Carly Pearce Addresses TMZ Post

Carly Pearce stopped by our studios on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashvile recently and took to the stage to catch us up on a lot!  She shared details on a new album, what tour ife is like with Tim McGraw & the tMZ story that called her a, "Devil Worshiper!"

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, it's Tay Hamilton and werecently got to catch up with Carly Pierce.
We were lucky enough to do itin front of a live audience downtown
Nashville inside Jason Alden's Kitchen and rooftopbar. Here it is. My name
is Wayne d. She is Tayfrom The Big ninety eight and iHeartRadio.
We appreciate you all joining us atJason al Dean's kitchen a rooftop bar.
We have an amazing opportunity here toget you up close and personal with some

(00:22):
artists and sometimes are brand new artistswho you walk out afterwards and go,
who the hell was that again?And then there's times that we can bring
legit award winners in here whose namesare forever written in country music history,
all right, but also not justany awards Grammy. That's a big deal,
ladies and gentlemen. Carly Pearce,Hey, it's awkward if it's quiet

(00:56):
now, so a little more please, okay, listen. I appreciate you
guys. Hello, I appreciate thecameras, but these sorts are shorter than
I realized. So, oh boy, I don't have an OnlyFans yet,

(01:17):
so I'm gonna tell you we hadthe first opportunity to meet Carly. Uh,
I'm telling you so long ago.She started as an on the verge
artist without the country and and artistsdo what are called radio tours, So
before you ever hear them on theradio, before you're ever streaming their music,
they do what's called a radio tourwhere they literally carry their guitar and

(01:40):
visit three different cities in a day. Yeah. So uh, she won't
say it, but it's honestly hellon an artist, And you can tell,
uh, what give us that experience? You're far past it. But
you're walking in the door as abrand new artist, you just signed a
record deal and you're out meeting countryradio. What's it like interdu sing yourself

(02:00):
as a new artist. I mean, you have no idea what you're doing.
You're walking in and you're playing theseperformances for people at the radio station.
But like they invite everybody that isworking at the radio station. And
sometimes it's like during lunch hour,so I remember singing every little thing,
like while a guy was heating hispizza. Sometimes they just get up and

(02:22):
leave. But I mean it waschaotic, like truly, I was maybe
on flight like three different cities sometimesit felt like three different states, and
you're just kind of trying to capitalizeon this moment that you get with the
people that could change your life,and you're like very nervous about it and

(02:43):
very just kind of overwhelmed of ohmy gosh, I have to make a
good impression. So it's kind oflike a first date, like three times
a day for I don't know,eight weeks. I heard that calm down
over here, this single guy overhere, you reel it in well.
And now fast forward to now you'vebeen doing this now for quite some time.
What would you say are the bestthings about your job and the worst

(03:07):
things? Now? I mean thebest things are that my job doesn't feel
like a job, that I getto just perform and write songs and I
don't know, just to get toperform every day, and people care about
what you have to say. Iwould say the hardest or the worst thing
about it is just your life iskind of not your own anymore. So,

(03:30):
so like time at your home isvery few and far between, and
it's just harder to have a littlebit of normalcy, if that makes sense.
Speaking of normalcy, how many ofy'all were around for CMA fest.
Okay, do you live here?Are you still here? Okay? I
was gonna say, if you're stillhere, goal to hell home. But

(03:52):
Carly speaking of like her life isn'ther own anything an artist does lives forever
now right, we were just talkingabout a afest and I'm going to give
you the chance to clear the airhere. Uh, she was in front,
so give us a back. Anyy'all check out TMZ on a regular
basis. No, that's not.You're the one proud person a celebrities failing

(04:14):
at life. I'm there daily.No, it's fine, it's fine,
we're not judging you. She's drunk, She's like, yeah, But so
tell us about the picture that wentcrazy viral and is a massive misunderstanding.
I posted a picture of me outsideof my tour bus getting ready to play
the stadium, and the you know, there's apparently an underground satanic cult in

