Dumb Blonde - Dumb Blonde Podcast: Carly Pearce

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Throwback Thursday (Originally aired 8/25/25)Country star Carly Pearce gets real about her journey—from her fast rise with Every Little Thing to the heartbreak behind 29. She opens up about anxiety, OCD, divorce, losing producer Busbee, and the challenges of being a woman in country music, all while celebrating her induction into the Grand Ole Opry.Carly also shares her health battle with recurrent pericarditis, how she learned to advocate for herself, and how her new album Hummingbird marks both healing and a return to traditional country roots. Plus, she talks love, resilience, and why authenticity has been the key to it all.Carly Pearce: WebsiteWatch Full Episodes & More: YouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month's trial today at Shopify.com slash bunny. Go to Shopify.com slash b-un-n-n-I-e. That's Shopify.com slash bunny. Is this thing on? What's up? Babies. to another episode of Dumblawn. Today, I got my girl, Carly Pierce, finally here, baby. Finally. I'm so excited to be here. I am stoked. You're here. I feel like you're this polarizing figure online and people are pretty obsessed with you. That's good, good or bad, I guess. I mean, it always goes both ways because some people, you know, the thing is, is like when they're

obsessed with you, it's either they love to hate you or they hate to love you. There's no, there's no in between. It's just black or white, one or the other. But I got to discover a lot of things about you that I didn't know. And I actually was like, this is just a downhome girl from Kentucky who doesn't take any shit. Yeah. And stands up for what's right. Yeah. And I think if people really got to note, like, I can't talk today, words. Golly. And I think if people really got to know your story, they would just fall in love with you the same way that I did. So, that's so nice. I can't wait to dive into that, but how's your finger? Oh my God. Have you seen like media, I know that you know better than anybody, they will blow up something for a clickbait all day. So the short answer is I was on

stage the other night and I had to get two stitches in my thumb because I broke like a piece of glass from a ranch dressing bottle on my hand. But it was like really dramatic because they made me right over to the hospital in an ambulance to go to the ER. And so all these like outlets are like, Carly Pierce rushed to the hospital in an ambulance for hurt thumb. I'm like, no, I literally just have two stitches. So it's fine. I mean, but two stitches is kind of a big deal. I've never had stitches in my life.

It's pretty, it's like inconvenient. And it was just a gross experience because I could like feel them like sewing my skin together. What happened? So it just like cut the skin open? Yeah, I went to open a ranch dressing that was a glass bottle and it just cut. And immediately I looked at my fiddle player and I was like, oh my God, it's not good. It's not good. Girl, how fucking buff are you?

You're breaking fucking glass bottles. of ranch. I know. Everybody's like, it was wine, right? You're like, no, it was ranch. It was literally a ranch bottle. But it's fine. I get them out tomorrow. Are you a wine drinker? Yes. Red or white? I like both, but red for sure. Do you, have you ever had a moment where you're drinking red wine and you just smile and your teeth are all black? My, my bass player always says he knows it's bad when my lips turn purple. Oh no. Yeah, yeah. I've been known to have purple tea. Yeah. No, I tried to have a sexy night in Hawaii with my husband one time and we're not wine drinkers and we drank red wine and let me tell you I caught a glimpse of myself being hot in the mirror and I looked like I was missing

teeth. I will never do it again. I was like holy shit how do people do this? Mine like gets like in my lip too like it's it's disgusting. Yeah no I think if you're a red wine drinker that is a choice. Yeah you got to do it right. Yeah you got at least pay attention. True dedication. Totally. So I want to ask you a couple rapid fire questions to just kind of open this up and then we're going to get into some of your history here love it all right so the first segment is going to be on love and dating what is a first date red flag oh a first date red flag if they don't ask you any questions about you right and they only talk about themselves they only talk about themselves and they're not interested at all in like anything about you red flag i couldn't agree more that actually happened to monica one of my best

friends the other day she went out with some guy on bumble and literally this man did not ask her one question about herself nope out done and i gotta be honest i'm old school like a guy should pay on the first date just the first i agree i feel i feel really strongly about that i agree especially if they ask you out yes yes definitely and then you know if you guys want to go what is it dutch or yeah or split it 50 50 then figure that out yes definitely think the first date yes for sure all right what's the worst pick up line you've ever heard oh god um um She said, oh, God. I feel like anybody, I had a guy say to me,

are you seeing anybody? This actually happened not that long ago. So he says, are you seeing anybody? And then the next line was, not that I would care either way. And I was just like, you're disgusting. Like, that was for real. Not that I would care either way. That's disgusting to me.

The ego, though. Yeah, like he even just thought he had a chance no matter what. Yeah, he never got a text back. Do people DM you stuff like that all the time? Honestly, no. I don't get, like, a lot of really weird stuff. Like, I feel like, I don't know. I feel lucky that I don't get a lot of weird stuff.

You don't get, like, your eye poked out or anything like that. None of that. I've had some weird, like, fan messages. Yeah. But I feel like, but, yeah, like, and this is somebody that's, like, successful. I'm like, you're just, like, no. Yeah. Who's one of the craziest people that have DM'd do?

Can you, like, give us a hint that you could never have, believed would DM you. Romantically or not. We'll make it. I would say, I'm not going to say who. I'll tell you after. But I'll say back when I first started, like when every little thing was hitting, a very, very famous football player DM'd me. And I thought it was like a joke. And we like FaceTime some, but it never made. Did you want to take you on a date? Yes. And I was like, look at you. Look at you getting your Mac on in the dance. But now, not anymore. No. She's like absolutely not. No, no, no, no. All right. What's more dangerous? Falling in love or falling on stage? Falling in love for sure. Yeah. I've fallen on stage several times. I've seen.

Yeah. You poor baby. Are you just accident prone? Yeah. Can you tell like my stitches? I know. I think I just like don't know my size because like I'm just lanky and yeah. But falling on stage is pretty, it's pretty awful too. But speaking of your size, you said I think in an interview that you have been five seven since like fifth grade. That's insane. She has on a Shrek shirt and it literally like gave me PTSD because Shrek came out when I was like in middle school and that was my nickname. Oh. Not even get like when I saw it.

I was like triggered. Oh no. Oh my God. Oger, Shrek. Not Fiona. Not like Shrek's wife. Shrek. It's because you're so tall though.

I was beautiful. Thank you. I was this tall when I was in fifth grade. So did you just like have a. growth spur, yep, and then you just haven't grown since. Yeah, I mean, I wear like a size 10 and a half shoe. Most men have the same size. I have like bigger hands than most guys. Like, it's just been, it's been a journey. I'm 5-7. Are you? Yeah. I know. I guess like just when I don't feel that tall anymore, but like, I guess in fifth grade it was like, but Shrek that's triggering. That is so funny.

I remember I saw you at an award show and this is before we knew you. Do you guys remember when we saw her backstage and you were dressed in like all black, right? And you're just walking and you literally look like you're floating and we were all just like, there was Carly. Like it was just like, you had this aura to you that it was just like so Stevie Nix. Like it was crazy. Yeah. And I just, I was like, I wanted to say hi, but at the same time, it was kind of like intimidated. Oh my God. Yeah. And then now that I've gotten to know you and like see how you are, I was like, I should have just said hi. Yes, definitely. Yeah. No, you were, you're very polarizing. All right. Last question. What was your celebrity crush growing up? Oh, Lance Bass. Really? Yeah.

