Carly Pearce is dropping more hints about her new music. The Kentucky native just released “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” a collaboration with Chris Stapleton, which is the debut single from her next record. The new set of tunes follows Pearce’s deeply personal 29: Written in Stone, and while she is no longer going through the heartache that inspired that project, Pearce does say fans can still expect a lot of honesty and transparency in her record.
“I wrote 29 when I was 29,” Pearce tells Audacy‘s US99. “I’m 33 now, so a lot has changed. I’m in a really good place. I think for the first couple of years, it felt very transitional, just kind of figuring out my way of life again, after a really hard time. But it’s really good. I’ve been writing a bunch, and I know that people are really excited, because obviously I have a new single.
“That means more stuff I’m really excited to get to share,” she continues. “I feel like nobody really knows what’s going on, really, so it’s fun. You are going to get to know what the last few years have been like for me.”
Pearce has released songs like “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” “What He Didn’t Do,” “Dear Miss Loretta” and more, all songs that are about challenging times in her own life, and times that she wasn’t afraid to share with the world.
“I think I’m known for writing the things that maybe some people are too uncomfortable to write about,” Pearce admits. “I think I am the artist that maybe makes you go, ‘[gasps] Did she really just say that?’ And that’s the kind of person that I want to be. That’s the kind of artist that I want to be.”
Pearce has already made a name for herself with her honesty and forthrightness, a reputation she hopes continues throughout her lengthy career.
“I would say that people think I’m real and honest,” the Grand Ole Opry member acknowledges. “And true to myself, and willing to be vulnerable in moments that maybe aren’t exactly fun, but I choose to do it because I find it rewarding.”
It was Stapleton’s wife Morgane who Pearce reached out to for the “We Don’t Fight Anymore” duet. Pearce wrote the song with Shane McAnally and Pete Good, and felt right away that it was perfect for Stapleton.
“When we wrote it, I heard Chris singing on it,” Pearce told Audacy’s Coop. “I don’t know why. I kind of just heard him singing harmony on it, and I DM’d his wife, Morgane, and asked her if I could send a song for him, and it just snowballed. He ended up doing something so special on it, that unlocked the other side to the story, and it’s literally the most proud I’ve ever been to put out a song.”
Although Pearce insists the song isn’t about Riley King, whom she dated for two years before ending the relationship this spring, she does say it came from a place of honesty, among all of the writers.
“We were just trying to find something honest, as I feel like I always do,” Pearce told iHeartCountry. “In this moment, this is not what any of us were going through, but I think Shane threw out the idea of ‘We Don’t Fight Anymore,’ and it was just off to the races at that point. I feel like all of us agreed that this is probably a point that people have been in, in a relationship. Maybe they’re still together. Maybe they’re not. Maybe they shouldn’t be together. Maybe this song will help them. But you always, at some point I guess, experience something like this, of just that feeling of indifference.”
Pearce has plenty of chances to see her perform live over the next few months, while she finishes her next record. Find music and tour dates at CarlyPearce.com.
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Photo Credit: Allister Ann