Lily Pearl Black Talks First EP And Life On The Road With Parents, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black

“This is something that I have been looking forward to for so long,” Lily Pearl shares of the three-track project.

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Madeleine O’Connell

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December 6, 2022

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L to R Lily Pearl Black, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black; Photo Provided

Lily Pearl Black, the 21-year-old daughter of country icon Clint Black and his wife, Lisa Hartman Black, has released her first EP, Songs from the Mostly Hits and the Mrs. Tour

The three-track project, which dropped November 11, celebrates the extended run of the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour that has brought Lily on the road with her parents. Among the tracks is Lily’s first studio recording, “Never Knew Love,” and two live covers of “Cry Pretty – Live” and “Every Time It Rains – Live,” which were both captured during the tour.

Lily Pearl Black; Photo Provided
Lily Pearl Black; Photo Provided

Growing up in a musical household, Lily spent a lot of time listening to music and developing a strong appreciation for it. With this collection, she is now getting the chance to create her own unique sound, and hopefully strike a chord with her listeners in the same way other artists have done for her over the years. Finally being able to unveil these songs has been an “indescribable” feeling according to Lily. 

“I’m still kind of on that excitement high from it because this is something that I have been looking forward to for so long. Especially with last year’s tour, I kind of started to get more excited about something that wasn’t even in the works yet, just imagining what it was gonna be like and getting to share music,” she told Country Now

“Never Knew Love” was written by her Grammy-award-winning dad, Clint Black, and fellow songwriter, David Foster. Together, they crafted a song that dives into the reality of love and the pain that can come with it. Lily’s patient vocals emphasize the heartfelt narrative as she asks the question, “What if I never knew love?”

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“From the moment my dad brought that song into my life, it just stuck with me. I think it’s a beautifully written song,” Lily said of the new song. “I’ve loved it since I heard it and started working with it.”

Choosing to also record Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” and Randy Newman’s “Every Time It Rains,” was fairly simple for Lily as she quickly fell in love with performing these songs on the tour. 

“’Every time It Rains’ is a song that my dad kind of brought up the idea of. I sang and played on piano in last year’s show, and I just love it. It’s very special too cause my papa and my nana, who has now passed away, they love Randy Newman. My papa and I text all the time about it. He loves it. It’s a special song for my family,” Lily shared. 

Underwood and her song, which serves as the title track to her 2018 record, have also had a great impact on Lily’s singing career since the start. She especially developed a great respect for the “Hate My Heart” singer when she started performing the emotional track in high school. Lily also shared that her very first performance in front of a large audience was when she was just 16 years old. As she stood beside Clint Black on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, she sang Underwood’s “Temporary Home,” and created a memory that will last a lifetime. 

“’Cry Pretty’ was the song from the moment I heard it, I loved it. I heard how hard it was vocally, so as soon as I heard it, the little competitiveness and kind of drive in me, I was like, ‘I want to master this song,’” she explained. “I’ve been working with my dad’s vocal coach for a couple of years now and he’s great. So that was a song that I was in love with and wanted nothing more than to be able to get to those high notes and, you know, nail that song hopefully. So it was kind of a challenge for me in a good way.”

Although she is still learning the ropes and adapting to life on the road, Lily has her parents right by her side to guide her through the tough moments as she prepares to make the jump into the music industry on her own one day. 

“It’s interesting because I’ve seen my dad doing it my whole life and I never understood any of it. I thought I did, but the older I get, the more I understand the pressure and the stress and anxiety that can come with it and that it’s totally normal,” she said before adding, “I’m really lucky that my parents are my best friends. To be coming into this with all of that natural stress and nerves and all of the above, I have them by my side showing me the do’s and the don’t’s and just, not holding my hand through it, but in a kind of emotional sense, they are. But they’re also letting me learn from my mistakes and go through the hard stuff. That way, when I am hopefully doing it on my own, I’m not lost.”

When those nerves do arise, her dad serves as a reminder that everyone makes mistakes, and his best advice is to always “be the first person to laugh at yourself.” Along with these words of wisdom and maintaining a healthy routine for her voice, Lily said that her parents have also taught her to stay true to herself, no matter what.

“It’s very easy to not necessarily lose yourself, but just kind of get caught up in things and forget, you know, what you are, who you are, and where you come from and let things get to your head, stress, whatever it is. The best advice they have ever given me is to be myself and that’s either gonna work for me or it’s not. If it doesn’t, you know, oh well, because people love people for who they are and trying to be someone that you’re not is not the way they raised me to do it, at least.”

While the tour has taken plenty of hard work and dedication, she and her parents, Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black make sure to take a step back and enjoy the sentimental moments that have become unique to this time they have together. 

“There’s a lot of special moments and my dad and I have like our kind of pre-stage rituals before he goes out. He always texts me and my mom ‘have a great show,’ and that’s when I run backstage,” she shared. “In the middle of getting ready, I run to his side of the stage and he and I kind of have a little special moment before he goes out. Then I get to watch my dad go out on stage and it almost always makes me kind of emotional, but it’s always our special moment and there’s not a single show where I have not done that.”

Although Lily is still at the start of her budding career, she already has plenty of big goals and aspirations to keep her motivated to continue growing and learning about the industry. Her EP is a prime example of just how far Lily has come already and it’s just the start of what’s to come.

“I want people to hear my music and hear my voice and go, ‘that’s Lily,’ and know when they hear me, that’s me cause I am who I am and for them to also love that. I know that doesn’t always happen, there are people on both sides, but for people to hear my music and know that it’s me singing it, and it’s me putting my love and effort into it, will always be amazing.”

The second half of the Mostly Hits and The Mrs. Tour with Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, and Lily Pearl Black, launched on Thursday, November 17 in Burnsville, Minnesota and the extended run, promoted by Pepper Entertainment, is set to wrap up in Pensacola, FL at Saenger Theatre on February 5, 2023. Their next performance is currently set for December 8 in Kalispell, MT. 

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Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.