Carly Pearce is fast becoming country music’s queen of the clapback.
In June, after social-media users speculated that she was into Satan because she’d posted a photo in which her tour bus appeared to be parked in a space marked 666, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter took to X to proclaim, “I am a devout Christian who takes PRIDE in using my platform to point people toward JESUS.” (She also noted that the bus was in spot 668.)
Two months later, a video went viral showing her interaction with a heckler at a festival gig in Minnesota. “If you’re gonna be an a—, then you’re gonna have to say it to me and get the f— out of my show,” she told the guy — hardly the language expected from a denizen of nice-and-smiley Nashville.
Then she added a priceless kicker: “I do not have time for d—.”
Pearce, 34, is not unaccustomed to the kind of widespread tabloid chatter these incidents inspired. Her 2021 album, “29: Written in Stone,” chronicled her messy divorce from singer Michael Ray; “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” a stirring duet with Ashley McBryde in which Pearce portrays a married woman and McBryde her husband’s mistress, brought Pearce her third No. 1 single on Billboard’s country airplay chart.
Yet among Nashville’s top stars, Pearce might be the least interested in reaching beyond country music’s borders — and at a moment when the genre has more crossover energy than it has in years.
“I’m a country music purist,” she says. “I look around and I see a lot of artists doing things outside the format. I don’t want to.”
Named female vocalist of the year at the Country Music Assn. Awards in 2021, Pearce makes the artistic case for her position on her latest album, “Hummingbird,” a thoroughly down-home affair full of fiddle-laced tunes about love, home and whiskey. The Kentucky-born singer, who’s on the bill for next year’s Stagecoach festival in Indio, Calif., spoke about her music, her public profile and that viral video during a recent visit to Los Angeles.
In terms of the charts, is now a good time to make a traditional country record?
I feel like the pendulum is swinging back to authenticity. But I’ve always been the exception to the rule of what works. When I’ve tried to chase what’s working, it doesn’t.
What’s an example?
I had a song called “Closer to You” [in 2018] that at the time was very pop-country radio-friendly. It didn’t connect. That’s not to say that fans don’t like it. But it’s not one I ever run to put in a set.
One of “Hummingbird’s” high points is “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” an old-fashioned duet with Chris Stapleton. In your mind, was he always the guy for that song?
When I got the demo back, I just heard him singing on it. But I also was like, I’m sure everybody hears Chris Stapleton singing on their songs. He’s one of the greatest singers of all time — his voice is just so butter. I DM’d his wife, Morgane, on Instagram and said, “Hey, I know you get this all time, but I have this song, and I just feel like Chris is supposed to sing on it.” I sent it to her, and I’m pretty sure two months went by. Then, the night before I won my first Grammy [for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”], she texted me and said, “He’d love to do it with you.”
Do you think you’re stronger in ballads or up–tempos?
Ballads, for sure. I grew up loving sad songs: Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, Tammy Wynette. All these women and the textures in their voices — I was fascinated by them.
You’ve said you knew at a very young age that you wanted to be a singer.
When I was 5 years old, I told my parents, “I’m gonna sing on the Grand Ole Opry one day.” Later on, people thought we were crazy when my parents let me homeschool so I could take a job singing in the country show at Dollywood. I mean, country music was not cool at the time. I was like the small-town freak.
Now, of course, Beyoncé and Post Malone have both released country albums. Lana Del Rey has said she’s working on one. What’s your take on pop stars going country?
What I think is cool about it — and I don’t know any of them at all — but I’d like to think that what they want is to go home. They want to feel connected to home and to authenticity. And that’s us — that’s country music. Who knows if they’ll make another country record.
We’ve also seen some established country stars — namely, Maren Morris — say they’re done with the genre.
That’s hard to watch. People forget this is the hand that gave you what you have. I understand wanting to explore. I think Maren is an incredibly gifted artist — when you have a voice like that, you can sing anything. But country music made her who she is, and I hope she still remembers that.
