Carly Pearce Shares How An ‘Honest Conversation’ With Ashley McBryde Led To ‘Never Wanted To Be That Girl’

Singer-songwriters Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde prove that the women of country music have an impactful way with words. When the two joined forces on recent release “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,”  they knew they did not want to pen a surface-level track. Instead, the award-winning musicians put their creative minds together to carefully create a ballad about a situation every female fears to be a part of. 

Throughout the track, the superstars reveal two different perspectives about a two-timing lover. For instance, McBryde plays a role of a single girl who encounters a “charming” man who offers to help change her car tire. One thing leads to another, and they wind up in a six-month romantic relationship. 

Tables quickly turn when Pearce chimes in to mention that she’s the man’s wife waiting at home and worried about his whereabouts.

“He never had a ring on/ So I didn’t think to ask,” McBryde sings. 

Towards the middle of the emotional track, the two women realize what their unfaithful partner has been up to. Following the sudden grasp on the circumstance, the hitmakers begin to unravel the knot in their stomach and the pain that goes along with infidelity. 

The collaboration between Pearce and McBryde has been a long time coming, as the “Next Girl” songstress has wanted to get into the studio with McBryde for quite some time. “I have only wanted to write with two of my peers,” Pearce told Country Now about the writing process behind her latest record, 29: Written in Stone. “One being Luke Combs, and we wrote “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” and Ashley. I know that Ashley and I are very different, but in a lot of ways, musically and vocally, we are similar.” 

She continued to reminisce back to songwriters rounds throughout the years when she would admire McBryde’s unmatchable talents and think to herself, “I want to sing with her.” Therefore, when Pearce started to form her healing 15-track collection, 29: Written In Stone, she did not hesitate to ask the breakout star to participate in her transformative project. 

“We got in the same room, and I was hoping that she would want to write a duet. We had this honest conversation about where else could we go? What was the perspective that hadn’t really been talked about? I think that the sad truth is that no woman wants to find themselves in this situation,” she shared about the underlining meaning behind ‘Never Wanted To Be That Girl.’ “No matter if you’re the mistress or the wife…I think this is the realization that they are having the exact same feeling in real-time about being burned by the same man, even though they are both innocent.” 

The powerful vocalist mentioned that usually, in these sticky scenarios, the women immediately want to fight each other or they want to approach the man. However, in the end, they are both battling the same internal emotions of despair. 

“Carly isn’t afraid to face the less potable subjects,” says McBryde in a statement. “As a writer, she’s willing to get in there and get very honest. Writing this song together with Shane strengthened our friendship and taught us more about one another and ourselves. Seriously, nobody wants to be the other woman. And when you find you are… d-n. It’s such a gut punch.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pearce disclosed that a music video is currently underway to bring the story alive, and the two are putting on their acting hats to paint the picture. The forthcoming music video is just another career milestone for the two vocalists, as they are both nominated for multiple Country Music Association Awards. 

Come November, Pearce and McBryde will be going head to head in the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year category. 

“I wake up every day, and I’m like, ‘what something else has happened?’ That’s like the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. Being nominated for Female Vocalist of The Year, I have never been nominated by the CMAs. So, just to think that your peers and the town thought that I should be one of the five, I have always wanted to be one of the five,” says Pearce, full of excitement about her career-altering honor. 

The talented artists are also nominated for a number of other CMA Awards, including a nod for Pearce in the Album of the Year category.

“I started that season of my life, and it felt so overwhelming that I kind of wanted to crawl in and hole and die. Now, fast forward a year and a half, and I go ‘oh, wow…not only was I okay, but I was creating something that was going to be my best work yet, and I didn’t even know it,” Pearce shares about becoming the only female nominated in the Album of The Year category. 

Since the launch of her most vulnerable collection to date, 29: Written in Stone – the artist has not picked up a pen to write. “I have not written a song since I finished this album,” the artist told a group of reporters during a press conference. “I don’t want to write a song. I had no desire. I haven’t touched a guitar with a melody or a lyric since the album.” 

Although, the star has touched a guitar, as she is currently out on tour with good-friends Lady A and will be bringing “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” on the road this fall. The 29 Tour is expected to kick-start November 4 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, IA. Tickets to see the trailblazer are now available here.