ALLISTER ANN
Carly Pearce thought her fourth album, hummingbird, would be a much different kind of project.
She even had a title track in mind, “country music made me do it,” an upbeat tune with a wink and smile Pearce felt would help shift her away from the heavy emotions of her hugely successful 29: Written In Stone. She liked the idea so much she also picked it as the name of last year’s headline tour, so all the pieces were set. Then, “hummingbird” floated in on the wind, changing everything.
A tender mix of vulnerability and virtue, delicate but determined to never let a wild world crush its spirit, the feathery roots ballad became a rally cry for Pearce, and the central theme of an album all about inner balance. Arriving June 7 via Big Machine Records, hummingbird is far from a downer of an album – it’s got more overall energy than anything else the GRAMMY winner has done yet. But embedded inside the recovery mantras and girl-power anthems, Appalachian jams, and ‘90s-country nostalgia, a wounded undercurrent still runs. And despite what she had in mind, that’s a good thing.
“I don’t know how to not write emotional music,” Pearce admits.
Nor would her fans want her to. A Grand Ole Opry and Kentucky Music Hall of Fame member, Pearce hit a creative peak with 29: Written In Stone, baring her soul after achieving her professional dreams, but suffering the fallout of a short marriage in the spotlight. Working through that rollercoaster in song, bold hits like the Platinum Number Ones “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” (with Ashley McBryde) and “What He Didn’t Do” joined a 2021 win for CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, cementing Pearce’s pure-country status as the second coming of the rootsy female powerhouse. But while she’s ready to move on from the heartache, that doesn’t mean it’s time to forget.
“I think this album was made out of giving myself some space to live life and figure out what came after 29, because I needed to take some time to figure that out,” Pearce explains. “I feel like the last couple of years have just been a really big growing season, both personally and professionally, and I think this album is a reflection of the life I’ve been living and the confidence I’ve found in making music, and just all of the really crazy things that happen after you go through something that’s painful, or intense, or traumatic – or all of the above.”
A delightful contrast of urgency and contentment, anxiety and relief, heartbreak and the excitement of feeling ready to love again, the resulting headspace is encouraging for anyone who identifies with Pearce’s story. But she’s careful to say she didn’t get there on purpose. Without putting any pressure on herself, Pearce just started writing and ended with 14 fresh songs: all but one co-penned, and each one from a heart on the mend.
“I’m definitely more of a situational writer,” Pearce says. “I’m not somebody that just puts a bunch of songs together and puts them on an album.”
In cases like that, it helps to have a signature, and Pearce has created one of the most clearly defined brands of the modern era. Proud to have built her career on songs that “people would probably think don’t work on the radio,” hummingbird follows suit with an easy confidence and a warm sonic mix, infusing timeless elements of classic country, the ’90s revival, and her Appalachian roots with a modern edge. The album includes what Pearce considers to be the richest vocal performance of her career. And coming from a singer often praised as a torchbearer to talents like Faith Hill, Patty Loveless, and Lee Ann Womack, that is really saying something. Taking the reins as co- producer for first the time, Pearce worked with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne to get the sound just right.
“I found [producing] to be a fun challenge,” Pearce says. “Between Shane, Josh, and I, we just really love traditional country music, ’90s country, and bluegrass, so I feel like we had a lot of the same instincts. This is the first time that I’ve been a co-producer, and I felt really, really confident after 29: Written In Stone. I knew exactly what I wanted this album to sound like, and I wanted to dig in even deeper. I’ve always said I was a country music purist.”
Luckily, pure country can still be a ton of fun, and Pearce lightens the mood early and often. She even opens with that almost-title track, “country music made me do it,” having some fun at her own expense while placing a fiddle front and center. The lighthearted lyrics often feel like inside jokes cracked between friends, a quality of connection in many of the new songs.
“It just felt like an anthem that anybody could insert their own story into,” Pearce says. “It felt autobiographical; it felt funny. It’s poking fun at some things that have happened in my life, and it just felt like the right song to kind of say, ‘We’re back!’”
Elsewhere, tunes like the fiery roadhouse rocker “rock paper scissors” (co-written with Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds) captures the destructive impulse of a collapsing relationship, while tunes like “truck on fire” channel the scorned ferocity of icons like Loretta Lynn. The strutting “woman to woman” uses a clever double entendre to both castigate a cheater and stick up for the other side.
But like Pearce said, her “thing” is deeply emotional songs that “shouldn’t work” on the radio, but somehow still do. Tracks like the GOLD-certified “we don’t fight anymore” (featuring Chris Stapleton) continue that trend; a stone-cold ballad about a romantically bankrupt couple, full of nuance and pain. Pearce feels it’s important for country artists to keep making heart-wrenching music, like they’ve done for generations.
“I think we need to not be afraid of songs that mean something like that,” Pearce says. Fans have been in full agreement with Pearce on Tim McGraw’s Standing Room Only Tour, and they likely will be on this year’s CMA Fest headlining stage at Nissan Stadium June 9 as well. Back on the album, Pearce continues to follow her own advice with songs like the conflicted standout “oklahoma,” the devastated “my place,” and the even more shattered “pretty please.” That may ultimately be why “hummingbird” was the right fit for a title.
Written very late in the process with Galyon and Pearce’s co-producers, the track features a mix of light and dark hues, with some shadowy bluegrass influence and a haunting vocal blend. All along, the star sings of weathering forces much bigger than us, without dwelling on the struggle.
“I wanted a song that was completely mine. What I mean by that is I wasn’t chasing anything,” Pearce explains. “I feel like I’ve earned my place to be able to write and record a song like that.”
After recording it, she learned that hummingbirds traditionally signal that healing can begin, and that good luck is on the way. An epiphany followed, and ultimately Pearce says she has moved on from who she was on 29: Written In Stone, but “it doesn’t make it easier.” “hummingbird” captures that essence, even if she resisted it at first.
“I was like, I can’t write another heartbreak album, but country music made me do it felt too light for what this album is and what it means to me,” Pearce says. “There’s a lot of freedom in [hummingbird] because I am a lot happier, I have grown up, I feel stronger, and I feel good. But I wanted to maintain my emotional side, while also giving hope to a listener that you can get out of this situation and be okay.”
“I hope they hear that on their journey: that there’s hope and there’s light after darkness; that there’s beauty in wrestling with our feelings and beauty in growing pains. There’s hope in healing,” she continues. “Just because you’re not fully healed doesn’t mean that you’re not well on your way.”