CURRENT SINGLE: “Next Girl”
Carly Pearce will turn 31 in April, but it was her 29th year of life, when she lost her dear friend and only producer, busbee, to a sudden diagnosis of brain cancer, and when she got married and also made the decision to get a divorce, that inspired her brand new collection of music, aptly titled 29. While the title track, “29,” is about her own personal experiences, Carly says, “I think that everybody can put themselves in this song in some form or fashion of just life maybe not turning out the way you thought it was going to, and owning that and sitting in that a little and processing it and being honest with yourself.”
Part of the reason Carly was able to pour her raw emotions into the songs on 29 is because she knows she’s not alone. Her fans, she says, “didn’t live this story but they’ve lived a form of it. Because I think we all are struggling in some way to figure things out.”
And in a time when Carly might have wanted to hide or put on a fake smile for the world, the experiences and the music that was inspired by them were liberating in a way. “I think that this has just pushed me to be maybe less Instagram perfect, if you will,” says Carly, “and a little bit more ‘it’s okay to not be okay sometimes, and it doesn’t mean that you’re going to never get back up or that you’re gonna die. It just means that you’re figuring it out and it’s okay.’”
The beauty of 29 is that it not only acknowledges the hurt and the pain and the embarrassment of a difficult year for Carly, it’s also about “trying to take it for what it is, just a moment that strength will come from and wisdom will come from and good will come from, and being happy with that.”
In the end, it was worth it to Carly to risk being so vulnerable and so honest because she says, “I think when the album was finished, in so many ways, I was proud of myself for coming through just a really devastating loss with busbee and finding a new-found, deeper rooted country music that really was what I moved to Nashville to make. And I think that just in all forms with life and how it’s panned out, I think in the moments where I thought, no you can’t, I left going, yes you can.”
29, featuring Carly’s current single, “Next Girl,” will be available this Friday, February 19th, wherever you stream or download music.
Carly Pearce – the meaning of 29 :47
“29 is a pivotal year for everybody, I think. I think it’s kind of that point in your life where you have a lot of life experience and have been through things, but also, you’re still young and have wonder about the world. I think that everybody can put themselves in this song in some form or fashion of just life maybe not turning out the way you thought it was going to, and owning that and sitting in that a little and processing it and being honest with yourself. This song for me, was me just owning a year that was difficult and embarrassing for me in some ways, just like we all have embarrassing moments in life, and trying to take it for what it is, just a moment that strength will come from and wisdom will come from and good will come from, and being happy with that.”
Carly Pearce – fans relating to 29 :28
“They didn’t live this story but they’ve lived a form of it. Because I think we all are struggling in some way to figure things out. And for me, I think that this has just pushed me to be maybe less Instagram perfect, if you will, and a little bit more ‘it’s okay to not be okay sometimes and it doesn’t mean that you’re going to never get back up or that you’re gonna die. It just means that you’re figuring it out and it’s okay.’”
Carly Pearce – after finished album :28
“I think when the album was finished, in so many ways, I was proud of myself for coming through just a really devastating loss with busbee and finding a new-found, deeper rooted country music that really was what I moved to Nashville to make. And I think that just in all forms with life and how it’s panned out, I think in the moments where I thought, no you can’t, I left going, yes you can.”