(04:39):
the entertainment industry, and there wasa six six eight, but fans thought
it said six sixty six, andeverybody was like, Carly's a devil worshiper.
And I was like, of anybodyme really? And you really think?
So? I had to go andI made it to TMZ because of
my Satanic's tendencies, you know.Yeah, She's like I know, I

(05:02):
saw I printed the page. Whenyou sign it and like me and my
like rhinestones, I'm like, yo, mass satan. No, I'll be
honest. The Devil would send herstraight back to us. I probably he'd
be like, she's too high maintenance, get her out. That's like the
weirdest thing you've ever seen. That'sactually maybe the weirdest. And like the
little picture on TMZ was like melooking like this on stage, Like they

(05:24):
picked this really weird photo and thenthey had like the devil with his pitchfork,
and I was just like this,this is new, this is new.
Oh I will my mom? Wereyou worried? My mom was like,
I'm proud of you for standing upfor your faith. I was like,
yeah, mom, I don't wantpeople thinking I'm a devil worshiper.
Well, so in between CMA Festand now you're on tour with Timm gral

(05:48):
standing room only tour. Now you'reit's not a secret, right, We
all see all of our social mediathat Tim McGraw is a health freak.
He's constantly working out. Does heget you to work out with him?
Is he like waking you up orin the mornings? No, I no

(06:08):
joke. I mean I lifted histire kind of as a joke, or
I tried to, and it wasso much heavier than I thought it was.
It almost like knocked me over.So one time I had him show
me how to lift the tire,and I joke because I came out that
I had a heart issue right afterthat. So I think timmocgral broke my
heart, like actually like killed mephysically because I can't lift a tire.

(06:28):
But no, I watch him frommy bus at like three o'clock when I'm
usually eating like a cookie, flippingtires and working out for like two hours.
It's insane. So as an artistwho is on tour, getting to
open or be direct support for aguy like Tim McGraw is obviously a massive
deal and probably pretty exciting. Howdo you hear news that you've been invited

(06:51):
to that tour? I was gettingmy nails done and my manager called me
and he was like, hey,timmcgral wants you to come on tour with
him next year. And I hadto be cool because I was in the
nail salon and it was quiet.I was like, okay, I would
like to do that, thank youso much, and that was it.
It was like, great, Iwould like blue to nail polish. Well,

(07:14):
you're also celebrating your fourth album,Hummingbird. Congratulations, Thank you.
It's so dang good. But youwere also a co producer on this album
as well. Is that a newrole for you? And what were like
the responsibilities, Like, yeah,this is the first album that I've had
any kind of co producer credit on. I grew up every single album that

(07:36):
I bought, it was like whoproduced it, who wrote on it,
who's playing on it? Who arethe background singers? Like. I was
always fascinated by all of that.And so as you continue on in the
studio and you kind of find yoursound, I think it's like only natural
that probably the person that understands yoursound the most is you. And I
wrote all of these songs, soI feel like I kind of know how

(07:57):
I want them to sound, andso it was just so much fun to
get to kind of go in thereand these I'm not a great musician,
like I play guitar to be ableto write, but I cannot play parts
at all, but I hear thingsin my head, so just to be
able to kind of like try tocommunicate those to the musicians and be like,
I think this should be this Andit was a really fun thing.

(08:18):
One thing that I love about Carlyis she, since day one, has
been an open book. If youdon't believe in a song, you don't
feel a song, you don't writeor perform the song. Part of that
is being super vulnerable. Over thelast handful of years, you have gone
through a hell of a ride inlife, but you took everybody with you.

