29: Written in Stone wasn’t just a moment in Carly Pearce’s career, but a kind of resurgence in an old-school country sound. It was a pivotal record that changed Pearce’s career and turned her pain into pure magic. Now, she creates a love letter to that album and to the fans who supported it, with the release of a live album 29: Written In Stone (Live from Music City) that shines a light on her sublime vocals and adds another flavour to the record.

There’s an intimacy provided in a live album that Pearce has really tapped into, and a shared knowledge of just what these songs have meant to her fans has only sought to amp up the emotion with which they are received in their live rendition – the anger is pumped up a notch on ‘Diamondback’ with a thicker, raspier growl added to her vocals, amidst a cacophony of clapping, whereas ’29’ is stripped back, full of vulnerability, as is ‘Should’ve Known Better,’ where the band take a back step to allow the power of her vocal to come to the fore, as they do on the acapella intro on ‘Easy Going.’

Live albums can easily be passed by, but there is something electrifying about them, if given their due and attention, where the crowds and fans who have followed the artist’s career act as another voice on the record. Nowhere is this more evident than on ‘What He Didn’t Do,’ where the audience scream back the line ‘I could run him out of this town,’ with a righteous anger. It shows the lives the album touched and the massive reception to the album of people who related to Pearce’s lyrics.

Given the context in which the album was released and its consequent overwhelmingly positive reception, there is a degree of hope and joy in the live rendition that was backgrounded on the studio version, where Pearce largely bore her pain. ‘Next Girl’ in the live retelling is a riotously fun, honkytonk perfection and ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now’ – the gorgeous duet with Lee Brice, sees her find inner peace.

More than anything, this record proves that Pearce is a star – one who is almost better in the raw, unvarnished live retelling than in the more polished studio record. A star who has her audience and fans mesmerised by her vocal and lyrical abilities, as she prepares for the next musical chapter.

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It has been a mammoth, breakout year for rising country star, Lainey Wilson. Now, the 2022 CMA nominations have been announced and Wilson is leading out in her first year, with six nominations to her name. Here, are the 2022 nominations with our predictions for winners of the CMA.

Entertainer of the Year

Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen

OTR Prediction: Carrie Underwood

Female Vocalist of the Year

Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Lainey Wilson

OTR Prediction: Carly Pearce

Male Vocalist of the Year

Eric Church
Luke Combs
Cody Johnson
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen

OTR Prediction: Morgan Wallen

Vocal Group of the Year

Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band

OTR Prediction: Lady A

Vocal Duo of the Year

Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
LoCash
Maddie & Tae

OTR Prediction: Maddie & Tae

New Artist of the Year

Hardy
Walker Hayes
Cody Johnson
Parker McCollum
Lainey Wilson

OTR Prediction: Lainey Wilson

Album of the Year (Awarded to Artist(s) and Producer(s))

Luke Combs, Growin’ Up (Produced by Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton, Mix engineer: Jim Cooley, Chip Matthews)
Maren Morris, Humble Quest ˆ(Produced by Greg Kurstin,Mix engineer: Serban Ghenea)
Miranda Lambert, Palomino ˆ(Produced by Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Mikey Reaves,Mix engineer: Jason Lehning)
Lainey Wilson, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ ˆ(Produced by Jay Joyce, Mix engineer: F. Reid Shippen)
Old Dominion, Time, Tequila & Therapy (Produced by Shane McAnally, Old Dominion, Mix engineer: Justin Niebank)

OTR Prediction: Miranda Lambert, Palomino

Song of the Year (Awarded to Songwriters)

Jordan Davis, “Buy Dirt” (Jacob Davis, Jordan Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” (Shane McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce)
Morgan Wallen, “Sand In My Boots” (Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, Josh Osborne)
Lainey Wilson, “Things a Man Oughta Know” (Jason Nix, Jonathan Singleton, Lainey Wilson)
Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave” (Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Chris Stapleton)

OTR Prediction: Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”

Single of the Year (Awarded to Artist(s), Producer(s) and Mix Engineer(s))

Jordan Davis, “Buy Dirt” (Produced by Paul DiGiovanni, Mix engineer: Jim Cooley)
Kelsea Ballerini Feat. Kenny Chesney, “Half of My Hometown” (Produced by Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins, Mix engineer: Dan Grech-Marguerat)
Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” (Produced by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Mix engineer: Ryan Gore)
Cody Johnson, “Til You Can’t” (Produced by Trent Willmon, Mix engineer: Jack Clarke)
Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave” (Produced by Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, Mix engineer: Vance Powell)

OTR Prediction: Jordan Davis, “Buy Dirt”

Musical Event of the Year

Dierks Bentley, Breland & Hardy, “Beers On Me” (Producers: Dierks Bentley, Ross Copperman)
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, “If I Didn’t Love You” (Producer: Michael Knox)
Midland (Feat. Jon Pardi), “Longneck Way To Go” (Producers: Dann Huff, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
Cole Swindell With Lainey Wilson, “Never Say Never” (Producer: Zach Crowell)
Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” (Produces: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)

OTR Prediction: Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde

The post Lainey Wilson Leads Charge of 2022 CMA Nominations appeared first on off the record.

Reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, Carly Pearce has announced her first headline tour of the UK and Ireland this autumn. These shows running across September will be part of a European trip.

Thursday, September 15              LONDON Islington Assembly Hall

Friday, September 16                   MANCHESTER Gorilla

Saturday, September 17              GLASGOW Oran Mor

Monday, September 19               DUBLIN Whelan’s

Tickets: www.gigsandtours.com  www.ticketmaster.co.uk  www.axs.com  www.carlypearce.com

Last year was a huge year for Pearce who released her much-lauded current album, 29 : WRITTEN IN STONE (Big Machine Records), topping many end of year ‘best of’ lists. The committed songwriter navigated disappointment, loss and resilience across the 15-track collection in the wake of her divorce and the loss of her producer Busbee – the arc of realising, accepting and moving on wiser for the experience resonated with both fans and music critics alike, bringing back her traditional country roots and musicality in true force. In addition to winning the CMA and ACM Female Vocalist/Artist of the Year Awards, she was nominated for CMA and ACM Album of the Year for 29 : WRITTEN IN STONE. She also took home her second consecutive ACM Music Event of the Year Award for her single “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” with Ashley McBryde.

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[tps_title] 10. Ashland Craft – Travelin’ Kind [/tps_title]

Ashland Craft’s debut album Travelin’ Kind was a tour de force of a record, showcasing her impeccable, raspy vocal infused with a hefty country-rock production.

Read our full review here.

Stand-out Track: Your Momma Still Does

The post The Top 10 Best Country Albums of 2021 appeared first on off the record.

• Luke Combs

• “Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell

• Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
  Producers: Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton
  Mix Engineer: Vance Powell

• “Starting Over”
  Songwriters: Mike Henderson, Chris Stapleton

• Carly Pearce

• Chris Stapleton

• Old Dominion

• Brothers Osborne

• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
  Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Ross Copperman, Jimmy Robbins

• Jenee Fleenor, Fiddle

• “half of my hometown” – Kelsea Ballerini (featuring Kenny Chesney)
  Director: Patrick Tracy

• Jimmie Allen

The post The CMA Award Winners for 2021 Are Announced appeared first on off the record.

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde have shared their intense music video for their track ‘Never Wanted to Be That Girl.’ The pair joined female and first-time director Alexa Campbell to film scenes of their parallel lives out of sync with the wrong guy. Each unassuming woman finds herself in a place she never wanted to be – both suspecting and discovering the truth about a liar. The clips captured just outside of Nashville find the two women visually reflecting as they consider their own blind spots in a painfully sobering moment.

Combining forces with co-producer Shane McAnally, they reignited the ravaged Country tradition of a hard truth cheating song. “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” is sung from the perspective of two women – the single girl thanking the guy who helped change her flat tire and the wife at home – who learn their partner is involved with someone else.

“What’s interesting about this song is we could have gone to a place of blame on the others in the love triangle, but we turned it inward. It’s unique that two women who never meet are getting burned by the same man and having the exact same feelings. We intentionally kept the chorus the same to reflect that neither wanted to be in this position,” shares Carly.

Ashley continues, “so many of us know how it is when you go back and start putting all of those pieces together. That moment when you realize the gut punch of the situation. This song isn’t really about being the other woman or even being messed around on as much as it’s about these two people who are exhibiting behaviors they normally wouldn’t – checking text messages, making excuses for why their dates are only on Tuesdays – and realizing it’s all because of the same person.”

The CMA Awards Female Vocalist of the Year nominees will perform “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” on the November 10 live broadcast. The third track from 29: WRITTEN IN STONE, which expands Carly’s original Album of the Year-nominated 29 recording to 15 songs, is climbing through the Top 30 at Country radio in the US with support from Big Machine Records and Warner Music Nashville.

For headline tickets and information on her upcoming trek with Kenny Chesney’s HERE AND NOW 2022 TOUR, visit CarlyPearce.com.

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Something has well and truly clicked for Carly Pearce over the past year. Somehow, having lost her producer Busbee and going through a highly publicised divorce from husband Michael Ray, Pearce has channelled that pain, loss and heartbreak into one of the most artfully, thoughtfully considered love letters to country music that we have possibly ever heard. To say this is an album of the year doesn’t feel like it does the record justice, this is a record to live with for a lifetime, one of enduring, staying power past the twenty-first century – 29: Written in Stone – is a masterpiece positing Carly Pearce as a future icon and legend in the genre.

