Carly Pearce talks to Everything Nash about new music, 2026 goals, her path in country music, and more.
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0:00
Hey guys, it's Gail and we are sitting
0:02
here with Karly Pierce. I'm so glad I
0:04
get to talk to you.
0:05
I'm so happy to see you. It's
0:07
my first inerson interview in 2026. Look
0:09
at us.
0:10
I love it. I love that.
0:11
Uh, lots to talk about. Starting with
0:13
Church Girl.
0:14
Girl, no pun intended, but seriously.
0:17
Okay, give me the story behind it.
0:20
church girl. I think the whole theme for
0:24
me with new music right now. Um I want
0:28
to be bold and I want to um really stand
0:31
on vulnerability in maybe a way that
0:33
people haven't heard from me. I know
0:34
they've heard it relationship wise. Um
0:37
but church girl for me, I've
0:41
grown up a Christian my whole life. Um,
0:43
my faith is very important to me and um,
0:46
I think that throughout my life I've had
0:49
some not so perfect things happen to me
0:52
that have sent me on a journey with my
0:55
faith. And
0:58
over the last several years, fans have
1:01
come to my shows and they're also on a
1:04
journey. And I think at this point in my
1:06
life and at this point in my career, I'm
1:09
reflecting a lot. And I just felt like
1:13
this song is so important right now of
1:15
all times for anybody who has felt shame
1:19
or guilt or judgment or um left out to
1:23
know that no matter where you are on
1:25
your journey, you're welcome at my
1:26
shows.
1:27
Oh my gosh, I love that. It reminded me
1:29
of NextGirl, which but I wonder if you
1:32
can talk a little bit about about your
1:34
trajectory from NextGirl, which was a
1:35
really fun song to church girl, which
1:38
has such a strong message.
1:40
I think it's the evolution of music,
1:42
right? So
1:44
next girl,
1:46
I love a good play on words and that
1:48
song was like an anthem that really if
1:52
you listen to the lyrics was pretty
1:53
tough to think about. Um, but I think
1:56
what that album 29 and what songs like
1:59
Next Girl taught me is just who I am as
2:01
an artist. And um, I think about all of
2:04
the life that I have lived since then. I
2:07
don't even think that I had processed at
2:08
that time what had gone on in my life.
2:12
Um, so I sit here now
2:15
ready to sing a song like Church Girl,
2:17
ready to stand proudly as a woman of
2:20
faith that says you're accepted by me.
2:23
Um, it is not me preaching to anybody.
2:25
It is not me questioning the church or
2:28
God or anything. It is just me taking
2:32
this song and really wanting people to
2:34
feel accepted.
2:35
I love that. I'm going to get to more
2:37
music, but while we're talking about
2:38
church girl and faith, you Langley Laney
2:42
Wilson, there's been a resurgence of
2:43
people talking about their faith
2:45
that I haven't seen in recent years. Can
2:47
you talk about why it's important for
2:48
you because you have a big platform.
2:50
Yeah.
2:50
To share it.
2:52
It's a big part of who I am. It always
2:53
has been. I feel like I've always been
2:55
somebody who um long before I was, you
3:00
know, a successful artist. That's what I
3:02
turn to. But even more so, it's
3:05
something that's really the northstar of
3:07
my life. And in a life of chaos, um that
3:11
is a constant and probably the only
3:13
thing that is truly constant and
3:14
unconditional in my life. And so it's a
3:17
it's a strong strong pillar for me and
3:19
something that I like to share with
3:21
fans. I like to share verses that mean
3:24
something to me or you know different
3:26
things that um help me on days that
3:29
maybe are a little harder than others.
3:30
I love that. Uh let's talk about dreams
3:32
come true. Girl, I cried.
3:36
I was having a terrible day and I was
3:38
like why did I ever start my own
3:40
website? And then I listened to that
3:41
song and sobbed. The story behind it.
3:44
dream come true started this whole new
3:46
chapter of music for me and I wrote it
3:49
over a year ago. Um,
3:51
and really it came from exactly what it
3:54
says. It is my story line by line. I
3:56
moved into a house with four bedrooms in
3:58
a culde-sac. Um, and was surrounded by
4:01
young women who
4:04
had very different lives than me but had
4:05
things that I wanted. They had families
4:08
and husbands and normaly and um
4:13
it made me start to
4:16
question
4:18
where I was at and and look at maybe
4:20
evaluate is a better word of just the
4:23
sacrifices that so many of us make no
4:25
matter what your dream is but to chase
4:27
it and you don't realize in the moment
4:29
the things that you're missing out on or
4:32
um the events that you have to miss or
4:34
all of these different things. Um, and
4:36
this business is so fleeting. I had just
4:38
come off um an experience that was
4:41
really again I think the heartbeat of
4:45
the chorus of that song where I had won
4:48
an ACM for I'm sorry I had won a CMT
4:51
award uh with Chris Stapleton who that
4:54
was my dream collaborator and less than
4:57
12 hours later I wasn't nominated for
4:59
the first time at ACMS and it was that
5:02
push and pull in 12 hours that could
5:04
make me go from feeling so high to so
5:06
low and um knowing that other people
5:09
feel that way when you have success and
5:12
um just wanting to be honest about the
5:15
struggles that come with this type of a
5:18
life.
