Photo: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal
Carly Pearce delivered a rendition of an anthem that serves as a warning sign to other women when she appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday (June 13).
Pearce shared the story behind “woman to woman,” one of 14 tracks to appear on hummingbird, her fourth full-length studio album. The Kentucky-born singer-songwriter released the highly-anticipated project on June 7. She took the helm as a co-producer for the first time on hummingbird, which also includes “country music made me do it,” “truck on fire,” “fault line,” “we don’t fight anymore” featuring Chris Stapleton, and more. The album serves as a long-awaited follow-up to 29: Written in Stone, Pearce’s 2021 album that shared her stories of heartache after divorce.
“I wrote ‘woman to woman’ — there’s a song on my album, 29, called ‘Next Girl.’ and this kind of feels like (the song’s) big sister,” Pearce told Kelly Clarkson. “I feel so much responsibility in making sure that girls don’t make the same mistakes that I’ve made. Maybe they’ll listen to the song and go, ‘OK, well, little bit of insight.’ …‘Hey, I speak from experience.’ It’s not gonna change.”
“I wrote my album, 29: Written in Stone, in real time of this situation happening to me, and quite honestly, you understand, when you’re moving a hundred miles a minute, it was like, ‘oh wow, OK, this album is successful, OK,’ and I didn’t process,” Pearce said earlier in her interview with Clarkson. “And so, I feel like this album [hummingbird] is kind of my healing journey of finding myself again and finding joy after a lot of pain. And I have found so much joy and so much strength and so much beauty… Just feeling like, ‘I’m never gonna get through this. I’m never gonna feel like me again,’ and I feel so much more ‘me.’ So this is kind of a representation of that. …I always tell people that I wish everybody could see the way that, as you’re telling your story through songs and getting every night to have other people share their stories with you, and just the way that they relate, it really has made me feel like I’m so not alone.”
Pearce previously said hummingbird would offer a glimpse into her healing journey after divorce, and her experience of falling in love again since then. She said in the hours ahead of her album’s debut that she hopes listeners will realize “that no matter where you’re at, you’re right on time. …I’m proud of it, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.” The award-winning “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” star also spoke with Clarkson about her recently-diagnosed heart condition and exercising with Tim McGraw on his headlining “Standing Room Only Tour.”
Watch Pearce’s full interview below, and watch her “woman to woman” performance here: