Carly Pearce will finish her run as the opening act for Kenny Chesney‘s Here and Now Tour this weekend, but what a run it has been. Pearce, whose “What He Didn’t Do” single is quickly climbing up the charts, says the timing for her chance to open for one of her biggest musical idols couldn’t have been better.
“I’ve always heard how amazing he was, and just what a fun tour, but oh my goodness. It really is,” Pearce gushes to her record label. “It’s exceeded any expectation that I have. And just to be able to be out during this time in my career, it just feels right on time.“
Pearce was thrilled to join Chesney on his tour, but the respect and admiration goes both ways. In fact, the country music superstar invited Pearce to serve as his opening act before she had many of her recent accolades, including her recent No. 1 hit, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” duet with Ashley McBryde,
“From when we did this bill with Carly for her to come play with us this summer, it’s been a while,” Chesney tells The Tennessean. “The momentum of her career is much different now than when we did this deal. I feel like I’m very lucky, in that sense. I love her and I’m very proud of her.”
Serving as the opening act, along with Dan + Shay and Old Dominion, for Chesney certainly gave Pearce’s career a big boost, but she was already achieving new milestones in her career, even before joining Chesney on tour. The Kentucky native is both the reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as the ACM Female Artist of the Year. She also headlined her own The 29 Tour, which she will reprise shortly after the Here and Now Tour wraps, this time with a series of shows in Europe, with Sarah Darling serving as her opening act.
For someone who dreamed of a career in country music her entire life, seeing so many of the things she once thought impossible now happening is almost more than she can fathom.
“I’m in this phase of just going, ‘Oh my goodness, so many of my dreams are coming true,” Pearce tells Billboard. “So much is aligning I want to maintain that, and then just keep raising it.”
The Grand Ole Opry member will also spend the time not on tour working on her new album, the follow-up to her deeply personal 29: Written in Stone, released last September.
“29 was such a pivotal record, and such a pivotal moment for me and my career, but also just as a person, so I’m taking some time just to really make sure that this next transition of where I’m at is reflective of actually what’s going in my life,” Pearce says. “So I’m getting some stuff that I’m really excited about.”
Find Pearce’s music and tour dates here.
