Carly Pearce Delivers Some of Her Most Personal Songs Yet on ‘Honest Woman’: ‘That’s My Mission, To Make Music That’s Impactful’

Carly Pearce knew she could face backlash when she first teased her song “Church Girl” on social media earlier this year.

“I knew that putting sex and getting high and drinking and Jesus all in the same sentence, that people were going to come out to play,” Pearce tells Billboard of the song, in which Pearce sings of finding a more accepting approach to faith, despite the judgment and prejudices sometimes found in religious circles.

“I grew up with church trauma, if you will,” Pearce says of being raised in a Southern Baptist community, “where the right thing to do was save yourself for marriage, don’t get divorced… I remember when I heard this song, it was healing a part of my heart.

I wore the true love waits ring, the purity ring, and then I went through a divorce [from fellow country artist Michael Ray in 2020].

I went through such a difficult season of guilt and shame.

I wanted to record this for anybody who’s staying in something because they feel like they have to.

“And I have watched some friends struggle with their sexuality, struggle with fear,” she continues.

“I feel the whole point of God’s mission to all of us is to love thy neighbor, and we have gotten so far away from that.

This [song] was a moment for me to be bold and say something that I hope can help save people.” That willingness to be unfiltered and unapologetic in her perspectives is the heartbeat of Pearce’s fifth studio album Honest Woman , out today on BBR Music Group/BMG.

The 16-song album, which includes “Church Girl,” continues her penchant for navigating complex emotional terrain to arrive at bone-cutting truths, much like previous albums Hummingbird and 29: Written in Stone .

The Kentucky girl who grew up loving the music of Alison Krauss & Union Station highlights her bluegrass roots, singing with former Union Station member Dan Tyminski on “Who’s Lying Here,” and teaming with both Tyminski and guitar virtuoso Molly Tuttle on “What If You Loved Me.” “I knew I wanted a bluegrass moment, because it felt so raw and honest,” Pearce says.

“[Dan’s] been such a big influence and he ended up doing so much on the album, and it’s special to have a duet because we wrote it together.

To me, it reminds me of the feeling I got when I heard him and Alison Krauss sing, and these bluegrass parts of the album are some of the most precious songs.

And Molly, I was hosting the CMA Country Christmas special a few years ago, and her and her band were a part of the special.