BY LESLEY HASTINGS
In the run up to the release of her album “Hummingbird” on 7th June (via Big Machine Label) it was a pleasure, as always, to grab fifteen minutes of Carly Pearce’s time for a chat.
Put your feet up and enjoy what she had to tell me about her new music and of course the support of her UK fans.
LH Hi Carly, it’s great to talk to you again, and thanks for your time today, are you back in Nashville at the moment in between dates out on the road with Tim McGraw?
CP I am! At home … I like it!
LH And I hope you’re fully recovered from the vocal issues of a few weeks ago that meant you had to cancel a show … must have been scary?
CP It was! My voice is back but we’re taking it one day at a time!
LH Obviously there’s the new album to talk about, but I just want to ask about your recent return to this side of the pond for C2C (where your set was so well received) and your upcoming dates here next year. That tour sold super fast, are you still amazed at the strength of support you get from your fans here? We can’t wait to have you back, and get to hear more of the new album live.
CP This last trip in particular blew my mind. It started after my first night in London at C2C … my team and I were “is this like normal?”. Then I go on to the other cities … I’ve always known that fans over there are really into storytelling and true artistry but I truly felt a different kind of love on this trip than I ever have. And just the way we’ve had to upgrade and add nights, a year out we were doing that … and so I’m really excited to come back.
LH “Eagerly anticipated“ is a much used term in relation to new music, but I think particularly after the success of “29” it’s one which definitely describes build up to “Hummingbird”. What are your feelings in the run up to the release? Excitement, nervousness … and of course you’re co-producing this time which possibly puts a new complex on things?
CP Yeah, I think all of those things come with the success of “29”. I will say what “29” did for me, and speaking of co-producing, it did really make me realise who I am in the format that people really care about the stories I have and the way I see the world, and they like the sound of the music I’m making. So I just tried to really go even deeper into that world on this record and I think this is the most proud I’ve been of an album which I am really happy to say after “29”. I think it’s an evolution of my story and it feels it’s coming at the perfect time. I’m so ready to get it out!
LH I’ve had a preview listen to it and I’m so excited for everyone to hear it. Obviously there’s been several tracks released in the run up, but which of the others are you particularly intrigued to hear and get feedback about?
CP So many! “Scissors”, “Oklahoma”, “Truck on Fire”, “Woman to Woman” “Things I Don’t Chase” … I was able to broaden what I was writing about on this album and kind of touch on all different sides of who I am and stories, and I think that’s really fun. There’s still so many different facets people haven’t really gotten to see from me in a long time , so I’m excited about that.
LH For me, the album puts out a positive message about you having inner strength and moving on after difficult times, even though that can be challenging in itself and hasn’t always been easy for you. Is that at least part of what you are hoping listeners will take away from it?
CP Yeah, I think you touched on it so beautifully. I named it “Hummingbird“ because a lot of people say you see hummingbirds as a sign that the healing process can begin and I wanted the imagery of this album to feel light and colourful. You don’t have to have it all the time, you can certainly hear that in this record (laughs) but I’ve fallen in love and experienced a lot of different things that quite honestly at twenty nine I thought I’d never be open to, and I think I want fans to take away that we are all on a healing journey from something and that doesn’t mean you’re going to have it all figured out but you can certainly enjoy your life after pain. I hope that if someone is in their season of pain they can look at this and say “oh, if she can do this then I can”.
LH It certainly sent that message to me. You just touched on the title track, which I’ve heard you describe as “the most unapologetically Carly song I’ve ever written” … can you expand on that?
LH It feels like it’s own little thing … that kind of Celtic sound, mountain sound … and it’s very poetic. It’s funny, even my band members say “we don’t know what you’re talking about but we love it”! But I think it’s just my artistic take, taking my influences especially from the Alison Krauss/Nickel Creek background and making it into part of my commercial release. It was just my little moment to be exactly what I feel like is my strength.
LH I love how you got a hummingbird tattoo as well (Carly then proudly showed me the artwork). We don’t have hummingbirds here in UK it’s too cold!!
CP Oh wow!
LH And that track is perfectly placed as the album closer … it encapsulates everything about the album so beautifully I think … and then at the other end is the determined, punch opener “Country Music Made Me Do It”, which also explains so much about you but in a different way. So when you make an album is there a lot of agonising over track order?
CP Yeah, they were the only two that I really knew where they had to go … and did you notice fiddle starts the album and fiddle ends the album … but yeah it’s a puzzle. Especially as “29” was a chronological story , but this one not so much so it was fun just to sit and listen to how this one came in and how this one goes out, and that’s an art in itself!
LH Yes that fiddle playing from Jenee Fleenor which features throughout many of the tracks is just incredible. I hope people listen to the album top to bottom.
LH Looking at the writing credits, there’s lots of your pretty regular collaborators on there but I saw Charles Kelley’s name too , on “Truck On Fire” which you’ve already mentioned and is such a great revenge song! Is that the first time you’d written together? How did the song take shape?
CP It’s actually not the first time we’ve written, and we’ve sung together a bunch of …. we always joke that one day I’m just going to call him to be the male voice on my duets so he doesn’t have to play the characters, because you know he sang on the CMA’s with me when Lee had covid and he was also Chris Stapleton for the night!! But I have to say Charles sent me a little bit of a voice memo of a tiny bit he’d written for “Truck on Fire” and said “I feel you should write this with me” and when I heard it I was like “yes I have to write that with you”. It’s one I’m already playing in my live shows that seems to be an ear worm and I’m so excited about that one.
LH That tag line immediately got stuck in my head and I can’t wait to hear it live.
(Aside … I then totally forgot to ask Carly about the outside cut on the album, “Things I Don’t Chase” … one for another time!)
LH And in a change from your usual big production videos, the tracks already released have been accompanied by more intimate ones from your “Through The Lens” series. Was that aimed at focusing attention on the song more, was it due to time constraints because you’re so busy …
CP Ha right! I’m sure when we have a proper single there’ll be a video. But visuals are so important on this record because they tell a story of light and good and joy, and a lot of people haven’t seen me in a lot of colour because it’s been black and white and “29” was so different. So I wanted to just visually create this little world around these songs that were kind of in a more artistic way something for people to look at, give them the essence of the feeling of the album .
LH I usually ask artists how they’ll be celebrating on release day , but I see you’ll be playing a date with Tim on that night and the one after … then it’s CMA Fest … so it’s going to be one big party it seems?
CP It’s going to be fun! I love getting to be on the road when albums are released cos you’re getting to celebrate with people who make you able to make albums.
LH Have the best time, see you in the New Year and I hope the album is the success I feel it deserves to be for so many reasons. Oh and give Johnny and June a hug from me!
CP Thank you, I really appreciate it. And I will!
Pre-order/Pre-save “ Hummingbird “ here https://carlypearce.lnk.to/Hummingbird_UK