<\/p>\n
Carly Pearce has spent most of her life chasing a country music dream. Now, she\u2019s more interested in telling the truth about what that dream costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pearce\u2019s forthcoming album,\u00a0Honest Woman<\/em>, is coming soon, and she\u2019ll bring her hits, new music, and hard-earned perspective to CMA Fest when she performs June 6 at Nissan Stadium as part of the festival\u2019s nightly concerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s another major moment in a career that began in Taylor Mill, Kentucky, and took Pearce from five shows a day at Dollywood to country radio, sold-out tours, Grand Ole Opry membership, a GRAMMY Award, multiple CMA and ACM Awards, and platinum-selling songs including \u201cEvery Little Thing,\u201d \u201cI Hope You\u2019re Happy Now,\u201d \u201cNever Wanted to Be That Girl,\u201d and \u201cWhat He Didn\u2019t Do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But\u00a0Honest Woman<\/em>\u00a0isn\u2019t an album about trophies. It\u2019s about what happens when the dream you fought for starts asking something different of you.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI made an album without anybody else telling me who I am or what I need to be,\u201d Pearce says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The journey started in a writing room when the pressure to stay competitive at country radio finally caught up with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI walked in and said, \u2018We\u2019ve got to write the next hit song,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then I just started crying. I said, \u2018This town is killing me. I feel forgotten. I feel lost.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With\u00a0Tofer\u00a0Brown, Lauren Hungate, and Emily\u00a0Weisband, Pearce turned that moment into \u201cDream Come True,\u201d the album\u2019s debut single. Rather than writing specifically for radio, she told her truth. Pearce sings about buying a four-bedroom house without a family to fill it, missing her best friend\u2019s wedding because of a gig, and carrying the weight of her country music dream \u2014 for her and her mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat that did for me is it sent me on a quest to return to the original dream,\u201d Pearce says.\u00a0<\/p>\n That dream started in Northern Kentucky, rooted in Appalachian music, storytelling, and emotional honesty. For Pearce,\u00a0Honest Woman<\/em>\u00a0became less about reinvention and more about returning to the source.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just knew I had to go find what I loved again,\u201d she says. \u201cNot the shiny producer who I should work with or the person who does make hit records. No, the person who makes music that makes me feel something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Longtime collaborator Emily\u00a0Weisband\u00a0says the album captures Pearce in an important artistic chapter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s been around long enough that she has become a country staple, but she also has plenty more of her heart to share and mystery to reveal,\u201d\u00a0Weisband\u00a0says.\u00a0<\/p>\n That depth shows up in songs including \u201cChurch Girl,\u201d written by Cameron Bedell, Seth Ennis, and Carter Faith. Pearce, a woman of faith, connected with the song\u2019s message of grace over shame.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had to deal with the shame and self-doubt and insecurities of\u00a0the divorce\u00a0and sexual purity,\u201d she says. \u201cI wore a true love waits ring for a long time as a\u00a0kid, and\u00a0was told\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what you do. Explain that to somebody who then goes through divorce.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n If \u201cChurch Girl\u201d offers compassion, \u201cDaisy\u201d pushes into darker storytelling. The up-tempo song follows a woman hiding bruises behind sunglasses as she reaches a breaking point. Pearce sees it in the lineage of country songs unafraid to make listeners uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to sing songs anymore that are just vanilla,\u201d Pearce says. \u201cThe women that I grew up loving, they pushed the boundaries, and they were controversial. I want to stand for something that means something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That, more than anything, is the pulse of\u00a0Honest Woman<\/em>. Pearce\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0trying to prove she can sing about heartbreak. This time,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0showing the clarity that comes after surviving it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can think you know who you are,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a knowing. This is my knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n