Yeah. Before he was gay. Before we knew he was gay. Lance Bass for sure. He was always like my favorite. I loved in sync. I feel like everybody loved Lance. And then I remember I used to hang out at the palms all the time because I was dating a certain someone that owned it. And Lance and all them were there one night. And I just remember he never looked at any females. And I looked at my friend and I was like, he's not into females. And then it came out, you know, a couple of months later that he's not into females. He looks so good though.

Like, yeah, I've seen him several times and met him at stagecoach and I was like, you are so hot. Like, he's living his best life. Looks great. And he looks so sweet. He's the sweetest. He loves country music. I'm like, what?

I love that. I wonder why he doesn't do country music. I know. I know. So tell me if this is wrong or not because this was a crazy little tidbit that I found on you. You play bagpipes? Bagpipes?

It's what it says. It says she plays some unexpected instruments like bagpipes. In addition to, guitar? No, it does not. Where does it say that? And Mandolin, I'll have to pull it up because I had a feeling I was like, I don't know if this is true or not, but so it's not.

No, but I'm wondering, I used to yodel like I was like known for yodeling. Stop it right now. Like won some contest. Stop it right now. Yodle for us, Carly, please. It's like a whole thing. I haven't tried to do it. But if you notice in my voice, like I do like a flip into my falsetto and I think that came

from yodeling. Dude, we love yodeling. I'm a little bit like bagpipes yodeling. I think it's the same thing. Same thing. Totally. It's the same thing. It's fine.

Oh my God. You can't yodel for us. Please give us a little yodel. I would be so. We'll cut it. If it sucks, we'll cut it. I can't do it. It's been like 20 years since I did it. Okay. So when did you discover that you could yodel?

I loved Leanne Rhymes as a kid. Yeah, blue. Yes. And then she had a version of an old song called Cowboy Sweetheart that I was obsessed with. And I'd never heard anybody do that with their voice. And so my mom always always. says like the worst part of her journey was me trying to sing Broken Wing by Martina McBride in my bedroom because I could not belt that loud

that's a hard one. And when I was learning how to yodel, she said it was like horrendous. But that's like I wanted to be like Leanne so bad. I love that. That's like a hidden talent. Are there any more hidden talents you have? Double join it. Are you double join it?

I was not to say I'm really like it's not good. That is so crazy. It's really bad. Do you guys see that? Look at me, me. It's really bad. Oh my God. Kelly, is that the only joint that does that?

Or can you do that with like your knees too? It's only my arms. And I never even realized it until in school when I was like raising my hand. People were like, what the fuck? Oh, you poor thing. We're calling you Shrek, you're double-jointed. It's fucked up. It's honestly been a journey for me.

Like so much therapy. Yeah, stop it. Do you feel like you were bullied at all as a child because of that? Yes. Yes. I was, well, growing up, Country music was not what it is today. Yeah.

So I loved country music from the time I was like in elementary school. And I felt really out of place, like being a creative person and being somebody that just wanted to sing. And like I always felt just different because I loved country music and I loved bluegrass music and I loved performing. And I wanted to be in theater and I wanted to sing with all these different bands growing up in Kentucky. And so I always felt like I had a lot of friends, but I was very bullied for like loving country music. and now I'm like, even growing up in Kentucky? Yes, it just wasn't. What the hell were they listening to?

It was not the cool thing when I was growing up. It was like almost, I would feel like embarrassed because I loved it so much. How old are you? 35. You're 35. Okay, so you're 10 years younger than me. So that they would have probably, that would have been like what, the pop era growing up?

So it was like pop. He's like Britney and Insync and all that stuff. And so I just, and I loved that too, but people just didn't understand. And that's why I think I have such like a passion for young kids in school that maybe don't academically feel like that's their path and they want to be creative. It's like you have to have a space for that because there's so many kids that feel like me that just were like, wait, I'm not like fitting in socially. Yes. I couldn't agree with that more. Our daughter is a creative and it's been, but she's also so freaking smart.

Yeah. So it's like, you know, Jay battles with letting her be the creative but also be studious at the same. time. How did you convince your parents to let you homeschool? Like, how old were you? When I tell this story now, it's like what I have no idea what they were thinking. I was really good in school as well. So I was like a very disciplined kid. So I think that they knew I wasn't running from school. And I saw an audition to sing in the country show at Dollywood when I was 15. Yeah. In our like local Cincinnati, I live right outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. And so I see, in the inquire. It's like, ooh, auditions. And I'm like, Dolly Parton, I would love to sing at Dollywood.

Hey, can I, can I do this? And they're like, no. And so I took the summer to find a homeschooling program that wouldn't require any attention from my mom because my mom was like, I don't know how to teach you. And so it was like an online kind of like college, but for high school. And I just kind of presented this to them. And I'm an only child. And they were like, okay, let's do it. And so I audition. And you just think about the sacrifices that your family make for you. And for me, my parents were married and they still are married, but they sacrificed, like my mom lived with me in Pigeon Forge. My dad stayed back in Kentucky and took care of my grandfather that was sick at the time. And I mean, I don't know, I just feel like I got such a head start being able to go and perform and kind of have that

regimented, like grueling schedule of shows. Yeah. No, that's crazy to take on. And how old were you, 14? 15? 16. 16. It's crazy. So to be that headstrong, to go and see. And seek out the homeschooling that you were going to do. And then to go and work these shows because you were doing what four shows a day or five shows a day? I was doing six shows a day, five days a week. And, you know, just as a kid, I think it just really solidified for me. Yeah. What I wanted to do.

Because it just taught me like how to sing sick, how to do a show and you don't feel like it, how to work hard. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Do you think that that's maybe a trauma response? Like maybe because of something. that could have happened in your childhood or even the bullying at school, you're like,

you know what, I'm going to do this because I'm not going back to class. I think I was so determined to prove everyone wrong and really to prove to myself that I could do it. And so I feel like my, from the time I was tiny, tiny, I knew that that's what I wanted to do. And it was just kind of like, no matter how difficult. because it was even after that like I spent almost 10 years in Nashville before I ever quote unquote made it but I just was like no like I am absolutely going to do this I think it's amazing that you look up to Dolly as much as I do because obviously I named my podcast dumb blonde after her song her first song on the radio and then to see the tie that you guys have together

do you feel like she's really just shaped and molded your career for you in more ways than just Obviously, like as a songwriter, you think about, you know, she wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You in the same day. It's like two of the most iconic songs in history. So like as a songwriter and as a singer for sure. But more than that, I think what I admire about her, she's what in her late 70s? And she's still reinventing her brand and gaining fans and just trying to push the envelope. And I've gotten to work with her a few times and I'm sure that you know this. It's like she is just so. focused and so on her shit in everything she does to where it's just like she doesn't have to right but she's so determined to not be stagnant and that is just something that I really there's very few people that continue to do that decade after decade like she does I love the way you said that that she refuses to be stagnant yeah like that's really I think she could just quit that too though I do that too though exactly I think a lot of people can relate to that phrase right there. Yeah. And she's crazy. Like, we went to go see Dolly at her little, um, compound. Compound. Yeah. I love

her compound. It's not little guys. And she literally is just like on it. Like everything is timed. And like she just, she cracks the whip over there. She does. And it's so admirable. And she's just this tiny little thing. It's so sweet. And she's sassy. She's so sassy. Yeah. I tell everybody. I'm like, you guys think Dolly's a sweet little lady. I was like, she is sassy and a spitfire. She's, when she, we went to her compound. I thought I was doing a commercial for Dollywood. Yeah. And she surprised me and invited me to be a member of the Opry a few years ago.

