A live version of Carly Pearce and Riley Green‘s hit duet, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” is out now. The song is part of Pearce’s new Honest Woman album, which will be available on August 28.

The live version was recorded during their recent performance at CMA Fest, when both Pearce and Green were part of the nighttime Nissan Stadium shows.

“When I sent ‘If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay’ to Riley, it was because I’m such a fan of what he does,” Pearce tells the Country Music Association. “Collaborations are one of my favorite things I get to do, and I take them very seriously. And in my head, I just heard his voice. It was just a gut feeling. I know that everybody knows how pretty he is, but he’s actually such an incredible artist, writer and stylist with his voice. And he just knocked it out of the park. I knew I was right.”

The Story Behind “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” by Carly Pearce and Riley Green

“If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” was written by Jordan Reynolds, Devin Dawson, Seth Ennis, and Jordan Minton. The song was written with Pearce in mind.

“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.”

Fortunately, Green liked the song the first time he heard it.

“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.”

Carly Pearce’s New ‘Honest Woman’ Album

In addition to her “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” collaboration with Green, Honest Woman also has “Dream Come True,” “Church Girl,” “What If You Loved Me” with Molly Tuttle and Dan Tyminski, “She Don’t,” and more.

“When I started making Honest Woman, I found myself rediscovering who I am and why I wanted to be a country music singer in the first place,” says Pearce. “This album takes me back to the beginning of my story, where the sounds of classic country and bluegrass music shaped who I am. I’m so proud of this body of work, and I truly feel like it’s my best yet.”

See a track list for Honest Woman below.

‘Honest Woman’ Track List

1. “Dream Come True”
2. “Church Girl”
3. “She Don’t”
4. “You Can Have Him”
5. “How Long”
6. “WWJD”
7. “Same Circus”
8. “Happy For Myself”
9. “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” Carly Pearce & Riley Green
10. “I Don’t Have The Heart”
11. “He Don’t Like My Dogs”
12. “Leave My Heart Alone”
13. “Who’s Lying Here” Carly Pearce & Dan Tyminski
14. “Daisy”
15. “What If You Loved Me” Carly Pearce, Molly Tuttle & Dan Tyminski
16. “Why God Why Me”

Photo Credit: CMA / Natasha Moustache