The record opens with the fun and sassy ‘Diamondback’ in which Pearce sticks it to her ex with a humoured, sassy and immensely fun revenge track. ‘Keep the house, keep the truck / Go downtown get too drunk / Kiss a one-night stand with a butterfly on her back.’ Written with Kelsea Ballerini, Tofer Brown and Shane McAnally, it’s the most ‘fun’ track that we have heard from Pearce since ‘Next Girl’ delivered with ease and couched in gorgeously nostalgic country production. Pearce continues to see the light side of heartbreak on later track ‘Next Girl’ – the first track released from the record, a delightful, romping letter to the ‘Next Girl.’

On the flip side, ‘What He Didn’t Do’ is one of the most graceful and dignified songs from a wronged woman that we have ever heard. ‘Imma take the high road / Even though we both know, I could run him out of this town / That’s just dirty laundry, I don’t need to air the truth.’ This track became a fast fan favourite when Pearce sang the track at the Listening Room in Nashville and MacAnally’s production is a masterclass, polishing the perfection of Pearce’s vocal and lyrics and allowing them to speak for themselves, rather than transforming it. ‘Easy Going’ continues to imbue a fervent bluegrass feel to the record.  ‘Roses hide thorns and devils hide horns, guess I finally saw yours.’ The track continues the country trope of a wronged woman, fusing the sound of 90s country and keeping it current, an easy and fresh classic. The outdo for ‘Easy Going’ is a mark of genius itself, huge credit to Shane MacAnally for some of his best work of recent years. Similarly, ‘Your Drinkin’, My Problem’ is another track that feels infused with the power of the great 90s female country artists where Pearce sings about a drinking problem becoming her ‘problem.’ ‘Your whiskey, my headache / Your good time, my heartbreak / I’m stone cold sober, waking up hungover.’ The lyrics are relatable and raw, yet couched in an immensely catchy and free-flowing production.

It is this production that has somehow enabled Pearce to hit new heights in the ’29’ era, setting its foundations in her bluegrass roots. The bluegrass feel reaches it’s peak on ‘Dear Miss Loretta,’ with Pearce teaming up with Patty Loveless herself, on a love letter to country music itself. ‘Dear Miss Loretta, I ain’t ever met ya / But I’m lonely tonight and I just bet ya / Might have some wisdom to pull off that shelf. / Your songs were all fun / til I lived them myself.’ Both artists signature vocals meld together in a deliciously slow-burning track, anchored in meaty country production – fiddle, dobro, piano and electric guitar – drawing out the very soul of her pain. It’s these kinds of power that show how Pearce has transformed in the past few years – it’s a far cry from chasing after country radio play, yet it is this very fact that gives the track its power and appeal. It’s clear that Pearce has thought long and hard about the shrewd choice for the collaborations on the record – the only other with Ashley McBryde on ‘Never Wanted to Be That Girl.’ A stunningly regretful track imbued with an immensity of raw emotion, showcasing two artists in full command of their own artistry and vision as they sing about mistakenly filling the role of the ‘other girl.’ ‘I never wanted to be that girl / I never wanted to hate myself / I thought this kind of lonely, only happens to somebody else / Being the other one, when there’s another one / God this feels like hell.’ The dobro backdrop ekes out the visceral emotion of both vocals.

By the end of the record, Pearce has reached a level of closure and hope. On ‘All The Whiskey,’ the production is stripped back to reveal the naked power of Pearce’s vocal. ‘All the whiskey in the world / Won’t burn out my memory / I’ll be right back on your mind, when the morning sun comes up.’ There is a sense on this more muted track that Pearce has reached her own closure, moving to a place of acceptance for the pain of all she has endured. This sentiment is carried through onto ‘I Want To Mean It This Time,’ where she reaches a sense of hope, working at getting to a place of peace. ‘When I say forever, I’m going to write it in stone / 100 years wouldn’t be enough, it will never get old / And when I give my heart away and lay it all on the line / When I tell the world I’m yours and baby you’re mine / I want to mean it this time.’ It’s a beautifully, quietly hopeful track that means so much more given the weight of the record that has preceded it.

Pearce has transformed heartbreak and pain into a truly miraculous record, with the help of some of the best songwriters in the business. Every note on the album is a masterstroke, down to the sequencing itself, weaving newcomers like ‘All The Whiskey’ and ‘Your Drinkin’, My Problem’ next to already released tracks like ’29’ and ‘Next Girl.’ Something has been unleashed in Pearce in this ’29’ era and the world needs to watch out, she is unstoppable, with every track released a jewel brighter than the last. 

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