Carly Pearce Keeps It Honest

We’re all seeing a side of Carly Pearce usually reserved for her closest friends, as the singer looks to reveal new layers on her latest album, 'Honest Woman.' Pearce recently joined Katie Neal to talk about the project, awkward music videos, life on the road, and more this week during the 'Superstar Power Hour.' “I hope they get to know me better,” Carly says when asked what she hopes fans take away from the new album. “I feel like I really stretched myself on this one to go places that I haven't before. I hope they get to know me better and I hope they feel seen.” “This is my 5th record, and I think I started to wonder what else was left to say and challenged myself to think about, ‘OK. Yes, we have no problem with heartbreak. We have no problem with sass, but take it a step further,’” says Pearce. “I just really kind of peeled back some layers of my own self to think about maybe what people don't know about me, that my closest friends would know about me.” In many ways we’ve unlocked the next level of Carly Pearce by going back to the beginning with her, to the classic Country and Bluegrass songs that first shaped her love of music. You can hear the influence on songs like “You Can Have Him,” which channels the same straightforward wisdom as some of her heroes. “I've always said that traditional Country music was a big part of my life,” she says. “When you start listening to that song, it's upright bass, it sounds like maybe what Loretta Lynn would have sang in 1965 on the Opry. Like, we go there.” Pearce will take the new album on the road for a set of “Up Close” intimate shows in smaller venues across the country later this year. “I've gotten to travel and tour in all different venues, sizes, you know, all these things, and I'm very lucky that I've gotten to do all of that,” Carly tells Katie, “but I think what I have found that my favorite are the smaller venues and just being able to have a conversation.” “People don't come to my shows to see the lights and the costume changes and the videos. They come to see me sing and they come even more than that to hear me talk. That's become the storytelling part of my shows,” admits Pearce. “I really wanted to make it different, really for myself.” Unfortunately on this tour though, Carly will be without her dogs, Johnny and June, who have been “fired” from the road crew after some bad behavior. “They're a little naughty,” reveals Pearce. “I have to be honest, they bite people.” “They're very sweet if they love you, but they'll bite you. We used to think Johnny was peeing in my guitar player's bunk, but I think it was June. They're bad. I love them so much, but they've kind of become like divas, so they stay at their grandparents' house.” For more from Carly Pearce on making music videos with Riley Green, and the story behind some of her biggest hits, listen to the full 'Superstar Power Hour' interview above.