Carly Pearce knows what it’s like to chase her musical dreams so when she heard about an aspiring young singer named Paisley in the audience at her show on Monday evening (Aug. 22), Pearce decided to offer her an unforgettable experience to perform in front of a festival crowd.
In the midst of Pearce’s headlining performance at Appalachian Fair in Gray, Tennessee, the Kentucky native stopped the show to tell the story of a young fan who finds inspiration in her and her music.
“Do you mind if I tell you a story that happened today?” Pearce said from the stage. ”I used to work at Dollywood, but even before I worked at Dollywood, when I was a little girl probably like 6, 7, or 8, my mom convinced a vocal coach to take me on as a student and I would make these CDs of LeAnn Rimes, The Chicks, and more.”
Peace admitted that Paisley’s story reminded her of her own.
“My assistant today, she brought a CD to us and she said ‘There’s a little girl out here named Paisley and she wanted you to have this CD,’” Pearce explained. “So, Paisley we listened to it while we had dinner and Paisley sang two of my songs and then she also wrote her own song that had my name in it and I’ve met Paisley before on tour at one of my 29 shows and Paisley reminds me a lot of me. She looks a lot like me when I was her age. She reminds me of just that child-like faith of having a dream and wanting to sing.
The two-time ACM Honors host then invited Paisley to sing with her.
“Paisley, somebody told me tonight that your favorite song is ‘What He Didn’t Do,’ would you like to come and sing it with me?” Pearce said, before welcoming her to stage. ”Y’all please make welcome Paisley. You ready? We’re just going to sing it together,” Pearce added.
Following their memorable performance together, Pearce took to social media to share a clip of their duet.
“Y’all meet Paisley. She handed my band a CD she recorded of some original songs and also my songs,” Pearce wrote. ”It instantly took me back to when my mom first took me to a recording studio when I was about her age. She told me ‘What He Didn’t Do’ was her favorite song, so I had to invite her up… as I cried thinking of me at that age 🥲♥”
In the clip, Pearce is seen singing the first verse before passing the microphone to the young fan, who sang the chorus of the tune as Pearce held back tears.
Pearce will wrap up her time on Kenny Chesney’s Here And Now Tour this week with back-to-back shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on August 26 and 27. She’ll then head overseas for a run of shows in Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom and more.
The chart-topping songstress is currently preparing to host the 15th Annual ACM Honors, which airs on Tuesday, September 13 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
