Carly Pearce Tells a Cautionary Tale in New Single, ‘Next Girl’

With her new single, Carly Pearce throws up a caution flag for the “next girl” in a player’s path, and she looks to the iconic women of country for inspiration.

Featuring an upbeat sound that throws back to the divas of the ’90s, “Next Girl” is built on banjos, acoustic guitars and real drums, and serves as a warning to guard one’s heart. Pearce pulls from the self-possessed attitude of stars like Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, The Chicks and more in her quest to spare someone else’s pain … and it’s got a tie to her real life that’s hard to ignore. The girl-to-girl anthem just happens to be the first track released since Pearce filed for divorce after eight months of marriage to fellow country singer Michael Ray.

“Country music always had these straight-talking women, who were so strong and so sassy,” Pearce explains. “They were flirty, funny, feisty – and they weren’t afraid of banjos, fiddles, mandolins, steel guitar. Put all those things together, and it’s everything that pulled me to Country music as a little girl.

“We live in a world where there are so many smooth-talking guys who’re so quick to sweep you off your feet – and they always have a story about the girl before. So when we were asking ourselves, ‘What would Patty Loveless do?’ We figured not only would she warn the girl, she’d turn over all the cards: how he works, how he talks about the old girlfriend, what he’ll do once he’s got her.”

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[SOUND ON!] — I’ve spent much of quarantine thinking about where I wanted my music to go. This was not easy for me, especially without having @busbee by my side this time around. The only thing I knew to do was to get lost in all of my old records. I needed to re-discover the music that captured my heart as a teenager: Dolly. Loretta. Patty. Faith. Trisha. The Chicks. Through all the listening, I was reminded how Country music always had these straight-talking women who were so strong and sassy. They were flirty, funny and feisty. And they weren’t afraid of banjos, fiddles, mandolins and dobro. I used that inspiration, both lyrically and musically, to create “Next Girl.” This is the music that flows through my blood, that comes out of my pores. It’s everything I love– and loved — all in one song, and when it’s rushing by, it just feels good… #nextgirl ⚠️

A post shared by c a r l y p e a r c e (@carlypearce) on Sep 3, 2020 at 9:01pm PDT

Pearce co-wrote the track with hit makers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, coming up with cautionary lines about a guy who’s so good looking, it’s tempting to overlook the signs of romantic danger. He charms your mama, and says he’s never felt like this before, but it’s all just a game. Not only her first release since the end of her marriage, it’s also Pearce’s first solo recording project since the death of her friend and producer busbee, and she feels like “Next Girl” is the perfect way to get back on her feet.

“Josh and Shane know how guys like that work, so we had so much fun carving this song out,” she says. “Then when it came time to get in the studio for my first real music on my own without busbee, I was a little nervous, but it was also so exciting because as the tracks started going down, I realized: THIS is who I am at my core. This is the music that flows through my blood, that comes out of my pores. It’s everything I love and loved all in one song, and when it’s rushing by, it just feels good.” 

“Next Girl” follows the success of Pearce’s second number Number One, her “I Hope You’re Happy Now” duet with Lee Brice, and arrives just after some more good news. Pearce scored four nominations for the upcoming CMA Awards — New Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Musical Event of the Year and Video of the Year.