And literally it was like, like you're saying like this, this, this. I mean, she had a schedule. Like we had a few moments. She handed me some of her new perfume and she was like, you're my little Dollywood girl and she was out onto the next thing. Yeah. Just like no BS. Yeah.

It's like she leaves enough to where it's like you love her and you want more. Yes. Because you only get those, that little bit of time with her. But she's, and but those moments count so much because it's just, she's so full of soul. It's, it's crazy. Yeah. Take me on the journey of picking out your name, Carly Pierce, because I want to know some of the names that you were thinking about doing before you settled on Carly Pierce. So my legal last name is Carly Slusser.

Horrible name for a country singer. And when I was like 14, my mom, you know, she would take my. pictures and we'd go to Staples and get the CDs printed so that we could pass them out. And so my name, my middle name is Christine. So for a long time, I was Carly Christine, you know, because that felt right. And then my grandparents, my mom's maiden name is Pierce. And they were super influential in my life. They were the ones that kind of shaped my love of country music. My grandpa, way back in the day, used to ride the school bus with Skeeter Davis of the Davis sisters. and that was like his girlfriend for a little bit of time.

And she was, you know, like a country music artist and somebody that's been influential. And my grandma loved Loretta Lenn. She loved Tammy Wynette. So that was always in the home. And when they figured out that I loved country music, they kind of taught me what the opera was. And my grandpa would buy me these CD decades

of all the different eras of country music. And he just really wanted me to understand who came before me. And so they both, my grandma passed away when I was 14, my grandpa passed away when I was 18. And they knew that my life dream was to sing on the opera. And when I was 18, I went to see my grandpa for the last time when he's in the hospital. And he knew I was taking a meeting in Nashville. And he was like, you're going to be late. You got to go.

You got to go. And they just, I wanted to honor them in some way. So although it's not my legal last name, it feels so important. And now when I go back to the area where we all lived and where I feel like my whole love of country music started, the signs that say, home of Carly Pierce, and it's like their name is carrying on into country music history, which I'm the only grandchild. And it's just like a really special thing for me that continues to just keep them alive for me and I get to talk about them.

And again, like all these years later, it's like they still live on. I love that. Yeah. I think that is so sweet. I love how your family just kind of gathered around you and was like, this is your dream. We're going to help you make it. They totally did. I love that because not a lot of families are like that.

And to be able to see where you are now, I mean, does your mom ever just look at you and be like, I knew this was going to happen or can she not believe it? She has like moments of both. But she'll tell you, I mean, she convinced a vocal coach when I was six. She's like, I'm telling you, like, she has great pitch and she's got rhythm. She told me, like, as a baby, I would like keep the beat in my car seat. She just said she knew. And so she's always like, I mean, I'm not really surprised, which is funny just to hear her.

But she had unwavering belief that this was going to happen for me. I love that so much for you. Do you ever feel, do you ever look back on your childhood and feel like you didn't get to do like normal childhood things because you were working so much? No. And I say that only because when I left, so I left when I was 16, I still went back for prom. I went back for my graduation. You know, yes, did I, I didn't graduate with my class. But I always say, like, I had a wonderful childhood.

I had a lot of friends. They would come visit me in Pige and Pige and Forge when I was working at Dollywood. How fun, right? It was, I mean, and they loved it. Like, it was super fun. I think I've always felt like if, if, like, my middle school and high school college years were the best years of my life, that's not probably a good sign for me, personally. Like, I didn't want that to be, like, the greatest season of my life.

So I view it as like it was fun, but I don't feel like I missed it. You don't want to be like Al Bundy reminiscing about your freaking high school. Not at all. I'm not like that at all. I'm like I loved it. But what I get to do now, it was like a tradeoff. But I still had a lot of normalcy. But I also got to experience things that like a lot of kids didn't get to experience.

Yeah. Working so much, were you able to even have like a rebellious teenage phase? Because I know I went through one. But I didn't work like you did. I couldn't even imagine being under that amount of pressure and like even having time. to be rebellious? I wasn't rebellious, really. I had parents that kind of like, if I wanted to say shit, I could say shit. If I wanted to drink, it was like drink in the house. I love your parents. They're really, I mean, honestly, it made like space for me to not have to rebel. Like a lot of my friends

wanted to come over because my parents were like understanding. It's not like they were like, here, go out and never, you know, text us or whatever. But when I got to Pigeon Forge, I was 17 and everybody else was like in their late 20s. So you know, I learned like what power hour of drinking was and I learned the hard way of like, because I just never, I never really cared until I like got of age because my parents just allowed me to experiment. Yeah, they were just like if you, if you want to try it, just try it here. Yeah, they were your safe space. They were. Did you, so you talk about how you talk very openly about having anxiety, which I relate to also because I have severe anxiety all the time.

When did your anxiety start? Was it in childhood or did that come later in life? This is probably something I haven't really shared. I've had to understand, because I would have told you like three years ago, my anxiety started during my divorce in COVID. But I've had crippling OCD since I was a child. So like checking my backpack over and over and over,

checking my alarm over and over and over, making sure that my mom, are you sure that everything's in my bag? Are you sure? And my mom would just try to calm me down or I would freak out over storms. And I remember her taking me to the local library to meet a meteorologist to like try to calm that. So I've had to, I've had anxiety my whole life. I still struggle with OCD. I think it just really came to ahead of me wanting to do something about it during COVID.

Yes. Sometimes it becomes so debilitating. you don't have a choice but to face it head on. We can run from it as long as we want to. And I preach this on my podcast because we talk about mental health care very openly. I literally ran from my anxiety, my OCD, all that. I never had depression. I always had anxiety.

I never had depression, always had anxiety. But in 2019, after I had my implants removed, I got hit with the worst suicidal ideation and depression I've ever had in my life. And that was just the time that my body finally said, you can't run anymore. Yeah. You know, like you can try to fix it by having surgeries and do this and do that. But if you don't fix what's on the inside and what's really going on in your heart and your soul, it's going to come out in other ways.

A thousand percent. And I feel like that was like just the being taken off the road, going through a public divorce, it was like, I think my body just had like a visceral reaction of like, oh my God. And then I mean, I can't tell you how many interviews I sat through trying so hard to just like keep myself together. after, like, I mean, it's been like a journey for me. I'm just like, oh my God, can anybody tell? Can anybody tell? And everybody's like, no, we can't tell at all. And I'm like dying inside because it was so, I felt like I was trapped in my own body.

I have never felt so seen. There are so many podcasts that I've done where I've had to sit here. Like sometimes you'll see me if you watch any of my podcast and I'll hold my breath and then I'll breathe out. And I'm literally doing box breathing while I'm doing an interview because I'm having a panic attack, you know? Yep. And I don't think people understand that because we don't react. on the outside, we hold it all inside.

Like there's, my husband will be like, you handled that so great. And I'm like, I did. That's me. Because literally in my head, I'm freaking the fuck out, you know? And it's just, that just goes to show that you can't judge people

from the outside because you never know what's going on inside. You really don't. Mine was always in interviews. Now everybody's going to know, but it's like, like I would clear my throat because I just feel like I can't breathe.

