The Sit Down with Carly Pearce
When Carly Pearce first appeared in London on the C2C: Country to Country stage back in 2019, the UK fans knew that they were witnessing something special as they got to witness her debut album “Every Little Thing” in person. Her own headline UK tour in 2022 and a return to the C2C stage last March continued to grow her British fanbase whilst since her maiden voyage across the pond, the Kentucky native has won her first Grammy Award, multiple ACM Awards including Female Artist of the Year in 2022, a trio of CMA Awards and was inducted to become a member of The Grand Ole Opry.
2025 brings her second headline tour to these shores for the hummingbird world tour, highlighting her fourth studio album which we have just learnt that a deluxe version titled “hummingbird: no rain, no flowers” will be released on March 14th via Big Machine Records, which includes three brand new songs along with two acoustic takes on some fan favourites in addition to the fourteen original tracks. Prior to the second of her two nights at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, Jamie was able to sit down with Carly to talk all about the forthcoming release and all that she has been up to on her fourth trip to play shows in the UK.
2025 brings her second headline tour to these shores for the hummingbird world tour, highlighting her fourth studio album which we have just learnt that a deluxe version titled “hummingbird: no rain, no flowers” will be released on March 14th via Big Machine Records, which includes three brand new songs along with two acoustic takes on some fan favourites in addition to the fourteen original tracks. Prior to the second of her two nights at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, Jamie was able to sit down with Carly to talk all about the forthcoming release and all that she has been up to on her fourth trip to play shows in the UK.
Thanks for taking the time to hang Carly, I caught the show yesterday and I really enjoyed night one, I was always coming tonight but I’m really glad that I was able to make both nights. Having seen you a few times before, I know you put on a really great live show but last night was one of the best gigs I’ve been to in a long time and I thought you paced the setlist really well, in terms of how you were doing kind of the hit, then an album cut, then another hit.
“Thank you, we’re taking people on a journey.”
Exactly and the other thing we liked was your arrangement on stage, particularly with the carpets on the floor. We were thinking did you have a secret harness on where you were going to rise up and start singing “A Whole New World” or something from Aladdin.
“Ha-ha, that would honestly be amazing.”
If you were to do a Disney song in a show, what would you randomly stick in?
“Oooh, I feel like my mom always used to joke and say I looked like Belle as a little girl and I used to like to dress up like her so something from Beauty and the Beast and maybe I could make one of my band members dress like Beast.”
That would make for a great end of tour skit and would be really cool. In the set last night, we also heard a new song and people will get to hear a different new song tomorrow.
“and tonight!”
Oooh, definitely worth my while coming to see both shows then. There are three brand new songs on the extended version of “hummingbird” and I know this era continues with the tour in the US but with these three songs in particular, why did you decide they were a better fit for the deluxe release, rather than holding them until the next project?
“It was a couple of different reasons. One, I'm already halfway done with the next record, and sonically, even where I'm at in my life, it doesn't fit. I feel like “29” and “hummingbird” were kind of a two part very autobiographical chunk of time for me. I wrote “if looks could kill” and “heart first” for the “29” album and they just didn't fit. I just wrote “no rain” about two months ago, and they all just feel like that girl that got her heart demolished, came out of it, worked through it, messed up a little and came out on the other side. So, it feels like the right bookend to this very autobiographical chapter. I’ve built my career on being honest in my music, however I'm excited for what's to come, I think it's going to be more stories and more looking at the lens of everybody's story, not just mine.”
“Thank you, we’re taking people on a journey.”
Exactly and the other thing we liked was your arrangement on stage, particularly with the carpets on the floor. We were thinking did you have a secret harness on where you were going to rise up and start singing “A Whole New World” or something from Aladdin.
“Ha-ha, that would honestly be amazing.”
If you were to do a Disney song in a show, what would you randomly stick in?
“Oooh, I feel like my mom always used to joke and say I looked like Belle as a little girl and I used to like to dress up like her so something from Beauty and the Beast and maybe I could make one of my band members dress like Beast.”
That would make for a great end of tour skit and would be really cool. In the set last night, we also heard a new song and people will get to hear a different new song tomorrow.
“and tonight!”
Oooh, definitely worth my while coming to see both shows then. There are three brand new songs on the extended version of “hummingbird” and I know this era continues with the tour in the US but with these three songs in particular, why did you decide they were a better fit for the deluxe release, rather than holding them until the next project?
“It was a couple of different reasons. One, I'm already halfway done with the next record, and sonically, even where I'm at in my life, it doesn't fit. I feel like “29” and “hummingbird” were kind of a two part very autobiographical chunk of time for me. I wrote “if looks could kill” and “heart first” for the “29” album and they just didn't fit. I just wrote “no rain” about two months ago, and they all just feel like that girl that got her heart demolished, came out of it, worked through it, messed up a little and came out on the other side. So, it feels like the right bookend to this very autobiographical chapter. I’ve built my career on being honest in my music, however I'm excited for what's to come, I think it's going to be more stories and more looking at the lens of everybody's story, not just mine.”
