See the brand-new acoustic rendition the “Every Little Thing” artist put together with her band when they couldn’t play in the same room together.
Her latest hit studio recording is “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” but when the pandemic hit and lockdown meant studio time wasn’t going to happen for a while, that didn’t stop Carly Pearce and her band from making music together.
The Kentucky-born Pearce declared at a young age that she was Grand Ole Opry-bound. Now, at 30, she’s done that and more. She hit the big time with the certified-platinum “Every Little Thing”; she’s co-written with Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton, and Randy Montana; toured with Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, and Jason Aldean; and has over 154 million Spotify streams and 57 million video views.
C&I is pleased to share Pearce’s brand-new “physically distanced” version of “Lightning in a Bottle.” Watch it below.
We talked with the Nashville-based singer-songwriter about the new video, her musical background, and her picks for a Good Mood Playlist.
Cowboys & Indians: Tell us a little bit about where you grew up and the music you listened to that influences the music you make today?
Carly Pearce: I grew up in a small town in northern Kentucky, where bluegrass and country music were huge. I come from a family of music lovers and was asked to front a bluegrass band when I was 11 years old. I think my love of true singers like Allison Krauss, Sonya Isaacs, Patty Loveless, Faith Hill really began when I started diving into records of artists that people told me I reminded them of.
C&I: What is the story behind “Lightning in a Bottle?” How did the song come together?
Pearce: I was out on the road and had asked my friend Hannah Ellis to come out and hang with me and write with me for the weekend. She is an amazing artist in her own right but is also such a gifted songwriter for other artists. We both share a love of wine, and one night we were on my bus drinking and she said, “Hey, I know this is super weird, but can I play you a song I wrote? I seriously think I wrote it for you.” The rest is history!
C&I: What made you decide to do a physically distanced video for this particular song?
Pearce: This song has become one of my favorite songs to do live and one of my band's favorites. It has a little bit of a classic -country vibe, so I knew that it would be perfect to do acoustically like we did for this video.
C&I: Who’s playing on it? What was that “session” like?
Pearce: My entire band is a part of this video, plus my dear friend Josh Matheny, who is one of the best dobro players in the world and who also happens to be the dobro and slide player you hear on all of my records! We each recorded our parts from our homes, and my drummer-band leader Mike Blong helped to piece everything together with an engineer-videographer. It’s pretty amazing to see what we were able to create without ever playing it together for the video!
C&I: What about the experience of putting the song together remotely surprised you?
Pearce: I think what has surprised me is how musical we were able to be without ever playing or recording this together. It truly is so awesome to see how you can make music when you're forced into something like this.
C&I: What’s your favorite part of the song?
Pearce: I love the melody and the instrumentation because it reminds me of all of those classic-country songs I loved, mixed with a little Lee Ann Womack!
C&I: How about the video?
Pearce: My favorite part of the video is just looking at the visual of what we created as a band. I love my guys so much and miss playing music with them. But I smile when I watch this video because I see that we are still creating music during this time together.
C&I: Your live vocals and presence are flawless and so joyful. Where does that composure and shining spirit come from?
Pearce: Aw, thank you! I think it comes from years and years of practice and fine-tuning my instrument. I hope I always continue to improve that.
For more on Carly Pearce, visit her website, or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Spotify.
Carly Pearce’s Good Mood Playlist
“Lightning in a Bottle” — Carly Pearce
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman” — Shania Twain
“Can't Stop the Feeling” — Justin Timberlake
“Red Dirt Road” — Brooks & Dunn
“Somebody Like You” — Keith Urban
“Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)” — Kelly Clarkson
“Footprints on the Moon” — Gabby Barrett
“This Kiss” — Faith Hill
“Make It Sweet” — Old Dominion
“Born to Fly” — Sara Evans
