Carly Pearce is sharing new details about her “If I Don’t Go I’m Gonna Stay” duet with Riley Green. The song, written by Jordan Reynolds, Devin Dawson, Seth Ennis, and Jordan Minton, was sent to her by Reynolds.

“I love collaborations, but I knew I had to do something different, because I’ve had so many amazing ones,” Pearce tells Billboard. “I said, ‘I want a song with Riley.’ They wrote this song with me in mind, and Jordan texted me and said, ‘This would be crazy with you and Riley.’”

Pearce and Green were already friends, which is at least partly why she wanted him to join her on the sexy song.

“I love collaborations, obviously,” Pearce says on SiriusXM’s The Highway. “I’ve also had a lot of success with collaborations. I’ve gotten to collaborate with so many amazing people that I set myself — I have a high bar of what I want. Obviously, Riley is Riley Green. But to me, I’ve gotten to sing with him several times over the last couple of years, and I really liked — he’s more acoustic-driven in the way that he does music. He has this simple way of emoting that I really like. It’s not over-produced. It’s very honest; it’s very real. And when we sing together, I was like, ‘Oh, you feel familiar to me in that way,’ and he felt the same.”

 

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How Riley Green Reacted When Carly Pearce Sent Him “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay”

After Pearce heard “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” she sent it to Green, who fortunately immediately loved the song.

“I just sent it to him,” Pearce recalls. “I texted him, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m sure you get these a lot. I really feel like this song is special.’ And I’m not kidding, within five minutes, he texted me back. And it was very similar to Lee Brice when I sent ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now.’ It was immediate, and we had it recorded very fast. Same thing with this. He was sending me a voice memo an hour later, singing his part. And I feel like the way that he sings this is like a piece of his character in his voice that I don’t think people have heard. He sounds so good on this song. I just think it’s really special.”

The Video for Carly Pearce and Riley Green’s “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay”

Pearce is happily dating business entrepreneur Jordan Archer, but that didn’t keep her from filming a sultry video with Green.

“It’s a very sexy song. Somebody has to play the role of Riley’s love interest,” Pearce quips. “I decided I could do it, if somebody needed somebody to do it. Typically in our world, if it’s not Tim and Faith, you just have other people act for you, and you’re kind of like the performance. He was willing to go there with me. So we play the role. ”

What Carly Pearce and Riley Green Say About ‘If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay’

When “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” was released, both Pearce and Green were quick to sing each other’s praises.

“Collaborating with artists I’m a fan of is one of my favorite things to do,” Pearce says. “I’ve been a fan of Riley’s for so long and knew if we could find the right moment, it would be special. ‘If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay’ is the perfect moment for us.”

“I’ve been a huge fan of Carly and her voice for a long time, so it was cool to get the text from her about this song,” adds Green. “The harmonies were unique and there was something really different about it. I’m glad she thought of me for this song. It’s awesome to get to do something together.”

Photo Credit: John Shearer