Yes. And it's, it's interesting to be, And I know you understand, like, in the public eye, when the camera's on, it's like, you better shut it down. And I think that I got really conditioned over the last 10 years to just zip it up and deal with it. And it just kind of got to a place where a couple years ago, I just had to really start

back into therapy, start really, like, trying to figure out all of these different things. Like recognizing OCD was something. No, that didn't come in 2020. that's been there since I was six or seven. Yeah. Where do you think that stems from for you, like the OCD? I know mine was a traumatic childhood. I had a terrible family life.

Yeah. You seem to have the opposite. Where do you think yours stems from? I had a mom and she's still like this to this day. She's the best, but she's a perfectionist. So like as a child, I would watch her. I had like Barbie shoes. This is like a core memory.

And she wanted to put every individual, pair of Barbie shoes in the perfect little spot and keep everything. You know, so I learned, yeah. She never left the house without her makeup on. She was always just so put together that I think that perfectionism just became not, not intent. She didn't mean to do that to me. It wasn't like she was like, you have to be this way. But I watched and led by example. So then I wanted to have everything perfect. Yep. You internalized that pressure. And, you know, she was just being herself. and you just, you wanted to be like your mom, so you wanted to be perfect. And oh my gosh.

But I love that you recognize that. I love that you've gotten help for that. Because it's, I preach therapy on this podcast left and right because it is so important. I mean, even just if you can't afford therapy, just talking to people or there's so many resources that are online now also that you can, you know, teach yourself and learn, even just meditation and box breathing like we just talked about. Anything like that can help soothe that. So moving on to you move in to Nashville.

You moved to Nashville at age 19 and signed a development deal with Sony in 2012. And you lost that when your producer was fired. So you started cleaning Airbnb's. What is one of the grossest situations you've ever had to deal with with Airbnbs? I have two things. Hair. Like even my own hair like on my bathroom floor really grosses me out or like when it's on the shower wall. Other people's hair that I don't know who they're.

And you don't know where it came from. Yeah. But the worst. I'll throw up. Stains. Stains. Mm-hmm. Oh, God.

It's like anywhere on the sheets. No. You know, and I'm like 22. Just like wanting to die. Oh, God. Cleaning. Especially I have an OCD. Oh, yeah.

It probably got worse after that. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yes. I wouldn't be able to. I'd have to literally have gloves on in a hazmat suit. There's no fucking way. It was a lot.

Because I have contamination. OCD too. So if like I touch anything, I have to count down for an hour and like wait to make sure that I'm not going to overdose on fentanyl because, you know, who knows? Somebody might have snorted a rail of fentanyl off the bathroom stall or something, you know. Yes. Yeah. It was disgusting.

Yeah, that would freak me out so much. So take me on this journey of you being 19, moving to Nashville. Did you come by yourself or was your mom with you? My parents ended up moving north of town. And again, like just the sacrifices. So they move so that I didn't have to work super hard. hard. But again, like that perfectionist in me, I was like, no, I'm not just going to live rent-free. Like, I'm going to do the thing. So I worked retail. I cleaned Airbnbs. I did all this

stuff. So they came with me. And it's so crazy the things that you think at the time. I was so heartbroken at 19 thinking, how could this not be the time for me? I got a developmental deal pretty quickly and got to record with like my dream producer. And I, like, my dream producer. And I, was like, oh my gosh, this is so exciting. But at that time, female artists were like non-existent. It was like in the brok country time, you were almost like penalized if you were a female. Right. So I almost feel like I was protected to not be released. Like there are so many girls that I remember like nobody knows who they are now. Right. Because they came out in a time where it just like so much of this life is like, yes, it's the right song. Yes, it's the right timing. But there is like a

luck of the draw to this, like, in my opinion. Like, you have to catch fire in a certain moment. And it's like, there's no rhyme or reason why some of us are chosen to be able to do this and not. Because there's so many talented people here. Like, it's crazy. And so when I lost it, I think my journey, like, the biggest thing that has happened is I was just relentless. Like, I went to fight or flight. I was like, absolutely not. You relentless? I'd highly doubt that. I was like, I'm going to, like, this is not an option. Yeah. have to do this. You seem so tenacious and like you just know what you want. And I knew that it was what I was supposed to do. And even in the moments where like it was dark, I would get a text

or an email or somebody would want to meet with me or all these different things. Even if it was just like one little thing like, hey, I have a right tomorrow. Do you want to jump in as a third? Like just these little light moments that made me like, no, I should keep going. Yeah, like never give up. It was God. It was God. It was God. It was absolutely God. And so I go and I do all these different things and I'm playing shows and I took a job as a backup singer for Lucy Hale. She was singing country music for a little bit. And even that like introduced me to a whole slew of fans back when like Instagram was starting and all these different little connecting moments.

How did it feel being a backup singer when you know that you're like main energy, main character? main character energy. The biggest, like, moment that I remember from that time, she had a music video on the Grandal Opry stage. And I always told myself I would never step on the Opry stage, never in the circle until it was my moment. And we had to perform on the opera stage. And I would not step in the circle.

And I'm just standing there. And it was almost like the, that movie was it like, I don't know, 50 feet from stardom or whatever that was, where it's like, you're on the stage, but you're so far. from the circle. Like, that's how I felt. But I did it. And I was just like, whatever keeps me making music. And for a moment, I remember thinking, like, maybe I'm supposed to be a backup singer. Like, some of my favorite voices are backup singers. And I'm like, maybe that's what I'm supposed to do. And I met a producer named Busby. And he changed my life along with a publisher in town

that I still work with, Daniel Lee. We wrote every little thing. And made like a five-song EP, took it around to labels, no one cared, took it to managers, no one cared. I mean, when I tell you, like, not one person cared. And it's truly like part of my mission for young artists and just young people with a dream is to like understand that. Like, no one thought that that song was a hit. Right. Except for at the time, serious X in the highway was like the thing. It was like the TikTok, you know? It's, It's like everybody wanted to get played on the highway. And J.R. Schumann, who worked there, he heard every little thing.

And this is after, I'm talking like managers in town telling me I wasn't special, people on my team telling me to move home. I had a record label person who still works in the industry, literally look me in the face and say, you will never be a star. And, you know, those are things I still deal with, like, that imposter syndrome. Like, have you gotten to look that dude in the face again? I'm assuming it was a dude. how you, okay, dude or female,

have you got to look that person in the face and be like, you know, what's fun is I've got to look all of them in the face and I don't have to say anything. Yeah. And I won't because they don't deserve it. Right. I hope that they learned, don't, you can't do that to people. Yeah.

And I carry that. I mean, truthfully, like when I'm sitting at an award show or I'm sitting when I was female focus of a year, I'm like, oh my gosh, do I belong here? And it's all those years where it was just like, no, no, no, you're not enough, you're not enough, you're not enough. And JR heard every little thing. After everybody else heard it, and they didn't think it was special.

And overnight, I'm talking within 12 hours. I put that song out. Alison Jones over at Big Machine, she sent me a DM, and I still work with her to this day. And she said, you have to call me in the morning. You found your three minutes. And literally the next day, it was like, I got goosebumps. my whole life changed. And I think it's just so important to remember.