5:19
I wrote about it by the way that you
5:20
should have been nominated. Good.
5:21
Thanks.
5:22
What can you tell me about the album?
5:25
I really dug deep. I I switched
5:27
producers. Um Ben West, I'm working with
5:29
him. We've been longtime friends. We
5:31
wrote Show Me Around for Busby. Um he is
5:34
incredible. He made the two albums last
5:37
year that really moved me. Um, Lacy K.
5:39
Booth and Steven Wilson Jr. And um, we
5:43
made my favorite music I've ever made. I
5:45
think I pushed myself sonically. Um, I
5:47
co-produced this record and really just
5:49
went back to my roots and really where
5:50
the I returned to the original dream,
5:52
which was the girl growing up in
5:55
Kentucky wanting to sing country and
5:56
bluegrass. And um the subject matter, I
6:00
think I pushed myself writing and
6:01
choosing songs that really were equally
6:04
as vulnerable as what people know me to
6:05
do, but that touch on some things that
6:07
maybe people don't know about me.
6:09
Writing them songs.
6:11
All of them.
6:12
Not all of them.
6:12
Okay.
6:13
No.
6:13
Okay. Talk about the songs that you
6:15
didn't write. What makes a song get on a
6:17
Carly Pierce album that Carly did not
6:19
write?
6:19
Oh, it's it's a tough thing to get on a
6:22
Carly Pierce record. Um, I have to feel
6:26
melodically connected to it. I have to
6:29
feel lyrically connected to it. It has
6:32
to be something that I'm like, "Oh, I
6:34
wish I would have written that, but I
6:36
couldn't have written it that good."
6:38
So, when is a release album? What's
6:42
happen?
6:42
You're going to get some songs before.
6:44
Um, I'm not sure yet. We're kind of in
6:47
this process and I'm really enjoying
6:49
just like catching up to how music is
6:51
being released right now. Um, obviously
6:53
it's a much quicker
6:57
digesting situation than years past of
7:01
um, traditional albums coming out. So,
7:04
you'll get a lot of music and I promise
7:07
that the album is coming. Um, and I'm
7:10
just really excited for people to
7:12
continue to hear this stuff.
7:13
I think the first time I talked to you
7:15
was before Every Little Thing was
7:16
released. So, can you take me from Carly
7:19
then to Carly now?
7:21
Oh my. It's been a decade. This year is
7:23
a decade since Every Little Thing came
7:25
out.
7:25
And we're still 29.
7:27
Always 29. I'm actually I'm good to
7:30
never be 29.
7:31
You are.
7:31
I'm good. Um but it's been a decade.
7:37
You know, I think in a lot of ways I
7:39
have the same ambition. I have the same
7:42
love of country music. many of the
7:44
dreams that I had
7:46
during that season of my life have
7:49
happened truthfully, like pretty much
7:51
all of them. Um, and that's a really
7:53
beautiful thing to be able to say that
7:54
in a decade my wildest dreams came true.
7:57
Um, I think I'm way more grounded, way
8:00
more self-aware,
8:03
um,
8:05
and happier.
8:07
You seem happy.
8:08
Yeah, I'm really happy. Um, I want to
8:11
talk a little bit about the sisterhood
8:12
that's happening in country music. I
8:14
just got to talk to Laney a couple days
8:16
ago and there's I've never seen in 20
8:19
years of doing this, I've never seen
8:20
such a strong bond of women and I feel
8:22
like you and Laney are kind of leading
8:23
that right now.
8:24
That's really nice. Um, I just talked to
8:27
Laney the other day. She texted me. Um,
8:31
it's a great group of girls and even if
8:33
I don't like let's say I'm closer to
8:36
Kelsey and Laney, I'm still equally like
8:40
I'm I'm mind blown at what Megan's
8:43
doing. 450,000 tickets. I I wish that
8:46
people understood what that means. Um,
8:50
I'm so rooting for her. What Ella has
8:52
done reminded me of the trajectory of
8:55
watching Laney skyrocket. Um, I think
8:58
she's an incredible artist and just a
9:01
really, really great performer. Um,
9:04
Laney, I've said it for so long, she
9:08
just she reminds me of Reeba. Um, in the
9:11
way that she is so poised and so perfect
9:13
to hold the torch. Um,
9:17
I think because I see those girls and
9:19
truthfully like my relationship with
9:20
Kelsey, um, we've grown up in this
9:23
industry together and had success and
9:25
and helped each other get through it on
9:27
like a true human level. Um,
9:32
I want to have
9:34
an influence.
