Jessie Jo Dillon on Her Grammy Nomination, Writing with Kelsea Ballerini and Why She’s ‘Gotta Kate Bush This S—‘ (Exclusive)

For Jessie Jo Dillon, a creative force in Nashville’s songwriting community, there’s no rhyme or reason to writing a hit song — just empathy and authenticity.

Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of the Songwriters and Composers Wing Reception on Wednesday, Jan. 28, the songwriter opened up about the monumental year she had in 2025 — and how it led to her third consecutive Grammy nomination for Songwriter of the Year.

“I just don’t think there’s anything like a Grammy nomination,” Dillon, 38, says. “It comes from your peers and you’re just like, ‘Hey kid, you did some good work.’ Because it’s so hard to feel that sometimes.”

If she were to win, Dillon says her heart would “explode” — and she would be completing a life-long dream.

“I don’t even know what I would do,” she says. “I mean, since I was a little girl, it’s just been the ultimate dream that always feels a little out of your reach.”

In 2025, Dillon worked on hit songs like Megan Moroney’s “Am I Okay?,” Russell Dickerson’s “Happen to Me,” Jon Pardi’s “Happen to Me” and Kelsea Ballerini’s “Baggage,” among others.

Dillon has formed long-lasting relationships with artists in Nashville, and with Ballerini, 32, they connected over “People Pleaser.”

“I was actually at her house and she played me ‘I Sit in Parks’ and I was like, ‘What the hell?’ I started crying,” Dillon says of the song, which was featured on Ballerini’s most recent EP Mount Pleasant.

“I think every woman can relate to that song and I was just so proud of her for that,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘You have to put this out like yesterday, dude.’ Because I don’t think she really played it for anyone yet. And Kelsea’s one of the best songwriters I know.”

The duo had originally written “People Pleaser” for Patterns — but it didn’t feel like the right fit on that record. Then, when Ballerini was working on Mount Pleasant, they decided to revisit.

“It all kind of just fell out because I think she and I are very similar people,” she says. “It was just really cool to see how much it connected something so vulnerable and personal for her, like a moment in time that clearly spoke to so many others.”

While the song very much spoke to Ballerini’s experiences at the time, they are also indicative of Dillon’s life.

“That song is so accurate to me. We just, were like, ‘Hey, let’s be honest about’… You know, ’cause I think for everyone, there’s tendencies to be people pleasing. Particularly in entertainment, I think you really have to watch yourself or all of a sudden you look down one day and you’ve given away so much of yourself and not really gotten the same respect time and gentleness in return,” she says.

She adds, “I’ll never forget, we were sitting at her kitchen table when we started working on it again. It’s almost like ping-pong. It’s like bam, bam, bam like back and forth on like sections or lyrics or whatever. And it was very much a song like that that kind of fell out so easily and quickly just ’cause of the honesty.”

Now, as Dillon looks ahead, her mindset is best described in Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.”

“I just gotta Kate Bush this s—, keep running up that road or that hill,” she jokes. “I would love to be a part of some big records. And I’ve said it several times, this isn’t a vanity project for me. I really care about artists and their records that get out in the world. And so I did it to try to help be a part of that in the Wild West that is music now.”

At this year’s Songwriters & Composers Wing reception, Dillon was honored alongside her fellow nominees Amy Allen, Édgar Barrera, Laura Veltz, and Tobias Jesso Jr. for the impact they’ve had on music and culture.