You just never know when that moment is going to shift. And like my life has never been the same since then. And it was on the song that was like not the hit. Yeah. Can you tell me about you and Busby's relationship? Because you guys were very close. Yeah. And I remember when he passed, I remember seeing your posts about him and stuff.

And my heart just broke for you. Can we just get a glimpse into you guys as, Yeah. He, so this is when I'm feeling at 25 like I'm old news in town. And he was just kind of getting into the country scene. He was working with Marin. And he was like, no, I want to work with you. And he just started writing with me.

And we started working together. And so we started having this success together. And he became family. When you work so closely with these people and you make music with them and you let them into like your brain and, you know, your secrets and the things that you really want to sing about and what you stand for. I feel like in a lot of ways he helped me find my voice, obviously as Carly Pierce, but also just like as a human. Like he reinforced to me that like I was enough. And he was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer. When we were finishing,

the last song he ever worked on was I hope you're happy now. And that's super special for me. but he was diagnosed and died very, very quickly after. But I got to see him like days before he passed. And we had this beautiful conversation. And he said to me, he was sitting in his bed and I'll never forget it. And I think it's so important for people that have success to understand this. He said, he looked at his clock and he was like, you see that right there? And I was like, yeah.

And he said, I can buy anything in the, the world except the one thing that I need and that's time. And in so many ways, I feel like he's, he told me that day, he was like, I just want you to fly and I want you to know you can. And I mean, I've been working on a lot of new music and I feel like that voice has been in my head because it's not been, you know, an easy, even like getting to this place in your career, it's like there's ups and downs and like, it's tough. But I think remembering why I started this, in the first place and the dream that I had as a kid has continued to make me understand,

I can fly and I can do this and make music because of that girl that was growing up in Taylor Mo Kentucky, like, and he's that voice in my head. And I get like signs from him a lot. Like I know he's around. Yeah. But it's been a really special thing. And honestly, like I wrote a song for him

called Show Me Around and like that has continued to make his presence live on. And I've gotten to talk about him and just see so many people relate to that song. And like his legacy lives on. I really respect your loyalty to people who made you feel good in times where you didn't feel good. Yeah. Like, you know, like your grandma and your grandpa believing in you and the Busby coming along. Do you think that Busby also inspired you to start producing yourself?

Because I noticed that you did start producing after he passed. Yeah, I think he helped me trust myself and like trust my instinct. And again, like, he knew I struggled with me feeling confident. And it's funny, like, you talk about, like, people either like really love you or they really hate you. I feel like a lot of times people have said, oh, Carly's not very nice. And it's like, it's not that I'm not very nice. I'm, like, painfully shy at my core and, like, kind of want to be in the room and, like, don't really want you to look at me.

Not because I'm a bitch, because I'm just, like, really shy and, like, struggle with that confidence. And really the only time that I feel alive is when I'm on stage. And I feel like he helped me like really wrestle with that and like be honest with myself that I struggled with that. And then get more confident and trust myself and trust myself in the studio and trust the kind of music I want to make and not try to chase a trend or not try to do this because it's what's working right now or, you know, all those different things. So I, and he was like a very, did you ever meet him? I don't know. I don't know if I did or not. Love you,

but he was a very strong personality. And like he didn't take any shit. And he was like, I love that about him. Like he was very much like, what you see is what you get. And I feel like he taught me to like be tough in that. Yeah.

I love that. I also want to clarify when I said that people either love you or they hate you, I have the same type of fan base. And it's because I tell everybody, because I heard you say in an interview, you said, And I was like respect because I tell everybody, I'm cool, but I'm not that cool.

Yeah. You know, and I think a lot of, I think, I may choose my words here so I don't get canceled. I think powerful women are forced to shrink themselves down because we have boundaries. But if we don't have boundaries, then we're spineless and we're weak. Yep. So it's like, which one do you guys want? Do you want somebody who you can look up to that actually does have boundaries and like speaks up for herself and stands up to what's, for what's right?

or do you want somebody who coweres down in a corner every time, you know, something happens? Well, and that's why I've, I mean, I slide up on your stories all the time because I find it so refreshing, especially in our business where the women in the South, because we sing country music and we love Jesus, we have to shut up, take it. Yeah. And I've been guilty of it. And I just think you have brought so much like realness to that. And that's why I'm always like, yes.

And I laugh at you because I'm like, do you know how times I don't want to say that? No, I'm just like, it's so, it's like, why should you have to allow that? You know, like that kind of energy and like whoever's sitting behind a freaking computer, it's like, it says so much more about you. And I just love it. I love it. I love watching you like stand up for yourself. But I love that you stand up too. And you stand up to bullies and you stand up to men who are treating you wrong. And like, I love that about you.

Like never stop doing that. No matter what anybody says. I don't fucking care. Yeah. Like we need, I call all my crew that I hang out with. I call us a coven because it's not because it's witchcraft or anything like that, but a coven is a bunch of powerful women who stand together. And I feel like, I do feel like country music does make women shrink down.

And I married a rapper guys, you know. And to me, he's always going to be rapper role. And to you guys, he's jelly. And I get that. And we love that daddy's grown and, you know, he's who he is now. but I don't feel like I have to shrink down just because my husband's a country artist, you know. And I mean, I do watch what I say because there are a lot of shit. There is a lot of things that I say that get made into news articles.

And sometimes I'm like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have said that, you know. But life's short, you have to say it. And I love the fact that you do stand up for yourself. So don't ever feel like you have to always explain, you know, like I'm shy or I have this or like, own it, baby. You know, you have boundaries and you know what you want. in life, you know? So moving on. Let's talk about this every little thing song that your song, every little thing that came out in 2017. What was that like when it started taking off for you? Like what were you feeling? Tell me what Carly was and who you were in that moment. I mean,

when I tell you, I was like crying on the couch of my publisher the week before it went out on the highway being like, oh my God, it's a heartbreak ballad. Like nobody's ever going to care of This is my last chance. And he's like, it's fine. Like, just let him play it. And then we'll get on to the next song. It was selling at the time, like outselling every song on iTunes as an independent artist.

Sold 500K and helped launch her debut album, Top 5 on Country Charts. Yeah. It was like, I think there's only, at the time, it was like in the last decade, three female artists that their solo debut went to number one. it's now multi-platinum. I think what it did is it solidified my artistry. That's the song that broke me. So it's been a really fun thing for me to remember, like, artistically,

that song was the exception to the rule. It was a heartbreak ballad in the middle of summer, very little production in a world where it was very male-driven and like very bro-country, if you will. And I just, you know, I remember it happened so. fast. It was just like a rocket. I was just trying to hold on. That's amazing. Brooks and Dunn just did an interview, I believe, with Theo Vaughn. And in the clip, they talk about how competitive country music is. And at first, I was kind of like, I don't know if that's true

or not, but I'm also not an artist. Do you feel like country music is competitive? Or do you also feel like they cater to the men more than they do the women? So many thoughts. What I struggle with is, I always say I feel like, now, this is the best I've ever seen, like the female artists right now are, like, I listen to them. Yeah. You know, like in my free time, I'm listening to these. Who's some of your favorite artists really quick? I think Ella, Lainley is a superstar.

Babe. I think Lainey has been the best thing to happen to female country music in the last 20 years. I love like new female artists like Carter Faith. I think she's going to be a big star. I obviously am super close to Kelsey. I love what Casey stands for. Megan Maroni, like I don't know that we've had a girl be able to have ticket sales like she's having right now.

