

“Maybe difficult is one of the words,” Evans told Country Now when discussing bringing his emotions into his new music. “It is also like, it can be cathartic, it can also feel like therapeutic, it could feel vulnerable, all those things for sure. I think maybe the best answer to that question is to just sort of talk about the experience with Over For You and the last six months of that song being in the world, or not even, four or five months, whatever it is. But just the way that really personal moment turned into this thing that so many people connect with in a really personal way in their own lives.

“I think the experience with that song has definitely been an inspiration as a songwriter to try less about everything except for saying exactly what you’re trying to say. That sounds super basic, but understanding it academically is one thing, and then actually experiencing it like the way that I have has been another thing. I think that’s the best way to answer that question.”

Keep up to date with Morgan Evans on his Facebook page here.