Max McNown Reveals What He’s Learned from Carly Pearce as She Surprises His Nashville Crowd to Perform Their Duet for the First Time (Exclusive)

Max McNown is singing Carly Pearce’s praises. Ahead of his headlining set at Red Bull Jukebox Nashville, McNown told American Songwriter what he’s learned from Pearce, his duet partner on his latest release, “Not Falling Out.”

“She’s very confident. She exudes confidence, and she doesn’t take trash from people,” McNown said of Pearce. “She understands her worth and she stands upon it.”

“I think being so new to the industry on my end, it’s really easy to fall into being a yes man,” he continued. “Sometimes that can lead to making compromises and kind of changing who you are so that you can fit with what other people want you to be. She is unapologetically herself.”

That, McNown said, is something he’s “always admired” about Pearce. It became even more evident when he teamed up with her for their new song, which American Songwriter premiered last month.

“Being able to work with her, she’s just a straight shooter. She just is honest,” he said. “I really respect that.”

Max McNown Discusses Working With Carly Pearce

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It’s no surprise, then, that McNown enlisted Pearce for the track after he penned it with Jamie Kenney, Hillary Lindsey, and Scott Harris.

“It felt incredible while we were writing it, and then we tracked it, and we felt like there was some big piece that we didn’t have,” he said. “With how the melody worked, it felt like it could really use a beautiful, higher register female vocal.”

Pearce fit the bill.

“I’ve loved Carly Pearce’s stuff. I love her voice,” McNown said. “She is just a very respected sweetheart in the country music industry.”

After Pearce made it to the studio to record her vocal, McNown realized her addition made the song “perfect.”

“Right when we heard her voice on it, it was so obvious that that’s what we were missing,” he said.

Fans in Nashville got to hear that magic in person on Monday night, when Pearce surprised the audience at The Pinnacle to give the debut live performance of the song.

While McNown was looking forward to sharing the stage with Pearce, the moment didn’t come without nerves.

“I’ve never sung it live with Carly yet—at all. I’ve never sung the song live,” he said. “How I prepare for it is just, every drive I’ve taken, I just turn on the song and I just sing along to it over and over and over again to make sure I lock it in my memory.”

All that preparation paid off, as the crowd went wild when Pearce made her way on stage and delivered an unforgettable performance.

Photo by Amy E. Price/FilmMagic