You know, she's got a cult following that reminds me of Taylor Swift. What is hard is if you are not part of the five, you can feel left out. It's almost like there's only room for the few. And I hope because right now I do feel like we have an abundance of amazing female artists that we're starting to see that shift. Because for me, growing up, like the 90s, the females ruled. And I think what's difficult is you see so many male artists. I always call them faceless number ones.

Because it's like, I couldn't tell you who so many of them are on the, radio because they all just are kind of interchangeable. A lot of them sound the same too. They sound the same. But then you know you've got Cody and Chris Stapleton and jelly and it's like those are the ones that really have a brand. But it's almost like the females have to, they just have to be so much more branded. But I do think like you can differentiate every single one of us on the radio.

Which I think is really a special thing. But I mean, it's just hard. I think it's harder for women. But I think the women hit much bigger. Like they can really. like their art artistry is just really like defined yeah they can hold their own you guys can hold your own up against them in i feel like women are dominating country music right now it's i mean it's the most excited i've ever been yeah let's keep it here for a while so moving on from

that in 2020 or wait 2019 you met you meet michael ray can we talk about this for a little bit where did you guys meet how did you guys you know even start this world razor blade romance You want to talk about the most whirlwind. We knew each other. We had played shows together, but like Instagram. Right. And I... Did he slide in the DMs?

I think I did. I'm going to be honest. Like, I did. I thought he was so cute. I had heard, like, he's the nicest guy in the world. And I invited him to my number one party for every little thing. And, I mean, it was just a very... Looking back on it, it was just a very hot and heavy, like,

lust. It wasn't love. Passion. Yeah, it was just passionate. So you guys meet and I'm sorry, I misquoted, you guys met in 2018, right? 2018. Okay, so you guys met in 2018 and then you guys were married in 2019. So take me on that journey of like dating and then deciding to get married so early because I, you know, I understand it. My husband and I got married a month after we were together. Yes. And now we're going on almost, we're going on nine years this month. 10 years knowing each other. Well, see, it can happen. So I think in my brain, that's what I thought.

Yeah. I thought. And, you know, at the time, his career was rising. And honestly, like, he was more successful than me. And when our relationship started, it was like, oh, this is so exciting. I think we both got caught up in that, like, oh, everybody's so excited about this. But I mean, genuinely, I got married. to go the distance.

I absolutely did. When I married him, it was for the right reasons. I think that when you travel like this, and I thought I was doing the right thing by like waiting to get married until I was 29, but we didn't have like real conversations. And we didn't really know about each other.

And we were kind of living this life that wasn't really reality, now looking back on it. So I just think we didn't really know each other. You guys were just in it. We're just in the moment. We're in it. And, you know, I knew the night I got married I shouldn't have, if I'm being completely honest with you. I think the best thing that ever happened to me was COVID because it allowed me to deal with that in private. I think that I probably would have stayed in it longer

if I could have avoided it and not had to, I was embarrassed when it happened, you know, of course. And I had shame around that and was heartbroken. But I think if I had to do it. do that in front of people, I would have, I would have prolonged that relationship longer. Was there one thing that separated you guys? Or was it, was there just, like, what was the final breaking point for you to be like, you know what, I'm filing for divorce? Because you're the one that filed for divorce. I did. It wasn't what I signed up for. Right. It just wasn't the marriage that I know I deserved. I knew that very quickly. And I think in the first, we were only married for eight months.

Plenty happened to where it was very clear to me. This was not. This just wasn't a marriage. Right. Was there ever any infidelity or anything that would make you question his love for you? Because, you know, there's so many rumors and I have to ask. Yeah, of course. There's so many rumors that have, you know, what he didn't do wasn't written just out of thin air.

The album 29 wasn't, you know, written out of like, yeah. I mean, it wasn't good. It wasn't good. And I've always, you know, what's been so hard is everybody has a different opinion. Right. And I think what I've been able to do, I am in the happiest season of my life. I'm actually, if I ever saw him, if he ever watches this, thank you. Because you taught me more about myself.

You taught me how strong I am. you put me through things that have made me better now. And I don't wish him evil. I don't wish anything on him. I'm so glad that I'm not in that anymore. But I think I was really shown just how much I care about me. You know, like I actually really have a lot of self-worth. and that showed me that.

Yeah. So it just, that wasn't it? And what's been hard, what I was going to say is people have all their opinions. And at first, that was so hard for me. Because I was like, that's not true, that's not true. What he's saying isn't true. But at the end of the day, like my friends who walked that with me, they know, my parents know and God knows, and that is enough.

It's enough. I love that. I think one of the things that might have speculated the infidelity rumors was this whole situation kind of got a lot of traction. Is that true? Is she Jolene? Yeah. Let's just say I'm not a fan of her.

Yeah. I'm not a fan of her. I'm not a fan of him. I could have, I could have done so much more than I did. I can see the rage in you when this gets brought up. It's tough. It's tough.

You know, it's tough to think that. It's just like, just leave me instead. And that, yeah, I think to your point, I shut my mouth for so long. Yeah. Are you dying? He's over there, but cheeks clenched.

But, you know, I mean, but truthfully, like, I shut my mouth for so long because I felt like I had to. And I'm not here to blow anybody up or like, I don't care anymore. But yeah, I mean, when you're faced with somebody that was a really dark season for you and then they go and blow it up on the internet, like, it's just like. Yeah, her response was kind of icky.

But, you know, also you go, I don't know if he told her we were divorced. I don't know. I don't know. All I know is, yeah, that wasn't, that was not a fun situation for me. And I think what's harder is you want somebody at the end of it to just look you in the eye and be like, yeah, I did this. But I never got any of that. And so it's like I had to piece together a lot of things after the fact, but there were facts. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I told my daughter this a couple days ago, and it's one of the best quotes I've ever heard, but do not set yourself on fire to keep others warm. No. You can't do that. Yeah, you can't do it, man, because it will just eat. you inside and the rage that I saw in your eyes when you started talking about that,

like that's a woman that's been hurt. That's not a woman who's being petty. That's not a woman who's trying to start drama. That's a woman who is hurt. Well, and that's what's so hard is like people don't think you're a real human being when you have a microphone or you have a platform or you have like a public name. Yeah, you have to be stone face. They want you to have no emotions. Yeah. And it's like, yeah, I did have a visceral reaction to what she said. And I did have a reaction when she was sitting in the audience when I'm singing this song. Like, of course I did, because I'm a girl who got hurt. And that, at the end of the day, that's what it was.

And it's like, if people aren't able to see that, like me as a human being, that's on them. Like, yes, I can't, I'm to the place in this, like a decade in where I'm like, I can't do everything perfect. Like, I'm a girl. Like, I'm Carly. And like, I'm just a girl. I'm just a freaking girl.

And I'm sorry, but I get pissed off. And, like, I get hurt. and I lash out and like, yeah, I get petty. And that's okay. And that's okay. Yeah, it's hard. Sister, we are here for you. And listen, this is the same space. I'm pissed off all the time.

I'm ranting and raving about something. Especially on the internet all the time. Yes. I love that you're actually speaking your truth. Yeah. But you're still doing it so eloquently too. And I admire that because me, I'm the complete opposite. I will fucking blow shit up and then look back and be like, oopsie, you know.

