- 2 days ago
Country star Carly Pearce is embracing a new chapter—and she's not holding anything back.
In a heartfelt conversation on Joann Butler In Studio With..., the GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter and three-time CMA Award, four-time ACM Award recipient opens up about the inspiration behind her latest album, Honest Woman, calling it her most personal work to date. The album arrives August 28, followed by a special two-night residency tour across North America beginning September 10.
Pearce reflects on overcoming comparison, writing from real-life experiences, her mentorship with Dolly Parton, leaving home at 16 to perform at Dollywood, the inspiration behind songs like "Dream Come True" and "He Don't Like My Dogs," and why she believes honesty resonates with fans.
She also shares her beauty routine, life advice, favorite comfort food, dream collaborations, and her passion for mentoring the next generation of artists.
This is a LifeMinute with Carly Pearce.
In a heartfelt conversation on Joann Butler In Studio With..., the GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter and three-time CMA Award, four-time ACM Award recipient opens up about the inspiration behind her latest album, Honest Woman, calling it her most personal work to date. The album arrives August 28, followed by a special two-night residency tour across North America beginning September 10.
Pearce reflects on overcoming comparison, writing from real-life experiences, her mentorship with Dolly Parton, leaving home at 16 to perform at Dollywood, the inspiration behind songs like "Dream Come True" and "He Don't Like My Dogs," and why she believes honesty resonates with fans.
She also shares her beauty routine, life advice, favorite comfort food, dream collaborations, and her passion for mentoring the next generation of artists.
This is a LifeMinute with Carly Pearce.
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MusicTranscript
00:00You think being honest gets easier as you get older?
00:04I remember people being afraid for me to call my album 29 because it said my age.
00:08Saying I'm 36 is not something I'm going to be afraid of.
00:12What did you think success in music looked like back then and how does it compare now?
00:16I think I'm chasing more contentment and peace than success.
00:21And tell us about Dolly.
00:22What's she like?
00:23She wears high heels even to rehearsal.
00:25Is there one song on the album that was especially difficult to finish because it hit so close
00:30to home?
00:31Dream Come True is one of my favorite songs I've ever written.
00:34It exposes the nasty side of comparison.
00:38Which song on the album are you most excited to play live?
00:41He Don't Like My Dogs.
00:42I dated a guy for a short time who was not nice to my dogs and my dogs are still
00:47here and
00:47he's not.
00:48Do you believe in love?
00:50Hey it's Carly Pearce and I'm in studio with Joanne Butler.
00:55Hey Carly, how are you?
00:57Good, how are you?
00:58Good, thanks.
00:59Thanks for joining us on Life Minute.
01:01Thanks for having me.
01:02Congrats on your new album.
01:06Amazing.
01:06Honest Woman, tell us about it.
01:08I, a couple years ago, went into a writing room and was feeling really low and I wrote
01:18exactly how I was feeling, which was a song called Dream Come True that is out.
01:22And what that song did for me is it really made me realize I needed to go back and fall
01:29in love with music again and find my why in a season of high highs and low lows and success
01:36and then not success and getting wrapped up in that comparison game.
01:40And so what this album is for me is it's the return to form.
01:43It is owning my stories, owning the pieces of me that have been good, the pieces that have
01:50been bad.
01:51I think that these songs and this place in my life only comes from life experience that
01:57only comes from age and it's kind of just a celebration of not being afraid to say I'm
02:02a woman and I'm not a girl anymore and that age has been a huge strength for me and I
02:08think
02:08this is my best music yet and I found that girl again.
02:11Was there a moment when you realized you're ready just to, you know, just do this?
02:16Like what was the moment for you?
02:17I think I just, it snowballed.
02:20Once I started writing the album, I started to really be inspired by what are the other
02:24pieces of my heart?
02:27Yes, my career has been built on vulnerability, but what are other things that maybe fans don't
02:31know about me or what do fans not know is important to me?
02:35And I think I just felt really inspired as I was making this album to show more of myself
02:40and I think I did that.
02:42Yeah, for sure.
02:43Your fans always say they feel like you're talking right to them and telling their story,
02:48you know, which is so vulnerable.
02:50Are you thinking about the audience at all when you're writing?
02:54For sure.
02:54I think I know who my fans are.
02:57I know what they want from me.
02:59I think they can sniff out if I'm not being completely honest, no pun intended.
03:03I think vulnerability is what brings people to my shows.
03:06So yeah, I definitely am thinking about them.
03:09And honestly, when I write from a very real place, I know that I'm speaking straight to
03:13them.
03:13Right.
03:14I love how you said about age too.
03:16I was going to ask you, do you think being honest gets easier as you get older?
03:21I do.
03:21I think you stop caring so much what other people think.
03:25And in a society where we're all trying to stay young, which I love Botox like the best
03:32of them, but I think saying I'm 36 is not something I'm going to be afraid of.
03:38I remember people being afraid for me to call my album 29 because it said my age.
03:42And that is terrible.
03:44I think you should be celebrated at any age and you can find true happiness at any point
03:48in your life, not just when you're young.
03:50I love that.
03:52Carly, you have such a long way to go yet.
