The singers also performed Ballerini’s “Mountain With a View”
Noah Kahan and Kelsea Ballerini gave a two-song duet at the 2024 ACM Awards.
The pair opened with “Mountain With a View,” a song off Ballerini’s ACM Album of the Year nominee Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good), before segueing into the title track of Kahan’s breakthrough album Stick Season. Ballerini took the stage solo, singing from a couch before Kahan launched into his megahit amidst tall grass. The pair ended up mashing up their two tracks before Ballerini joined Kahan in singing the catchy, inescapable chorus of “Stick Season.”
Earlier this week, Ballerini shared an Instagram Story of herself in the studio with Kahan. That same day, the “Stick Season” singer posted a photo of producer Gabe Simon hard at work.
This is the first time Kahan has performed at the ACMs. Ballerini has been a frequent presence: She last performed “Big Dreams and Faded Jeans” with Dolly Parton at the 2022 awards show and sang “Half of My Hometown” with Kenny Chesney the year prior.
Ballerini is nominated for two awards this year, including Female Artist of the Year against Ashley McBryde, Megan Moroney, Kacey Musgraves, and Lainey Wilson. Her LP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) is nominated for Album of the Year. (Ballerini has two ACMs under her belt: She won the award for New Female Vocalist of the Year trophy in 2016 and was presented with the Gene Weed Milestone Award in 2017.)
Although Kahan isn’t up for any ACMs, he’s had a massive year after earning a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammy Awards thanks to his album Stick Season.
This year’s Academy of Country Music Awards are being held at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, with Reba McEntire returning as the show’s host. Also performing this year are Avril Lavigne, Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, and Kane Brown.