Carly Pearce “29: Written In Stone: Live From Music City” Album Review

I’m not sure how you spent last weekend, but I was at a Carly Pearce concert. At least, that’s what it felt like, being fortunate enough to have immersed myself in a preview of her upcoming album “Carly Pearce-29: Written In Stone : Live From Music City” released this Friday, March 24th, via Big Machine Records.
I must admit to really loving a live album, but unfortunately they seem to be a rarity lately which I fully understand from a technical and practical point of view, and often the nearest you’ll get is the odd track/occasional release recorded in one take in a studio. But for me that’s no substitute for capturing the excitement and adrenalin rush of an actual concert, complete with the interaction between artist/band/audience, and this is exactly what Carly has done with this phenomenal album.
Anyone who has seen the Kentucky native perform live on stage will no doubt attest to the fact that she is a natural up there, and listening to this release definitely brought back memories of her London show last year at Islington Assembly Hall. The energy she exuded that evening was tangible and her already insane and emotional vocals were even more impressive, lifting her songs to another level entirely.
All this I am pleased to say translates perfectly on this album, which was recorded in Nashville during an intimate concert event at Marathon Music Works. Carly co-produced the release alongside multi-talented David Clauss, the two having worked together previously on “Every Little Thing” which he engineered and mixed. The tracklisting from 1-15 follows the same order as her 2021 album “29: Written In Stone (video deluxe)” followed by three of her previous hits (“Every Little Thing”, “Hide The Wine” and “I Hope You’re Happy Now”) all of which will already be familiar to you I’m sure and need no further comment here.
While this album is obviously not an unadulterated recording of the concert it’s been sympathetically edited in my opinion and still captures the show’s electric atmosphere and includes a lot of Carly’s introductions to the songs and fun audience interaction. “Where’s my Next Girls at?” she screams out for example (everywhere it seems by the crowd’s cheers) over the driving drumbeat introduction to that particular song, and just wait til you hear her pre-amble to “Hide The Wine“! Plus of course there’s plenty of evidence throughout the recording that the audience were more than capable of singing along word perfect. But there’s also songs that need, and are given, more reverence by both Carly and the crowd, including of course the emotional “Show Me Around” .
Carly and her fabulous band (who she introduces us to and thanks) are joined along the way by several special guests, and it’s wonderful that they are the artists she originally duetted with on the respective songs as you’ll no doubt see on the tracklisting (all busy artists in their own right so it must have been tough to find a date everyone was available!) . In addition to the fantastic vocalists, fiddle player extraordinaire (and current CMA “Musician of the Year“) Jenee Fleenor adds her stunning playing on “29“, just too beautiful and emotional for words believe me!
Yes, this live album is the perfect way for Carly to bring her highly successful “29 Era” to a close and to move on both personally and professionally, and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her happiness in whatever the future holds for her .

Track List

1. Diamondback (Live From Music City)
2. What He Didn’t Do (Live From Music City)
3. Easy Going (Live From Music City)
4. Dear Miss Loretta (Live From Music City)
5. Next Girl (Live From Music City)
6. Should’ve Known Better (Live From Music City)
7. 29 (Live From Music City)
8. Never Wanted To Be That Girl (Live From Music City) – Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde
9. Your Drinkin’, My Problem (Live From Music City)
10. Liability (Live From Music City)
11. Messy (Live From Music City)
12. Show Me Around (Live From Music City)
13. Day One (Live From Music City)
14. All The Whiskey In The World (Live From Music City)
15. Mean It This Time (Live From Music City)
16. Truth Be Told (Live From Music City) – Carly Pearce and Matthew West
17. Every Little Thing (Live From Music City)
18. Hide The Wine (Live From Music City)
19. I Hope You’re Happy Now (Live From Music City) – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice

Review written by Lesley Hastings (twitter.com/lesleyhastings)