Carly Pearce had quite a night celebrating her well-deserved induction to the Grand Ole Opry a few weeks ago.
In addition to officially being added as the newest member to the incredible Opry roster and singing Kitty Wells’ 1955 hit “Making Believe” with Trisha Yearwood and Jeannie Seely, she sang one of her own songs that I absolutely love called “Dear Miss Loretta” (which she actually debuted at the Opry back in March).
It’s as country as it gets, and will be a part of her upcoming record 29: Written In Stone, an extension of her 29 EP from earlier this year. The entire album is set to be released in a little less than a month on September 17th.
The studio version of the song features another country music great in Patty Loveless (who’s also a Kentucky girl like Carly), which Carly says was a dream come true:
“To hear Patty Loveless sing your words, there’s no way to describe that sensation.
Her voice is Appalachia, those mountains and hollers are country music. To think, a year ago, I was asking myself, ‘What would Patty Loveless do?’ thinking about all her songs, how smart and sassy she always was… and now she’s on one of mine.”
I love seeing all these connections between different generations of women in country music and the legacy that Carly is helping carry on. You can tell how much it means to her, and it just makes me love her even more to see that she really cares about the music.
There’s something special about watching her play this extremely personal song on the night of her own induction to Opry that hits a little bit different, though.
After her own personal hardships over the last few years and very public divorce from Michael Ray, she dedicated this song to fellow Kentucky native, and one of her personal heroes, Loretta Lynn and details how she has a completely different understanding of Loretta’s music after everything she’s been through recently:
“Dear Miss Loretta, I ain’t ever met ya
But I’m lonely tonight and I just betcha
You might have some wisdom to pull off that shelf
Your songs were all fun ’til I lived them myself”
Carly has such a strong and unique voice, and is easily one of the next big superstars in the genre. She looks like every bit the part of a vintage Opry star standing in that sacred circle with that gorgeous pink, lacey ruffle dress and white guitar, too.
I can’t wait to see where Carly’s career goes from here, because she’s as real and authentic as they come:
The studio version with Patty Loveless:
