ÃIÃm just a resilient kind of person,Ã said Frankie Ballard, who opens for The Band Perry Friday night at the Brown County Fair. ÃIÃve got this dream to make a career for myself in this business. IÃm not going to stop til it happens.Ã Courtesy photo (Aberdeen News / August 18, 2011) |
Frankie Ballard isn't happy unless he spends part of every day advancing his career.
“We're doing a bunch of shows, fairs and festivals and radio shows and clubs - everything we can get,” he said on the phone from Maryland.
Ballard, 28, has been busy the last couple of years trying to “just get my name out.” He released an album in May and has been busy promoting his first two singles. Along the way, he has visited most of America. His goal has been to try “to get some momentum going” and to “spread the Frankie Ballard love.”
Ballard, who opens for The Band Perry Friday night at the Brown County Fair, has had some success getting momentum going. His first single, “Tell Me You Get Lonely,” reached No. 33 on the country chart, and the next single, “A Buncha Girls,” hit No. 27.
Earlier this year, he played about 10 dates with Taylor Swift and did a spring tour with Bob Seger, a fellow Michigander.
Ballard is so dedicated to his career that he's even grateful for phone interviews.
“I hate days off. I get so antsy and feel like I'm taking steps backward,” said Ballard, who has lived in Nashville, Tenn., for two and a half years.
“I'm somebody who really doesn't know how to relax,” he said. “I'm kind of intense sometimes. I like to work. My family, namely my parents, always tell me that I need to slow down.” But “I haven't developed a desire to do that.”
He does have a desire to perform.
“I'm happiest when my feet are about to hit the stage,” he said. “There's a crowdful of people ready to rock and hear what we've got to do, man. That's what brings me joy.”
Ballard grew up in Battle Creek, Mich. He attended Western Michigan University on an athletic scholarship.
He spent six years getting a communication degree.
“I like to say I went to college to play baseball and accidentally graduated,” he said.
Ballard entered Kenny Chesney's “Next Big Star” contest for Michigan in 2008.
“We won, and I got to open for him. It was an incredible experience, man. I was playing bars and little things and never had done anything on that kind of scale. It really was a great thing to put on my resume. and it really gave me the desire to get down to Nashville and start trying to make something happen on a bigger scale.”
While still based in Michigan, he started visiting Nashville.
“My first big break was definitely getting a publishing deal with Sony-ATV Music in Nashville. I was still living in Michigan at the time and kind of making trips down to Nashville, commuting,” he said. “When they gave me a publishing deal, it really was my first step.”
It must be hard for a guy who loves to perform to play only 30 or 40 minutes before a headliner.
“You've got to pay your dues and earn the right to headline a show,” he said. “When you're the opening act, you've just got to get people excited for the headliner and squeeze as much as you can into however much time they'll give you - just do the best with what you've got.”