“no rain” is the first of the three new tracks coming out, you said that was quite a new write but can you just tell us a little bit about the writing process, who you wrote that with and the story behind it.
“It's very funny. I was on tour with Tim McGraw this past summer and I hired my favourite tattoo artist to tattoo my band and I, this is going somewhere I promise. I had always wanted to get no rain, no flowers tattooed on me so, after a couple bottles of wine between everyone, I decided getting four tattoos in a night was right and the last tattoo was no rain, no flowers, right here. I went back to the States and wanted to write a song about it, so I wrote it with Jordan Reynolds who I write so many of my songs with, Lauren Hungate, who I write a lot with and Emily Weisband. They're kind of the anchor writers on my new project but we wrote this really honest song and it’s so funny, Lauren has a one year old and she was like I want you to write out these lyrics so I can hang them in my son's bedroom, because this is my prayer for him. I thought about just like as a child all the way up to adults, this song is a prayer of you go through hard things, sweet baby you're going to go through things, but it's all about hard things bring us really good things and if we can remember that this just feels like a really important song to me.”
Just one last thing on the hummingird era as a whole, everything is stylized in lower case, the album title and all the songs. Male artists don't seem to do it, but it’s a thing that quite a few of the girls in Nashville to do. Some artists have said it is because it appears nice aesthetically or that's how people type when they are texting, but some fans still don't believe it and want to think there's some secret meaning behind it. For you is it about how it looks or is there a bit more to it?
“To me I felt like people had attached such a name to who my songs were about with “29” to where I just was trying in every visual way from the colour palette to the lower case lettering to all the things around it and how it would feel like a different chapter.”
You've brought up “29” a few times and when you performed that last night, obviously you’ve performed that song pretty much every night you play a show where you introduce it and tell the story but to me it genuinely came across very raw, like it felt like it was the first time you'd ever told that story, which just showed how personal that song is to you where you went through a lot. One of the trends across socials at the moment is reflecting on if you could meet your younger self for coffee, so firstly which Carly would be late?
“Carly, back then.”
And has the coffee order changed with time?
“Yeah, she was into Frappuccino’s with whipped cream and now I drink black coffee in a morning.”
You’re an easy customer at Starbucks then now, they can’t get that wrong!
“It’s just literally a blonde roast, black.”
Oooh I love that you have blonde roast, it’s the best and most people don’t know that it’s there!
“Yes and we love it.”
“It's very funny. I was on tour with Tim McGraw this past summer and I hired my favourite tattoo artist to tattoo my band and I, this is going somewhere I promise. I had always wanted to get no rain, no flowers tattooed on me so, after a couple bottles of wine between everyone, I decided getting four tattoos in a night was right and the last tattoo was no rain, no flowers, right here. I went back to the States and wanted to write a song about it, so I wrote it with Jordan Reynolds who I write so many of my songs with, Lauren Hungate, who I write a lot with and Emily Weisband. They're kind of the anchor writers on my new project but we wrote this really honest song and it’s so funny, Lauren has a one year old and she was like I want you to write out these lyrics so I can hang them in my son's bedroom, because this is my prayer for him. I thought about just like as a child all the way up to adults, this song is a prayer of you go through hard things, sweet baby you're going to go through things, but it's all about hard things bring us really good things and if we can remember that this just feels like a really important song to me.”
Just one last thing on the hummingird era as a whole, everything is stylized in lower case, the album title and all the songs. Male artists don't seem to do it, but it’s a thing that quite a few of the girls in Nashville to do. Some artists have said it is because it appears nice aesthetically or that's how people type when they are texting, but some fans still don't believe it and want to think there's some secret meaning behind it. For you is it about how it looks or is there a bit more to it?
“To me I felt like people had attached such a name to who my songs were about with “29” to where I just was trying in every visual way from the colour palette to the lower case lettering to all the things around it and how it would feel like a different chapter.”
You've brought up “29” a few times and when you performed that last night, obviously you’ve performed that song pretty much every night you play a show where you introduce it and tell the story but to me it genuinely came across very raw, like it felt like it was the first time you'd ever told that story, which just showed how personal that song is to you where you went through a lot. One of the trends across socials at the moment is reflecting on if you could meet your younger self for coffee, so firstly which Carly would be late?
“Carly, back then.”
And has the coffee order changed with time?
“Yeah, she was into Frappuccino’s with whipped cream and now I drink black coffee in a morning.”
You’re an easy customer at Starbucks then now, they can’t get that wrong!
“It’s just literally a blonde roast, black.”
Oooh I love that you have blonde roast, it’s the best and most people don’t know that it’s there!
“Yes and we love it.”
Getting on to the main part of the question, what advice would you give to yourself knowing what you went through at 29, then beyond that where you have come through it, won a Grammy, became a member of The Grand Ole Opry and things are going to be alright.