03:54You're still so young.
03:56Wow.
03:57I can't wait to see what else you're going to do.
03:59My goodness.
03:59And you say Honest Woman drops all the facades, the storylines protecting others and the person
04:05you were supposed to be.
04:07Wow.
04:07Is there one song on the album that was especially difficult to finish because it hits so close
04:12to home or?
04:13Dream Come True was really hard, but I will say Happy for Myself is it's one of my favorite
04:18songs I've ever written.
04:19But it, it exposes the nasty side of comparison, even to the people that are closest to you.
04:27And it kind of tells you a real life story of one of my closest friends, me being jealous
04:32of her.
04:33Interesting.
04:33Because you always think of the other side and now you're, you're putting it onto yourself
04:37and that that's interesting.
04:39Boy, there's nothing more honest than that.
04:41Carly, really.
04:42It's amazing.
04:43Which song on the album are you most excited to play live?
04:47He Don't Like My Dogs.
04:50Yeah.
04:51Tell us about that one.
04:52How did that come to be?
04:54Well, I dated a guy for a short time who was not nice to my dogs and my dogs are
04:58still
04:58here and he's not.
04:59So I love it.
05:01It's an anthem for all of us animal lovers where, you know, you always say like, dogs
05:06know best.
05:07They, they can sniff it out.
05:09And mine did.
05:10They, they were not having it.
05:12I love it.
05:13I love it.
05:14I love it.
05:16What's your next favorite song on the album?
05:18I mean, there's so many for different reasons.
05:20I love my collaboration with Molly Tuttle and Dan Tominsky.
05:23What If You Loved Me?
05:23That's really a return to my bluegrass roots that I've never gotten to share.
05:28People are always like, you should do a bluegrass album.
05:30And I want to do that eventually.
05:32But I think this really gives like a nod to that.
05:35Dan Tominsky and Molly are just incredible.
05:38Dan's been my favorite male vocalist since I was a kid.
05:41So it's really special to get to collaborate with him.
05:43Same Circus is a fun one.
05:45And yeah, there's so many different moments on the album that I love.
05:49Awesome.
05:50And you've been performing since you're 11.
05:52Tell us about that.
05:54How did you get into it?
05:55Did you always know you wanted to be a musician?
05:57My mom says she convinced somebody to take me on as a vocal student at six because she knew
06:03I could sing.
06:04So there, there was just never a question that this is what I wanted to do.
06:07I have no idea where it came from.
06:09My parents love music, but they were not musical.
06:12But my grandparents, as you will learn in this album, they had a really large influence
06:17on me musically.
06:19And yeah, I've, I've just always wanted to be on stage.
06:22I feel way more myself there than I do not.
06:25So interesting.
06:26And then you left Kentucky at 16 to sing at Dollywood.
06:31That's normal, right?
06:32Yeah, totally.
06:33Right.
06:34I know when I now as an adult, I'm an only child.
06:36And I ask my parents all the time, like, what was wrong with you that you allowed that?
06:41And they just, you know, I was a good student.
06:44I've always been a driven person and applied myself in anything I wanted to do.
06:48But I think they just knew this is what I wanted to do.
06:50And good parenting too.
06:52I think that's, that's so important.
06:53Parents that help you pursue your dream and believe everything.
06:57My gosh.
06:58What did you think success in music look like back then?
07:00And how does it compare now?
07:02Is there any?
07:04I think I would have said, oh my gosh, if even half of the things that have happened
07:10in my career would happen, I would be set.
07:12And I think the life of a tortured artist with the highs and the lows and somebody who,
07:17you know, sets the bar very high as you realize, I don't know.
07:21I'm still trying to figure out what success means to me.
07:24I think I'm chasing more contentment and peace than success at this point.
07:29Besides music, how do you just keep it together with the life you have and everything you've
07:36gone through?
07:37I drink wine.
07:40I have really good people around me.
07:42I have a lot of the same friends that I've had since long before this took off.
07:49My parents would kick me in the butt if I ever changed.
07:52I live a very simple, normal, not glamorous life outside of this.
07:58I have zero desire to be in the scene, if you will.
08:02And I think that's what keeps me me.
08:03We can hear it.
08:04Honest.
08:05And tell us about Dolly.
08:07You have a close mentorship with her.
08:09What's she like?
08:10You know, the thing that you would probably just assume, she wears high heels even to
08:15rehearsal.
08:16Cannot relate.
08:17And I mean, I'm talking like this high.
08:21She is so musical still and so on it, so driving everything that happens, which you look at
08:31everything.
08:31I mean, she just opened her own gas station truck stop.
08:35Like she's just incredibly still motivated at her age and very quick with all of her,
08:43anything she needs to do.
08:44It was mind-blowing when I got to sing with her and watch her in rehearsals.
08:48Just she's, she's a, there's a reason why there's only one Dolly Parton.
08:52What's your favorite Dolly Parton song?
08:54Jolene, hands down.
08:57How come?
08:58Those women, they wrote from such just an honest place.
09:01And she's literally pleading to this woman, don't take my man.
09:07And if you really think about that, that is the most honest woman you could, you could be.
09:12And she wrote that and I will always love you in one day, which queen.
