Grammy winner Carly Pearce's 'Hummingbird' reflects country singer's renewed motivations
While speaking with The Tennessean, Carly Pearce is stunned into 10 seconds of complete silence when she's referred to, correctly, as a multiple-time country-chart-topping and Grammy-winning Grand Ole Opry member.
"It's wild to think of how much my life has changed," says the astonished artist. "I've achieved every dream I had as a child."
With the upcoming June 14 release of her fourth studio album, "Hummingbird," Pearce has discovered how to advocate for her best self while standing in the spotlight of success that appeals to her and her fanbase with equal pride.
The road to a just-released album title single that indeed, as Pearce notes, "speaks to (her) most authentic self" hasn't been easy — but, to paraphrase the chef Marcus Samuelsson, integrity-driven hard work is rewarded with art that feeds the soul.
Spiritual healing, new career heights, reached
In Hopi and Pueblo indigenous cultures, hummingbirds are viewed as joyous symbols of spiritual healing, often associated with the sun and life-giving energy.
The notion has guided Pearce through her life's most bittersweet and turbulent half-decade.
Pearce followed her pandemic era 2020 divorce from fellow Nashville country artist Michael Ray with a season of her career that included not just her 2021 Opry induction and a Grammy win in 2022 for her Ashley McBryde duet "Never Wanted To Be That Girl," but also her first Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards and five headlining or supporting tour cycles.
However, she's presently surviving and thriving after those times in Nashville, a music industry town defined by astonishing platitudes. Keeping up with the Joneses (not just George) can make success an imposingly relative notion to consider.
For instance, Ashley Gorley has written over 50 No. 1 hits for Billboard's Country Radio charts. George Strait achieved two No. 1 Billboard radio hits yearly for two decades between 1980 and 2000. More recently, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour earned over $1 billion in ticket sales throughout 2023.
In Nashville, imposter syndrome hangs over even the most successful artist's life like one shot of whiskey too many in a Printer's Alley dive bar.
Attempts to be artistically relevant but not personally aware during what, to Pearce, felt like a non-stop, 36-month cycle of "building, chasing and maintaining" growing acclaim nearly burned her out by 2020.
"Hummingbird" finds Pearce in a season of her life where her "drive, work ethic and competitive nature" has instead been funneled into finding "peace and happiness" as the person whose achievements and upbringing led her to being, more so than being defined by other perceptions.
She remains faithful to her roots while not enveloping herself in her newfound Music City "celebrity." Recalling being an aspiring country music star and spending childhood nights watching the Grand Ole Opry on The Nashville Network has proved fruitful.
As well, Pearce offers that spending time living a "comfortably modest and peaceful" life that "craves normalcy" now includes going to the grocery store, working out at a gym where people know who she is and don't treat her differently and hanging out with the same friends she's had for the past decade in Nashville.
Writing songs and living life in equal measure
Being "grounded" allows her to focus on her craft and occupation.
Most recently, Pearce — in accord with what she stated — has busied herself with a smaller co-writing circle.
The only writer she's added to a crew that includes Shane McAnally — among very few — is Lauren Hungate.
Hungate's pen has co-crafted works that include Little Big Town's "Wine, Beer, Whiskey" and Jon Pardi's "Night Shift."
Other notable writers on the project include Josh Osborne, Nicole Galyon and Jordan Reynolds.
Initially overwhelmed by attempting to match or exceed the top-10 selling success of 2021's "29: Written in Stone," Pearce eventually opted to simplify her process by composing "love letters to herself" that "unapologetically honor the lessons (she's) learned."
Those include the gold-certified and 2023-released Chris Stapleton collaboration "We Don't Fight Anymore."
For Pearce, "chasing nothing and embracing freedom" involves a better-defined understanding of her forthcoming goals than at any other point in the past decade.
She's writing songs and living life in equal measure now. The success of "29" showed her that being able to exist in modernity but create in a manner defined by neo-traditional country music concepts suits her best.
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"Surviving intense experiences unlocked a vulnerability and sense of humanized normalcy between myself and my fanbase," Pearce continues, regarding crafting songs from her own experiences that can also impact her fanbase directly.
"I've accepted that my responsibility as a songwriter is not related to chasing success on country radio, having a great live set, or (mimicking) someone else. People want to hear my stories and understand the way I see the world as a way to understand our shared experiences."
Pearce is brief yet profound when asked how "Hummingbird" best represents who she is and what she desires next.
"I'm ready to chase what I want out of my career and life."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville singer Carly Pearce's album 'Hummingbird' due out June 14
