Kimberly Kelly on her mentor Billy Joe Shaver and her rising country music career

Kimberly Kelly is a country music singer on the rise from Lorena, so of course she's in Austin for first-ever CMT Music Awards in Texas. We caught up with Kelly on the aqua carpet before the awards, where she talked about being part of the CMT Next Women of Country class for 2023, which is also the 10th anniversary of the CMT class. Texas legend Billy Joe Shaver was one of her mentors.

"Billy Joe Shaver was a like a grandpa to me," she said. "He was the first person, famous, very successful, who said, 'This girl has it.'"

In 2007, Shaver was arrested for aggravated assault after shooting a man outside a bar in the Waco suburb of Lorena. Shaver was acquitted in 2010 after testifying that he acted in self-defense, in a trial that also included character-witness testimony from Willie Nelson. Watch the video to hear how Kelly is connected to that event and more on how Shaver supported her career.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kimberly Kelly at CMT Awards on women in country and Billy Joe Shaver