But you're still being so eloquent about it and loving. And that says a lot more about you than it does anybody else that's involved in that situation. And you know what has been the most healing thing? Nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with my divorce or marriage. The women that come up to me every day, whether it's after a show on the street at the grocery store, and say to me, you helped me through my pain. Cool. I'd do it all over again because it really is worth that.

And I stand on stage singing songs like what he didn't do that literally like, literally like, crushed me to write. And I'm just like, just wait to see yourself after that situation. Because I don't identify with her anymore. Yeah. Like I now, if you would have ever told me I would have 29 tattooed on my arm the year, like the worst year of my life. And I have it as a reminder of like, oh no, no, no, no, no. That was like a defining moment of like your happiness. I love that. That's so powerful too. And women who are listening to this podcast, I know are going to get so much more insight to who you are and just, I don't know, you're leading by example. And that's the best thing that you could ever do to walk through life is just to show people how you get through your shit.

Yeah. Moving on from that nightmare, you write your album 29 and 2021 and you were reflecting on the divorce, but also your producer, Busby's death. And then you got invited by Dolly Parton to join the Grand Ole Opry. So it's like you went through this bullshit. And then finally, you get invited to your dream. Literally in like a 12 month span, I release 20, I get divorced, I release 29,

I get invited by my idol to become a member of the opera. I went two-time female vocalist of the year and I win a Grammy. And I'm like, how is that real? Yeah. But again, like,

I think what I continue to be reminded, authenticity is the name of the game. Like look at your husband and what he's like brought to our format. It's like when you are authentically yourself, it's like it's so powerful. And I wasn't writing again to like slam anyone. I was writing what I was going through. And it just transcended like the pandemic even. Like I feel like my career took off in the pandemic.

Yeah. It was almost like you needed that darkness because there was so much light that was about to come in. What is it like winning your first Grammy? Like what? But, well, it was the first time I'd ever been nominated to. Yeah. Wow. Good for you.

The odds for that is insane. And, you know, it was the song that Ashley McBride and I wrote together. We love Ashley. Yeah. And like we're sitting in the back of like the pre-tel where they do the pre-teleized awards. And whoever was like doing our category, she had like a really strong accent. Like she was foreign. And so when she set, we're up against like.

really big Grammy darlings. As you know, it's like it's very hard. And she just goes, Kelly Pierce. And once she got to Pierce, I was like, did she just say my name? I mean, it was like a total out-of-body experience. Yeah. I never even thought I could get to the Grammys. Like that wasn't really, like female focus of the year at the CMAs was like the thing to me and like the Grand Alopry. But like the Grammys didn't even seem like a possibility to even be a part of it. Yeah. No, that's amazing and so exciting. I heard, okay, so I heard you say, this is, this is a testament of who you are as a human, which is crazy to me, but you went to an award show after you had gotten in an accident and had two of your front teeth knocked out. And then you go to

an award show two days freaking later. Like, why not sit the award show out? Oh, my God. This, I'm telling you, 2020 was, 2020 was a bitch. Um, I, I got to, in an accident. I knocked my two, like, I knocked half of my two front teeth out. I had seven stitches in my lip because I almost bit through my lip. Carly. Seven days before I was up for my first CMA award. And it was during the pandemic when like only the award or only the artist got to go. I don't tell anyone. I like do all my interviews like at my house. My face looks insane. I had to get like bonding and stitches and a whole thing. And I end up going to the award show and I took my I took my best girlfriend. She's still my best friend from childhood. And I'm sitting there and like my

lip starts bleeding because it's like so messed up. And she's like, you got to like pat your lip. But that morning, we were watching Good Morning America and they announced music event of the year. And never in a million years that I think I was going to win that. But I won it for, I hope you're happy now. The song that Busby last worked on. And that like, that, like, you're, was the craziest experience. And of course I wake up the next day and all these radio stations are like, Carly Pierce had a bad botched job of her lips being done. And I'm like, no, I don't. No, you have no idea. You have no idea what I've gone through. Yeah. Like my teeth were moving. And then you still didn't speak publicly about that. No, I didn't. How do you have that much

reserve? I'd have been on freaking TikTok. Hello? No, this is what happened. You know? Like, you just are so like, I don't know how you do it. Again, I think. I think for so long I've been afraid to like rock the boat. And I didn't, I just didn't want to feed into it. But like if you saw these pictures, they were insane. The seven stitches in your mouth? Like, almost a lot. Straight through my lip. And again, like, I'm singing, I hope you're happy now on the stage and my teeth are like moving in my mouth because I had to let them set. Oh, and the next day I got three root canals. When my first CMA, three root canals the next day. Carly, you're a beast.

You're straight up savage girl. Like, I don't, that's just barbaric. It was crazy. At this point, it's like, are you, do you like the pain? Oh my God. I'll show you the picture. Maybe when this air is, I'll post a picture of my teeth so that you could see it. Yeah, you can send it to me me.

I just, oh my gosh. I had to ask you about that because I was just like, this is crazy. I like sent a picture to my now manager. He was my drummer at the time. And I was like, hey, so I've had like an accident. I sent him this picture and he just calls me. He's like, what happened? Like, what happened?

I mean, I looked like I got beat up. Poor baby, dude. And then to just go and face the world like that, you're just, you're a freaking soldier, dude. So let's talk about this heart condition that you have. How did you discover it? What were your symptoms? How long were you dealing with it for? I have something called recurrent pericarditis.

And back in 2020, I was headed to a place in Nashville called Onsite, which is. I love Onside. Hi, hey, Miles. Hey, Miles. I always tell Miles when we walk through an award show. I'm like, I know who got counseling from you. Amen. Everybody in their mom is, hey Miles. So I go to a three day intensive with Miles when my, or at at on site. And I remember walking up the hill from the parking lot. And I had like this really intense chest pain and like really short of breath. My dad had a widow maker heart attack

when I was 19. He's still here. I remember he was at my house because I was going through my divorce. And so when I got back from Onside, I was like, man, something is like not right. He was like, you know, him of all people should have been like, are you okay? Like, should we go get it checked? And he's like, I'm telling you it's anxiety. You're going through a lot, blah, blah, blah. And I think the thing that I wanted people to understand and why I went public, a doctor's dismissed me for years. Oh, it's anxiety. Oh, it's in your head. Oh, it's, you're fine. You just live a really stressful. whole life. And it's like, I'm telling you, like, my body is telling me something. Like, I've never felt like this in my life. So I had shortness of breath. But it kind of went away.

And at the time, like, I'm an avid runner. So I was like running on this when I shouldn't have been. I was just like doing my life. Not shocking. I know, like an idiot. Hard condition goes and runs eight miles. I'm like, oh, it's fine. But I knew it wasn't fine. I ended up fainting and went to the ER. And they told me I had pericarditis, which is like inflammation. Your, your heart is in a in a sack and it's the inflammation of the sack around it and um a pericardial effusion is when it like fills with fluid and so I had that but then I got better well then I started having these what they call flares like over the last few years like these little flares where I would take a bunch of ibuprofen and I'd be fine um and last year I was on the road with tim a girl

and had a flare on a shoot where I knew um it was bad ended up going, getting checked, had to go to the ER, and was finally diagnosed with recurrent pericarditis, which a lot of people deal with, especially young people, where that happens. A lot of times it's from a virus that you've had. A lot of people get it, like,

after they've had a major surgery or whatever. I didn't really have anything like that. So it's still kind of unknown, why. But it's something that I have to be kind of, like, aware of. I had to really change last summer, like how I was operating on stage and couldn't get my heart rate up and all these different things. Luckily, I've not had another major flare, but I wanted to go public with it, obviously, because my shows had to be different. I was, like, standing stationary for a lot of the shows, but also just you have to advocate for yourself. Because even when I had that last flare, it was like I had a very, like, prominent sports coach, like a doctor of like a very big sports team.

