Carly Pearce has learned a few things about love in the last couple of years. Now happily dating Riley King, Pearce chronicled her complicated feelings over the end of her brief marriage to Michael Ray in 29: Written in Stone. The “What He Didn’t Do” singer now knows what is most important to her in a relationship, and the one trait she refuses to compromise about.
“Trust is probably the biggest non-negotiable for me,” Pearce tells her record label. “I feel like I’m pretty simple. I just wanna be treated with respect. I still am a little bit old-school in believing that chivalry is not dead, and a man should court a girl.”
While trust is the most important factor in a relationship, Pearce does say there are a few other things that are also very, very important to her as well.
“I think they have to have a sense of humor and they have to love country music and they have to love June, my puppy,” Pearce shares. “If they don’t love June, they’re out. You gotta love dogs.”
Pearce is still riding high after recently winning her first Grammy Award. The 32-year-old won the trophy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, for her “Never Wanted To Be That Girll” duet with Ashley McBryde. The award marks the first time two female artists have won in the category.
“I always loved Ashley’s music and just was a fan. I asked her if she’d write a song with me,” Pearce said backstage after their historic win (via The Tennessean). “To see this song do what it’s over the last year and a half for us and just continue to show the girls coming up behind us that you can write your truth and you can do everything that you want in this business, I feel very, very lucky.”
Pearce, who is currently working on a new album, will release 29: Written in Stone (Live From Music City), on March 24. The project, which includes live collaborations with McBryde, Lee Brice and Matthew West, was recorded during Pearce’s Marathon Music Works intimate concert event in Nashville last year.
29: Written in Stone might have been born of heartbreak, but she’d go through it all again and again, if only to feel as creative as she did during that time in her life.
“As a writer, I wish I could go through a divorce every time I make a new album, because it makes you feel so inspired,” Pearce told Grammy.com. “But I think what I learned through making that record is, people wanna hear how I see the world. They wanna hear what I’m going through. From [age] 29 to 32, almost 33, there’s been a lot of life that I’ve intentionally kept more private. [Now], people say to me, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so happy, but we’re not gonna get those Carly Pearce heartbreak songs.’”
Pearce will join Blake Shelton on his Back To The Honky Tonk Tour, kicking off later this month. Find music and tour dates at CarlyPearce.com.