“You know, I actually did that trend and one of the things I said in the thing was, my younger self says the boy that she's dating is too nice and I said to her, you'll want that one day. I think about the last five years of my life and I think I would tell her, you're gonna go through awful things that no woman should ever go through both in front of people and behind closed doors. But you are going to take that pain and your purpose is going to grow greater than you ever thought. Your dreams are going to shift from, I want to be a country music star to I want to be somebody that changes people's lives and makes them not feel alone. I genuinely believe that is my purpose.”
This is trip number four now, what keeps you coming back? What’s the appeal about playing in the UK and Europe that makes you say to your team “when can we get back over” the second you arrive back home?
“I’m already doing it right now! They understand me here in a way I don’t feel understood anywhere else.”
Right now, Wade (Bowen) is out here with you, I love the cover with your little bit of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. Who threw that idea out as a song to put into the set?
“You know, every time I have an artist out where I’m like sing one of my duets with me and it just feels boring, I don’t know, I'm kind of over it. Wade is such an established artist, this is kind of the first time that we had somebody out here, that’s older, seasoned and has his own thing to where I didn't wanna be like, hey, Wade, will you come sing one of my songs and be Lee Brice or whatever? I was like, let's just do something that I know I'm going to love so, I just threw it out to him and he loved it. It works, it feels authentic and neither one of us are tapping into each other's world, it's like we're doing something together.”
Then when you get back home and the tour resumes, you've got Krista and Kendra (Tigirlily Gold) with you for a couple of shows, Mae Estes doing a few and Carter (Faith) joining you too. You mentioned earlier about being on the road with Tim McGraw, you have toured with Kenny Chesney and so many other incredible people too but now you’re in that position where you bring people out with you, what have you learnt from being out with other people to make you a good tour buddy?
“I've toured with a lot of really kind people and I think kindness goes a long way. I think also what I've learned from Kelsea, she wrapped her arm around me when I had nothing going on and really was a champion for me. I think more than anything when I'm looking at the young women, like the four that you're talking about, I want to be that. I want to pay that forward so that when they're in my position, they can pay it forward because you really do not understand what this business is like unless you're in it, especially as a female. So, just being good to the people that are in your organization and all the road with you, it's very important.”
“You know, I actually did that trend and one of the things I said in the thing was, my younger self says the boy that she's dating is too nice and I said to her, you'll want that one day. I think about the last five years of my life and I think I would tell her, you're gonna go through awful things that no woman should ever go through both in front of people and behind closed doors. But you are going to take that pain and your purpose is going to grow greater than you ever thought. Your dreams are going to shift from, I want to be a country music star to I want to be somebody that changes people's lives and makes them not feel alone. I genuinely believe that is my purpose.”
This is trip number four now, what keeps you coming back? What’s the appeal about playing in the UK and Europe that makes you say to your team “when can we get back over” the second you arrive back home?
“I’m already doing it right now! They understand me here in a way I don’t feel understood anywhere else.”
Right now, Wade (Bowen) is out here with you, I love the cover with your little bit of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. Who threw that idea out as a song to put into the set?
“You know, every time I have an artist out where I’m like sing one of my duets with me and it just feels boring, I don’t know, I'm kind of over it. Wade is such an established artist, this is kind of the first time that we had somebody out here, that’s older, seasoned and has his own thing to where I didn't wanna be like, hey, Wade, will you come sing one of my songs and be Lee Brice or whatever? I was like, let's just do something that I know I'm going to love so, I just threw it out to him and he loved it. It works, it feels authentic and neither one of us are tapping into each other's world, it's like we're doing something together.”
Then when you get back home and the tour resumes, you've got Krista and Kendra (Tigirlily Gold) with you for a couple of shows, Mae Estes doing a few and Carter (Faith) joining you too. You mentioned earlier about being on the road with Tim McGraw, you have toured with Kenny Chesney and so many other incredible people too but now you’re in that position where you bring people out with you, what have you learnt from being out with other people to make you a good tour buddy?
“I've toured with a lot of really kind people and I think kindness goes a long way. I think also what I've learned from Kelsea, she wrapped her arm around me when I had nothing going on and really was a champion for me. I think more than anything when I'm looking at the young women, like the four that you're talking about, I want to be that. I want to pay that forward so that when they're in my position, they can pay it forward because you really do not understand what this business is like unless you're in it, especially as a female. So, just being good to the people that are in your organization and all the road with you, it's very important.”
Carly Pearce will release her deluxe album “hummingbird: no rain, no flowers” through Big Machine Records on March 14th and is available to pre-save HERE with new track “no rain” out now, which you can listen to HERE.
Carly wraps up the European leg of the hummingbird world tour in Dublin on February 28th before resuming the North American leg on March 20th in Welch, Minnesota and you can find full dates along with any remaining tickets on her WEBSITE whilst you can check out all that she is up to by following along on INSTGRAM TIKTOK X & FACEBOOK.
Carly wraps up the European leg of the hummingbird world tour in Dublin on February 28th before resuming the North American leg on March 20th in Welch, Minnesota and you can find full dates along with any remaining tickets on her WEBSITE whilst you can check out all that she is up to by following along on INSTGRAM TIKTOK X & FACEBOOK.