Yeah. Tell me this is not pericarditis. And it was. And it's like if you're not advocating for your own self, like who's going to advocate for you? Absolutely. Hold on one second. I'm obsessed with him. He's like, I like want to hang him up, put an apple in his mouth and like roast him. I'm like so sorry. I'm like and you're talking about your health and I've been like, can I look at him? He's like I got a hard condition too. girl. All right. If he could just lay there, that'll be great. So is there no, is there, are you going to live with this for the rest of your life? Is there, I'm a part of this campaign called Life Disrupted. And it's actually allowed me to meet one of the very few like pericardial doctors in America, which has been like a total godsend for me. The short answer is you could,

but a lot of people don't. Like it's kind of something that they live with for several years or whatnot. not. Hopefully I don't, but if I do, I feel like I know now how to manage it. It's not detrimental. You think, oh my God, and this was something that I really wanted people to understand. Like, you think shortness of breath and chest pain, you're automatically having a heart attack, especially being like the daughter of somebody who's had heart disease. Yeah, it's PTSD. Oh my God. But it's totally fine. And many people live with this and they are really affected. Like some people have flares all the time. I'm lucky that I don't.

But it's been really a beautiful thing to meet so many people through this campaign that are dealing with the same things. And I have a friend that I grew up with that I had no idea she was dealing with it. She lives in South Carolina. And she's my age, avid runner. She has it. And she's like, oh, my God, I didn't know that you did. And so it's like given me this community again, just to be like, oh, you have this. Okay, cool.

Like, I'm not the only person dealing with this because I'd never heard of that. Just one more thing to add to your testimony. Yeah, for sure. Let's talk about Hummingbird. You dropped it in June of 2024, and you co-produced that album. Yeah. Take me on that journey. That album, I feel like, was so special to me just being able to really put a flag in, like,

the kind of country music that I want to make. It's so funny. I feel like that album really has set me up for what I've, I've just finished my next album. it's the most me that I've ever felt in an album. But I feel like what Hummingbird did is it allowed me to really put a flagship on like traditional country music and that rooty sound. But it was like a healing journey for me. It was finding my happiness again and kind of like going through some darkness because

really with 29, I didn't have time to really process what was going on. And I went through like a lot of anxiety and depression during that of just like kind of of trying to wrestle with, okay, I've had all this success, but I feel pretty empty inside, and I feel sad. And I feel like Hummingbird was kind of me grieving Busby, grieving, like, the loss of a relationship and finding myself on the other side of that. Why'd you name it Hummingbird? Hummingbirds are a sign that the healing process can begin, and that good luck is on the way. And I had written that song, I had a song called Hummingbird on the album, had no idea that that was the meeting. So I now have a little hummingbird. I love that. I love that you have tattoos because

I would never, that's why I smiled when you showed me with the 29 earlier because I was like, Carly's tatted up. She's got some tats. I love this. Yes. Are we going to do full sleeves? I listen. I think it would be hot on you. Right? Yeah. I have kind of like a cluster going. That's how she started. Now look at her. Haley, when I first, when Haley first started working for me, she didn't have one freaking tattoo or she had one little one. It was a tourist sign or something like that. And then now she's like freaking tatted up. I'm very addicted to them. I like recently went in to get one because I kind of just started doing all this.

And somebody was like, oh, you have like the stamp look. And I was like, wait, I have a look. Like it's starting to become like, I mean, I'm like, I've got to commit here. So we'll see. Sleep it up, baby. Yeah, I love it. I love that. So let's talk about this new relationship that you hard launched.

Is this? Are we serious? Yeah, we're serious. Yay. Tell me how about it. You know, um, again, like the stigmas that people put on women, I was like, I'm 35, I'm never going to meet somebody.

And it's like, oh, it's so funny. I'm happier than ever. Yeah. And I met him on a dating app. Like, don't think that you can't. Which one? Which one? Raya girl.

Girl. I got to get my girls on Raya because I heard it's great over there. Well, it's also like awful. Oh, no. I don't know. Like you meet. I mean, they're on Bumble. That's probably worse than Raya.

Yeah. I just didn't think you could meet a real person on Raya. Yeah. I don't know. I just felt like, how am I going to be able to like meet somebody that's aligned with me? He's not in any kind of entertainment, which is the best thing ever. Yeah. But yeah, I'm just really happy. And again, I'm in this season of my life where I'm like, I don't care what you think about me because for so long it was like, well, everybody thinks I'm like dating to me people and there's something wrong with me because my relationship didn't work.

And it's like absolutely not. Like I hard launched it because I just don't care anymore. How are you supposed to find? Isn't that the point of dating? Is to find somebody that you want to spend the rest of your life with. I'm like, I'm sorry I've had a few relationships since my marriage. Isn't that the point? Like, I didn't.

It's not like I've married six people. It's like, fuck everybody. I've been married three times, and I've just decided at 45 that I want to have a child. There's nothing in the world that anybody can tell you what the fuck to do. It's not their life. It's yours. I've literally at 35 just accepted that. And like literally one day was just like, I'm so happy.

Freeze your eggs now, girl. I know. Do it now. Don't be going through what I'm going through. No, no, no, no. I know. I know. I'm like, there's no timeline and there's no right way to do it. And if somebody wants to judge me for it, do it. I don't care anymore. They're at home judging and they've got freaking three divorces and fucking, you know, like, come on.

Like, it's people that live in glass houses, throw stones all the time. They do. And the only thing that matters is how you feel about your life. Nobody else is living your life for you, you know? So I'm happy. I'm really happy for you. Thank you. And you seem giddy when you're in you.

you talk about him. I am. How long have you guys been together? Um, it's like newer. Okay. No, in the last six months. I love that. But he's the best. I love it. As long as he makes you happy and as he makes you smile. That's all that matters. What can we expect from you coming up? Like I said, I have made my favorite music that I've ever made. And I feel like in a season where it's so easy to want to chase the trend, like I told you. And I just doubled down on the kind of music that I came to town wanting to make. I grew up loving Appalachian, Kentucky, like Blue Grassroots music. And bring it back.

I just dove into it. And it's truly my favorite music I've made. So there's a lot. When's it coming? Are you like to tell us soon? Okay. Really soon. All right.

Carly, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I'm so happy we were finally able to sit down together. and get to spend some time together. Me too. Anytime you want to come back, my couch is always open. Thanks, girl. And anytime you want me to tell somebody off, just send them my way.

Don't you worry. I got your back girl now. I know you do. For life. Don't fuck with my girl, Carly. I'll be coming for you, motherfuckers. And if people don't know where to find you, just shout out your socials. I'm sure they can find you everywhere.

At Carly Pierce on all the things. There we go. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Don Blonde. I'll see you guys next week. Bye.