Hannah Ellis can count on her “dear friend” Carly Pearce as a mentor in the country music industry.
“She’s my Kentucky sister!” Ellis, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly at CMA Fest on Friday, June 7. “We’ve known each other for so many years and it’s so great to [ask] someone like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m going through and you’ve already been here, so talk me through this.’”
Ellis specifically found that Pearce, 34, helped her navigate several professional firsts.
“I would say just kind of as I was out on radio tour the first time, she really gave me some pointers,” Ellis recalled. “Just some helpful things just to kind of think on as you’re going around and meeting these people and encouraging ways to kind of say like, ‘Oh, here’s how you talk to them. Here’s what I would try to remember.’ And so that was really awesome.”
Ellis released her debut album, That Girl, in January featuring personal stories that resonate with listeners.
“I write music that is my stories, but it is really a place for people to find their stories in the music because that’s what I grew up loving,” Ellis told Us. “It’s what made me want to be a country music singer, was feeling like someone was telling my story by telling theirs.”
She continued, “With my debut album that I put out this year, as much as I love it musically and I think it’s really fun to listen to, I think more than anything it’s just loving how much I’m seeing people connect to it.”
According to Ellis, country music gets even more relatable as fans get older.
“I always joke that, like, whenever you get to your 30s, you will become a country music fan because all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Wait, heartbreak: Did it. Falling in love: Did it. Drinking at a bar to cure my heartbreak: Did it,” she joked.
Ellis is also excited to perform her hits live on tour this summer.
“We have actually some really fun shows coming up in, I’m gonna say the Carolinas ’cause it’s, like, we’re in Raleigh, North Carolina. We’re in Myrtle Beach,” she said. “So I think that that run of shows is gonna be a lot of fun. And then one of those days I’m out with Niko Moon and the other one I’m with Carly Pearce, who is one of my dear friends. So, it should be really fun.”
With reporting by Jeremy Parsons