Maren has suggested it’s less about music than about Nashville as a culture and a business.
And that’s totally her prerogative. I get how she probably felt. I think you just didn’t need to burn down the genre that made you.
Given the scrutiny you faced during your divorce, I wonder if you’ve ever felt trapped in that storyline.
Look, I came out of the scene with a heartbreak ballad [2017’s “Every Little Thing”]. My very first award that I ever won, I thanked the guy that broke my heart at the CMT Awards. But now, yeah, it does feel like: Can we turn the page and move past this? Every song that I wrote before that relationship wasn’t about [my ex-husband], and every song that I’ll write after is not about him.
Has that affected how you think about making relationships public?
I’m a little bit more private with that stuff at this point. But I don’t have to live everything for everybody. I really admired Miranda [Lambert] for just saying, “Hey, I got married.” That’s awesome to me, to just go do it for you.
Think you’ll remarry?
I’d like to. But more than marriage, I want to find what I know I deserved the first time. I wore the white dress. I had the party. I wore the ring. And it didn’t mean anything. I want it to mean something.
Artists love to talk about songwriting as a form of therapy. Is that true for you?
Oh yeah. I’ve always processed things through writing songs. I’ve even written songs for people because I couldn’t explain how I felt any other way.
What about actual therapy?
That’s a newer thing for me since my divorce. Having somebody that you can say anything to — getting to just kind of word-vomit it all out — that’s helped me tremendously. I think it’s made me a better writer too.
We should talk about “I do not have time for d—.”
I really do not.
Walk me through that moment.
I’ve been doing this for eight years, and I’ve had to keep my mouth shut on a lot of things — not just at a live show, but about my life, about things that are said to me or about me, what Reddit says about me. And I think that particular moment hit a nerve that had been wanting to speak out for a long time.
The guy didn’t just say something to me. I walked over to where he was, and he had a moment to go, “Hey, I’m sorry.” But he didn’t — he doubled down. He looked me right in the eye and he grinned and he raised his hand to show that he was the one who did it. And in that moment, I’d had enough. I saw red.
The boys get to do it all the time. They don’t take any s—, and they’re praised for it because they’re strong men. But if I do it: “How dare you do that when there are children in the crowd?” I wasn’t thinking about anybody’s opinion of me in that moment. I was thinking about the girl that has sat back and cried over the way people have spoken about me.
It’s an iconic quote.
I obviously try to present myself in a way that holds class and integrity. But I’m also a human being who’s a straight shooter, who doesn’t lie, who speaks her mind. The next day I got texts from Lainey Wilson and Kelsea Ballerini within 30 seconds of each other, more or less saying, “Good for you.”
Lainey has found huge success over the last few years with a style not dissimilar to yours. You ever resent the speed of her ascent?
Here’s why I don’t feel that way about her. I would feel that way about others. But Lainey moved to Nashville 13 years ago. She lived in a trailer and she busted her ass. I mean, sure, we haven’t seen a female star rise like this since maybe Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift. I’ll be honest with you: When she won female vocalist of the year [at the 2022 CMA Awards], I didn’t win — that was hard. But I was able to step aside because I know what she’s done to get there, and she deserves it. If we’re gonna have a trailblazer of my generation, she’s the one to do it.
Last thing: You have an interesting number of tattoos — more than a few, yet not so many as, say, Ashley McBryde.
Ashley’s a bad b—. She can stand in that. But it’s true — nobody really looks like me with the tattoos at the moment. I’m sure in country music it’s frowned upon. But I like wearing very pretty clothes while also having a little bit of edge.
What’s the ideal number of tattoos?
I got two today. I’ve been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for three years, so I got this Grand Ole Opry stamp. And then I got these little wings. I’m very spontaneous with my tattoos. I’ll go a few years without any, then I think I’ve gotten five this year. That’s the fun of it. I overthink everything in my life except the tattoos.