09:19What would you say inspires you creatively?
09:22My life.
09:24The things around me that make me feel something.
09:27Country music has always been the thing that made me feel.
09:31From the time I was a little kid, I loved sad songs.
09:33I'm sure my parents thought there was something wrong with me when they could hear,
09:36you don't even know who I am.
09:37Patti Loveless coming from my bedroom when I was like 11.
09:39Oh, I'm always inspired by things that make me feel something.
09:43I love that.
09:44I have goosebumps.
09:45Who were some of your other influences growing up?
09:49Loretta, for sure.
09:51The way that she wrote music, she didn't care at all.
09:54Dolly, Faith, Trisha, the Chicks, Alison Krauss, the Judds, Wynonna, all the good singers.
10:02So good.
10:03So good.
10:04Leanne Womack.
10:05I love it.
10:05I love it.
10:06What's something you always bring with you on tour?
10:08Running Shoes.
10:10Yeah?
10:11Yeah.
10:11I love movement.
10:12And I think it centers me.
10:14And it's the only time where nobody can find me.
10:16And I like that.
10:17What's the first album you ever bought?
10:20The Woman and Me, Shania.
10:24Any collabs you'd want to do?
10:26Like, you know, in your dreamscape?
10:28My dream was always Stapleton.
10:30And I did that.
10:31And then I think on this album, getting to have a collaboration with Dan Chemensky.
10:36That was, I've loved Alison Krauss and Union Station for a long time.
10:40And that was really special.
10:42So maybe Alison next.
10:43Cool.
10:44Awesome.
10:45Coffee or tea and favorite cocktail, which you kind of told us a little bit already.
10:50Coffee and wine.
10:53Favorite comfort food?
10:55Pizza.
10:56Skin care regimens and beauty secrets because you have the most, you're gorgeous and you
11:00have beautiful skin.
11:04Microneedling, I think is my big thing at this point in life.
11:09I love all the kind of serums and retinols.
11:13I'm very into skin care.
11:15So all of it.
11:15Yeah.
11:16I think microneedling would be my big thing though now.
11:19Awesome.
11:19Awesome.
11:20Any beauty tips or healthcare advice?
11:23Never sleep in your makeup.
11:24I can't stand, that's like a pet peeve of mine when people do that.
11:27I'm like, you have five minutes, do it.
11:29I think less is more in a skin care routine.
11:31I think people want to put all this stuff on their face and then wonder why it's breaking
11:36out.
11:37I don't know.
11:37I think less is more and drink water.
11:41So good.
11:41Do you believe in love?
11:43I do.
11:44I so do.
11:45Yeah.
11:46If you weren't making music, what would you be doing?
11:48I don't know because I quit high school.
11:51I have a ninth grade education, so I'd have to marry a rich man.
11:57Oh my God.
11:58I love it.
11:59What do you like to do when you're not working and how do you relax?
12:03I like to be home.
12:04I like to be with my dogs.
12:06I like to cook in my kitchen.
12:08I like to go to the grocery store.
12:09I like to do laundry.
12:11I'm really boring.
12:12I really just enjoy peace when I'm not on the road.
12:16What's your favorite thing to cook?
12:18I make really good steak.
12:19Had it last night.
12:20What's your best life advice?
12:22Don't spend a dollar that you don't have.
12:25Oh my God.
12:26So good.
12:26You're so good.
12:27You're so smart.
12:28No, I'm not.
12:30You are.
12:31Your answers are so good.
12:34What's next for you?
12:35What's something you want to do that you haven't done yet?
12:37I really have a heart for young people with creative dreams.
12:45And I obviously partnered with the CMA Foundation.
12:48I continue to do that.
12:49I've done a lot of things, but I think continuing to mentorship, whether it's young artists that
12:55I'm taking on tour with me or really young kids in high school, just really helping to
13:01be a part of making people realize you can make any dream that you want happen.
13:06So I don't know what that is, but I want to figure out how to do that.
13:09That's so great.
13:11What's your best piece of advice for them, for those kids?
13:14That I came from a town of less than 5,000 people and went to school with so many kids
13:23that wanted to be actors or dancers or singers.
13:26And somewhere along the way, they felt like they couldn't do that.
13:29And I never lost faith.
13:32And if I can do it, you can too.
13:34I love it.
13:35And you will be touring a bit besides the two shows or?
13:39Yeah, I'll be.
13:40I'm doing a limited residency, two nights in specific major markets starting this fall
13:45with the Honest Woman Tour.
13:47So yes, I'm very excited.
13:48Awesome.
13:49And what are fans going to get when they see you play live?
13:52I think what I've learned more than anything is people come to hear my storytelling and
13:56hear me sing.
13:57And I think I'm really doubling down in a way that I haven't before with this tour.
14:01And I think it'll be the best yet.
14:04Awesome.
14:04You're such a lovely person.
14:07Of course.
14:09You are so special.
14:10And I wish you the best of luck with your beautiful new album.
14:14And I can't wait to see what you do next.
14:1635.
14:1736.
14:1936.
14:19Okay.
14:23The next dolly for sure.
14:25Oh, that's very nice.
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