9:36
I'm really big into the girls behind us.
9:38
Um,
9:38
I love that.
9:41
I know that we're good here. like we've
9:44
got our thing going on. I wish I would
9:46
have had one of me or a Laney or a
9:49
Kelsey back then.
9:50
I have goosebumps.
9:52
I do. I really do. I I And I didn't.
9:55
It's not that anybody wasn't nice to me,
9:56
but they just I wasn't It just didn't
9:59
happen. And um I've taken a great pride
10:04
in that kind of mentorship. And I have
10:08
very I I've gotten to a place where
10:10
these girls call me and they come over
10:12
or we'll talk on the phone or we send
10:14
voice texts and um nothing's off limits
10:17
and it's the kind of relationship Kelsey
10:19
and I have and honestly we went and hung
10:22
out with Laney uh over the summer and we
10:23
didn't post about it cuz it wasn't for
10:25
anybody. Kelsey and I did and it was so
10:27
fun and it was like, "Oh yeah, this is
10:29
what it's all about." And um I feel like
10:32
I have that with some of these younger
10:34
girls and it's been like super
10:36
fulfilling for me, but it's also like
10:37
gosh, let me tell you all the things
10:39
that if I could go back in time, I would
10:42
probably do different or learn from this
10:45
or maybe you should do this. And it's
10:48
just fun. It's fun to be a big sister to
10:50
girls that are walking right where
10:52
you're you've kind of like left the
10:55
breadcrumbs and they're coming up.
10:57
I love that so much. Um and I am so glad
11:01
that there's people like you and Laney
11:02
with integrity leading the charge. I
11:04
love that. And Kelsey, I love Kelsey,
11:05
too. Um let's talk about what's
11:07
happening with you in 2026 touring.
11:09
Yes. I'm spending a lot of the beginning
11:12
of the year. It kind of all happened. I
11:14
think it's a total God thing of just
11:15
like being able to I it's been a really
11:19
long time since I put music out. So, I
11:21
feel like in a lot of ways I'm giving
11:22
myself some space to release music while
11:26
going overseas. So, I'm spending a lot
11:28
of time at the beginning of the year in
11:29
Australia and um doing a UK tour and
11:32
then I'll be back once a lot of music
11:34
and album announce and things are out to
11:37
do some things in the fall
11:38
and then we'll talk about it some more.
11:40
Yeah.
11:40
Um you have other things going on too
11:42
like your conundrum wine. Yeah. Oh my
11:44
gosh. I know.
11:45
What a dream for you.
11:46
It really I mean and truly like my
11:48
favorite. If I could have like
11:49
handpicked who I would collaborate with.
11:51
I'm not just saying that. Conundrum was
11:52
like the wine that I always drank when I
11:54
first started drinking wine. So it's
11:55
like very nostalgic. I obviously love
11:57
CS. I love just the whole family.
11:59
That's a beautiful collaboration. Okay.
12:02
Anything else happening this year? We're
12:03
going to do something fun in a minute.
12:04
Anything else you want to talk about
12:06
that's happening this year?
12:07
I'm really just so focused on new music.
12:10
So I'm just really excited for people to
12:12
hear it. Will there be songs about a
12:14
relationship on this album?
12:16
Um, you know, I'm not really good at
12:18
love songs. I have one. Um, but that
12:22
doesn't mean that I'm not very happy.
12:26
I literally, Sidebar, you posted a
12:29
photo. It wasn't the first one. I think
12:31
maybe the second one. And I literally
12:32
went because I've seen you a lot, like
12:35
10 years, and you looked
12:37
happy. Like it was a different that I
12:39
have not seen in you before. Well,
12:42
that's probably true. I know, right? No,
12:44
that's very true. Um, and again, like I
12:48
I look at my story and I'm like any girl
12:50
out there, like I'm in my mid30s and you
12:52
just have to sometimes trust the
12:54
process. But we're great. He's so great.
12:57
I was 38 when we started dating.
12:58
See, you just never know. I'm like, hold
13:01
on, girls. There's good ones. Don't
13:03
worry.
13:03
All right, we're going to end with
13:04
something fun. 11 questions with Kylie
13:06
Pierce. And I need my readers for this.
13:08
I'm scared. Don't be that. Uh, favorite
13:10
food.
