In Conversation With… Carly Pearce

Carly Pearce ‘s eponymous sophomore album is set to be one of our records of the year. Here, we interview Carly Pearce – while in isolation – to get the story behind the record and how she’s spending this time.

How are you first of all and how are you holding up in this crazy time?

I am surviving! How about you?

I’m doing ok thanks. I guess it’s kind of a silver lining for you and Michael, having some time to spend together?

Yeah for sure, I mean we are definitely getting more time than we’ve ever gotten, but we are ready to be on the road (laughs).

Congratulations on your incredible album. It’s definitely one of my contenders for Album of the Year. So, how has the response been to the record?

It’s been awesome, I feel like people are really loving it and I’m just looking forward to getting back out and tour on it. 

This album, it feels like you got a layer deeper than Every Little Thing. Is that something you did consciously or was it just through a sense of comfort that now you know your audience? 

I think it’s probably a mix, I definitely had a lot of self discovery happen to me in the last few years. I think also finding my way through music and figuring out what fans wanted from me and that they were going to embrace my music, definitely pulled all of that together.

Yeah, because obviously you have been touring so much since the last record, you must get a sense of what fans respond to in your set?

For sure, yeah I definitely knew what I was doing more on the second one (laughs). 

Everyone talks about how you do get a year to right your sophomore record, did you feel a lot of pressure to rush into this new one or do you feel like you had the time to get in the right headspace for it? 

The phrase is ‘you have your whole life to write your first record and you have twenty minutes to write your second’ and I felt that deeply, it’s hard to be on the road. I’m not home ever usually and it’s hard to balance and juggle and figure out all of that. Once I got going though, it got less overwhelming. 

Obviously, Every Little Thing introduced you to the country audience and established your name. What did you want the legacy of this record to be, in terms of elevating you as an artist?

I think I just want to be that female country artist that has no slants or aspirations to the outside of the genre, I want to be a purist and just really plant my flag as one of the females of country music.

Yeah, because I do feel like you are one of those people who’s almost preserving the country genre – you talk so highly of institutions like The Opry and what it means to you – do you feel a sense of responsibility then to preserve it?

I do, I mean obviously I think it’s fine for other artists to do other things. I think we need those artists in our format who are just going to be country artists and I want to be one of those.

The Opry has completely welcomed you. It’s an institution that is so unique to the genre – how much does it mean to you that they have taken you under their wing?

They took a chance on me in 2015 and let me play without a record deal or a single on the radio. They’ve been with me since the beginning and through everything that’s happened and I hope to be a member one day and carry the torch.

I hope you don’t mind me asking but this was the last record that Busbee finished. Did it feel almost bittersweet to release it? 

Yes, he was like family to me in a lot of ways. It was a difficult thing for me to release it, because I just didn’t want to release it without him but I also felt like it was something that was really special to be able to say that that was the last full album that he made. 

I know you’ve worked with him since the beginning and he was such a huge part of your journey. With this record I feel like your vocals reached almost another level entirely, was that something he really pushed you to do on this record? 

I actually worked with Busbee four years earlier than my first record. We’ve been working together for a long time. But yeah, I think because of that time working together, he knew where my voice could go and he challenged me and I loved that about him.

Along with those big ballads, there is another fun and flirty side that really comes through on this record. Was that something that you really wanted to push on this record, for those live moments that engage the audience? 

Yeah, I think I realised being out on the road – I never thought I’d get to arenas, but with my first record I was in arenas and stadiums – that I had to make sure to keep my creative integrity intact but also write for big audiences.

Definitely. One of my favourite tracks on the record is ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This,’ it feels very apt for right now. What was the story behind that one and the inspiration behind it?

It was the last song that I wrote for the album. I’m in a very sentimental place right now of understanding why so many things happen and everything happens for a reason, and so I really wanted to tell my story and hope that people could insert their own stories into it. Little did I know that it was going to take on a whole other meaning when Busbee died and now it’s taking on a whole other meaning, that’s a special song. 

The other one that I feel speaks to everyone is ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now,’ which was a co-write with Luke Combs. Was that your first co-write with him?

First and only co-write, we took it all the way to number one and I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to write again (laughs). I love his voice, and I love his music and I loved everything about what he did and I just said ‘hey, I would love to write a song with you.’ We went in the room and I told him that I wanted to write a duet and I loved 90s country – and I knew that he did. I started telling him about my situation and he had the idea ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now’ and our other co-writer started playing the chords and literally the entire first verse as you hear me singing it on the radio, it fell out of my mouth. It was full steam ahead from there. 

Lee Brice’s vocal fits sublimely with yours on that track. Did you always know you wanted him to be the duetting partner for that song? 

You know, writing and singing with Luke made me realise what kind of voice needed to be on the song, and Luke was in the middle of putting out his new record and I just didn’t want to wait on him honestly. I have always been a huge fan of Lee and knew he was the right voice.

The final song on the record that I wanted to touch on was ‘Woman Down.’ It’s such a powerful anthem for women, so what was it like the first time that you heard that song? 

Yeah, I had some demos on an email and somebody had written ‘you really need to hear this.’ I had just drove back from the airport, visiting my mom and I put the song on in my car and thought ‘I have to sing this song for you.’ I just knew. It’s for every woman who’s been through hell, which is every woman.

The rest of the year is a bit all up in the air, but have you got anything in the works? Are you going to be hopping on some more Instagram Lives with pyjamas and wine?

(laughs) I’m supposed to be on the Old Dominion tour that kicks off in May, right now I know that that’s all up in the air. Hopefully, we still get to get out in the summer at some point. I think we’re all trying to figure out what is life online look like for us as artists, I’m working on some stuff. 

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Final Few

What’s your favourite wine? Ooh it depends who’s buying, if I’m buying I like Conundrum, if Michael’s buying I like Camus and Silver Oak.

Which record, book and thing would you bring to a desert island? Dixie Chicks’ Home album, Bible and running shoes.

What are you listening to on repeat at the moment? Oh gosh, I am listening to Kelsea’s new record.

What’s your most memorable gig? Gosh, that’s hard, I mean first time playing an arena, first time I played the Opry, first time I played an award show – any of those…

What’s your favourite Dolly song? Ooh, Jolene.

Favourite boozy bunch drink? Always wine (laughs).

Complete the sentence..

Music is… my heart

Country music is… my truth.

Carly Pearce is… raw and real and what you see is what you get.

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