(08:39):
Could have easily shut the door,did what you needed to for you,
and then swung it back open.Why was it important to kind of
be a window for your fans whileyou were dealing with life. Well,
I was writing in real time whenall of this stuff was going on in
my life, and it just didnot feel natural. I remember some on

(09:00):
my team being like, well,you could just like write a song about
life and not about love, andI was like, yeah, because that
makes sense as a newlywed, Okay, And that just kind of started this
thought in my mind that if I'mgoing to be the type of artists that
I want to be, which ishonest. I have to just accept that

(09:24):
the not so pretty parts of mylife are going to come out right now,
but in return have become some ofthe biggest pillars of what I feel
like people have latched onto just toyou know, I wrote this music feeling
like I was the only one goingthrough it, and in return, so
many other people have been going throughthings like that or felt shame around things

(09:46):
in their life that have happened.And now I feel like we've kind of
all gotten stronger together, and Ithink about, oh, my gosh,
if I wouldn't have just been honest. So it's kind of been my like
the bar has been set for meof the type of of authenticity that I
want to always convey. I'll takeno more divorces. But you know,

(10:07):
well now, in kind of aplay on that, was there ever a
time where you put out a songand maybe look back and you were like,
ooh, maybe it was a littletoo vulnerable there? No, No,
I feel like I remember driving,I'll never forget where I was.
And I played my dad that thisis before any of the twenty nine record

(10:28):
was out, And I played mydad next girl, and he listened to
it like this, and then atthe end he just looked at me and
he was like, you can't putthat out And I was like, watch
me. So no, I'm notafraid. I love it. Well,

(10:50):
how many of y'all have had yourheart broke before? Get okay, okay
to y'all that were quiet right there? You need to be loved the all
right, or own it? SoI'm gonna try again. How many y'all
had your heart broke before? Sohe's laughing because you're the heartbreaker, you
bastard. That's fine, He's like, not me, bro get in,

(11:13):
get out. You know what?Uh I that I did not? There's
children. Every girl in here isgonna kill you, Wayne. It's fine.
How therapeutic is it to hear fanslatch on to words that were therapeutic
for you to begin with? Imean it's been why I feel like I've
been able to heal is because everyand I wish I always say this,

(11:35):
like, I wish that every singleperson who's ever had their heartbroken in the
way that I did was able everysingle night to have this community of people,
or go on Instagram and have hundredsof dms of stories that make you
feel like you're not the only onegoing through it, and so it's been
super healing and I think the onlyway that I've been able to kind of

(11:58):
just move forward and get out ofthat phase of my life. We're getting
ready to wrap things up here,but I wanted to talk to you because
you've you've been through so many thingsin your career already, right the opry
which you're at tonight. I amthere is anybody coming from performing at the
opera but also a Grammy winner.I just feel like you can't get any

(12:20):
bigger than that, So, like, what's what's the next goal for you?
I feel like more of the same. I just want to keep making
music that continues to secure my placein country music. And I feel like
all the if I like that.If you don't follow her on Instagram and

(12:41):
Twitter and everything already, you shouldthank you so much. That's she's trying
to get a picture at her bridalparty. You just wrap it up.
Oh is it your what? Ohit's your bachelorette? Oh girl, Yeah,
we need to talk. I'm jokingthem a kid. Yeah, I
mean all I ever wanted was tobe in country music. So all of

(13:03):
the greats that I feel like Ilook up to they continue to elevate,
Tim mcgral being one of them.I mean, you think about it,
he was a nineties country artist.How is that even possible when I feel
like he's like hotter than ever.So, just continuing to make sure that
I'm working really hard and maintaining whatI got going on. You know,
Uh, Carly put out a newalbum what Feels Like yesterday, But honestly

(13:24):
it's been a week, couple week, week and a half. As your
career continues and your life continues,what are some stories that you were really
excited to tell with this new album. I think the biggest one is that,
well, I guess too. Ifeel like Loretta Lynne, what she

(13:46):
does better than anybody, or whatshe did better than anybody was she kind
of had a humor to the reallynot so great parts of her life that
happened to her. And I feellike this album, when you can attach
to things that once you couldn't speakabout because you were so traumatized by it,
When you get to that humor part, that's growth and I think just

(14:09):
showing people that you can have thegreatest season of your life after what you
thought was the end of your life, and that's the most important thing for
me is it's like no, no, Like, I'm not here to just
tell you like I lived it.Here's here's my thoughts on it. You
know, I like that a lot. I want to ask when when we

