When Carly Pearce was 16 years old, she convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school to move to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, so that she could work as a performer at Dollywood while being homeschooled by her mom, who moved with her.  While it seems a little ambitious, Carly explains, “I think I had always known I wanted to move to Nashville.  So I knew I wanted to do that after high school but then seeing an audition for Dollywood made me see an actual physical place that I could go before I went to Nashville that would get me out sooner. I just wanted to sing and I saw that and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Singing in a country show.  Boom, let’s go.’”

After her time at Dollywood, Carly indeed moved to Nashville, where she is currently enjoying her first top 30 song with “Every Little Thing,” which is still climbing the charts, while working on her debut album.

Carly Pearce – why Dollywood  :19

“I think I had always known I wanted to move to Nashville.  So I knew I wanted to do that after high school but then seeing an audition for Dollywood made me see an actual physical place that I could go before I went to Nashville that would get me out sooner. I just wanted to sing and I saw that and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Singing in a country show.  Boom, let’s go.’”