Carly Pearce Embraces Her Roots & Her ‘Honest Woman’ Era [Interview]

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Carly Pearce. Photo: Dove Shore

With Honest Woman, Carly Pearce is embracing the lessons and experiences that have shaped her.

The award winning artist released her fifth studio album today (Aug. 28) via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville. Across the project, Pearce turns toward the parts of herself she has continued to discover, from her Kentucky bluegrass roots to the complicated emotions that come with growing older, navigating relationships and watching life unfold on its own timeline.

In fact, the album’s title came together only after Pearce had already lived through many of the songs.

“I truly did not come up with the title of the album until the very end,” she tells MusicRow. “I think I was subconsciously coming to this understanding of my life as I was living these songs.”

That realization shaped the record’s central theme. As Pearce entered a new season of life, she found herself thinking about the expectations placed on women to reach certain milestones by a certain age, and how easily those expectations can overshadow the life happening in front of you.

“We are told as women that we shouldn’t say our age and we need to have this by this time, and we’re on these timelines and the highlight reel. I just wanted to be the exception to the rule.”

That perspective comes through particularly on “Dream Come True” and “Happy For Myself,” two of the album’s most vulnerable moments. Both songs explore the less polished side of life, confronting the sacrifices, comparisons and disappointments that can exist alongside professional success and personal milestones.

For Pearce, that kind of openness begins in the writing room. Rather than relying on a conventional co-writing circle, she often writes with people she already trusts, allowing conversations with friends to become the foundation for some of her most personal songs.

“Both of those songs came out of conversations that I was having with my friends who happened to be my co-writers. I write with my friends because I’m so honest and vulnerable that I could never write these songs with people I didn’t know.”

While the album digs into Pearce’s present, it also reaches back to where she came from. Having started singing in bluegrass bands as a child, Pearce wanted Honest Woman to reconnect listeners with the Kentucky side of her musical identity. That comes through most prominently on “What If You Loved Me,” a bluegrass collaboration with Dan Tyminski and Molly Tuttle.

The project’s other major collaboration, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” pairs Pearce with Riley Green. After deciding she wanted Green on the album, Pearce simply sent him the song. His response came almost immediately, creating the emotional ballad currently climbing country radio. 

Sonically, Pearce sees the album as a departure from worrying about what might fit neatly into the commercial country landscape. She co-produced the project with longtime collaborator Ben West, incorporating bluegrass musicians and leaning further into the sounds that felt natural to her.

“I really think sonically it’s the most interesting album I’ve ever done, and my best.”

That honesty runs throughout the album, with Pearce allowing herself to show both the good and difficult parts of where she is in life.

It also extends to the lighter moments. She points to “You Don’t Like My Dogs” as the song she’s most excited to hear fans sing back to her on the road, calling it “an anthem.”

And while Pearce believes women are already ruling country music, she sees honesty as the next step in continuing that momentum.

“I challenge all the girls to be more honest because clearly women want to hear other women and they want to hear other stories.”

With Honest Woman, Pearce is doing exactly that. Looking back at where she came from, acknowledging where she is and leaving room for wherever life takes her next.

Madison Hahnen
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