(14:30):
interview artists, it's a lot oflike, here's a great awards you were
nominated for, here's a great storyabout a song. I'm going to ask
you to talk a little smack onyourself. At some point, at some
point, you wrote a song orput a line in a song that you
were like, this is ridiculous,but let's run with it. We just
caught up with Old Dominion and theywere talking about what is it the I'm

(14:56):
gonna forget? It's something I wason a boat that day. It's had
a drunk, had a drink witha cross eyed bear. However, the
line goes, but is there aline in a song for you that you
look back and you're like, well, it's there now, I guess Wow.
I've never been asked that. Thatdoesn't mean it's a good question,

(15:16):
by the way, natally, it'sa good I'm like, literally, I'm
like, what are all the songsthat I've written. I don't know,
like I think some of my earliersongs, like one that comes to mind
that I think, you know,I had the right intention, but it's
kind of stupid, is no.I feel bad because you guys are gonna

(15:39):
put this on the internet, sendit to TMZ bro Color. Like I
have a song called color and likethe thought of you be the lines,
I'll be the color. That's kindof stupid, but you know it's here,
but it's like, that's kind ofdumb. I don't know, Like
it just feels like a little elementaryto me. But I was young in
elementary in my writing. So thenew album is out. You have a

(16:03):
lot of dates lined up in betweennow and the end of the year,
But what are some things you're lookingforward to as far as unplugging some days
off and what do you do withyour days off? I'm gonna I'm starting
to write for my next record,which again that's another thing, like I
took so much time to make thisalbum because I just needed it. But
now I feel really inspired and likeexcited about the next So I'm gonna do

(16:25):
that. She just says she's gonnawork with her time off y'all are cheering.
It never ends, it never iss. That's awful for mental health.
Hey, let me ask what doyou do for mental health? I literally
was like, that's coffee, Idrink wine, I'm exercise. Like,
that's a really good thing for me. Therapy, wine, my dogs.

(16:48):
They're my emotional support system. Butit's more important than ever right in country
music to like make sure you're takingcare of yourself away from the music,
for sure. I mean, Ithink therapy has been something that's been really
absolutely needed just to have a thirdparty that I can speak to that has

(17:10):
nothing to do with anything in mylife. Sometimes you just need to be
able to have that outlet, especiallyin a world where it's kind of like
all the time. Yeah, howdoes that help too? With writing?
I feel like I work out alot of like details about my life that
then are kind of unique song ideas. A lot of the Oklahoma or the
Oklahoma I was thinking about the songOklahoma. Songs like Oklahoma in My Place

(17:36):
Pretty Please, Like those were talkedabout in therapy for sure before they were
written. All Right, last questionI want to ask is you have experienced
some amazing things, probably things thatwere on your buck list, but like
they're just there because they're there youmaybe never thought you'd get to them.
If you could pick an event ora day or an experience that that was

(17:57):
the best day ever, what wouldit be? I would pick two.
One when Dolly surprised me to beinvited as a member of the opry,
that was that was a good one. And then when I won a Female

(18:19):
Vocalist of the Year, that wasthat was a good one. Those are
good days, very good things.Hey, uh, how many of y'all
are from Nashville. Dang, that'sit, So the rest of y'all are
visiting. Thank you for taking thetime. Thank you for taking the time
out. We appreciate you'all being herevery much. Winnati, it's Cincinnati from

(18:42):
that is insane. That's me.Northern Kentucky. Wait where are you from?
It are you from Northern Kentucky?No? Fort Thomas I used to
live in. Where did I live? Fort Mitchell? You a only know?
I know, you only know ifwe appreciate your guys conversation. But

(19:03):
there's a room full of people thatdon't care. Okay, we love you
for it again. My name isWayne d. She is Tay Hamilton,
ladies and gentlemen, I want youto be as loud as you're gonna be
on your whole vacation, as youmake noise for Carly Pearce