13:12
Um, I like anything with carbs. Bread,
13:18
pasta, chips,
13:21
pizza,
13:23
dessert.
13:24
Um, ice cream for sure.
13:26
Yes. Okay. Uh, any food you hate?
13:28
Oh, yes. I hate yellow squash. I hate
13:33
you and my son.
13:34
I really hate yellow squash. Like I
13:36
don't want any sardines or any of that
13:38
nasty. I don't really like uh like
13:40
oysters. I don't like any of that stuff
13:43
at all. Yellow squash that. And um I
13:45
don't really like zucchini.
13:47
Interesting. Slimy things for you.
13:48
Oh, dream vacation.
13:50
Um Italy.
13:53
If you go, I want to go.
13:54
Um biggest pet peeve.
13:57
I have a lot. Um
13:59
you name the top three.
14:00
Uh I don't like people who are late.
14:03
uh chew with your mouth open and um like
14:07
arrogance
14:09
like that that can actually like ruin it
14:12
for me. If you're arrogant, I'm gonna
14:13
know really quickly. I'm out.
14:15
That's a you need a good radar, too. Uh
14:17
dream duet partner.
14:22
Um
14:23
I don't know. You'll have to wait and
14:25
see.
14:26
Chris Stapleton was my dream dream
14:28
dream. So, I've I've I've found some
14:30
really great prospects. And you did do
14:33
that thing with Michael Bubé.
14:34
I mean, again, insane. He's like
14:37
amazing. I love him.
14:38
Still call him my best friend. Whatever.
14:40
He's pretty awesome.
14:41
Celebrity crush.
14:45
Um, I used to always say Dan Taminsky
14:47
from United Station, which people are
14:49
like, who is that? So, he is my
14:50
celebrity crush and he knows this. But I
14:53
would say um
14:56
I don't know like Ryan Reynolds. He's
14:59
pretty hot.
15:00
He do. John Mayer.
15:02
Um, what's your weirdest talent?
15:04
Oh,
15:05
I was hoping you did.
15:06
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if you can see
15:07
it through here, but I have the most
15:08
double jointed arms in the history of
15:10
the world.
15:13
It's great.
15:14
I love it. I wrote that specifically for
15:16
you, hoping you would do it. I'm just
15:18
saying. Um, oh, this is going to be hard
15:20
for you. Best career moment so far. Or
15:22
maybe it's not.
15:24
Um, I have two. Grand Opry member and um
15:29
female vocus of the year for sure.
15:31
Yeah, that was a good one. Um what is
15:33
your biggest fear?
15:37
Um
15:43
honestly, I'm not laugh. I'm laughing
15:45
because it's so dark. Getting to the end
15:47
of my life and
15:50
realizing I didn't live it.
15:54
There's a song in there. Mhm. Just
15:57
saying. There's a song in there. You can
15:58
think of me when you write it. Um,
15:59
perfect day for Carly Pierce.
16:02
Um,
16:03
let's see. I wake up.
16:06
I work out. I wear sweatpants. I hang
16:09
out with Johnny and June.
16:11
I drink some wine. And my perfect day
16:14
would be I could play a show in my
16:16
sweatpants.
16:16
Oh, wouldn't that be a dream?
16:18
Yeah. But that's not really real. But
16:19
it's my day.
16:20
You could in your living room. And then
16:22
I could eat a full pizza and a drink a
16:25
bottle of wine and eat a pint of Ben &
16:28
Jerry's and not be fat from it.
16:32
If you figure out how to do that, let me
16:34
know. Okay, last question. What is
16:36
something very few people know about
16:37
you?
16:42
H
16:45
um
16:50
I feel like everyone in here is like,
16:51
"What is she going to say?" I don't
16:53
know. Uh I have like a really crude
16:56
sense of humor. That's kind of like I'm
16:58
kind of like a dude. I don't know that
17:00
people would maybe think that.
17:01
You ride on a bus with dudes.
17:03
Yeah. Like I'm actually the most dude of
17:04
all the dudes. Like they're like,
17:06
"Please stop. You're gross." Um Yeah.
17:08
I'm like gross.
17:10
Do you still ride on the bus with them?
17:12
Yes. You still have one bus?
17:13
I have I have two buses, but yes, we
17:16
have our bus and I I don't want to be
17:18
without them. So, like my emotional
17:20
support animals.
17:20
Sometimes people dream of their own bus
17:22
and you're like, "No, I'll stay with
17:23
you."
17:23
I have like my own I got a whole haven
17:25
in the back, but I need I need my
17:28
emotional support animals.
17:29
They would love for me to get my own
17:30
bus.
17:32
They're like waiting.
17:33
I have nothing to say after this. Carly
17:35
Pierce.
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