Kentucky-born singer Carly Pearce occupies a coveted place in country music: she impresses the traditionalists while being rooted in the 21st century. Born in 1990, Pearce was working as a touring bluegrass musician and Dollywood performer by the age of 16. Her move to Tennessee while still a teenager resulted in her playing the Grand Ole Opry before she had secured a recording contract. She deftly mixes pop songwriting with roots arrangements on her chart-topping 2017 breakout, “Every Little Thing,” with its evocation of lost love; the accompanying album of the same name—produced by the late Busbee—and her 2020 self-titled record solidified her rep as a torchbearer of true country. For 2021’s 29: Written In Stone, she built a sound indebted to classic ‘90s Nashville that feels right at home on modern-day radio, illustrating the timelessness of broken hearts and kiss-offs.