Carly Pearce will be pulling double duty at this weekend’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville. She’ll be singing the national anthem prior to the start of the big race on Sunday, and even though she’s sung the anthem many times before, she is never not nervous about it.
“I think any artist that told you that they are not nervous every single time that they sing the national anthem, they’re lying, because it’s obviously such a huge honor to be able to do that. That’s the most precious song to our country and so many people have sang it. And I think you’re looked at under a microscope when you sing it, and I’ve tried to sing it very traditional to how it’s supposed to be sung, in my opinion, and not try to make it my own. ‘Cause I think that what makes that song what it is, is it’s timeless and you should sing it and honor it the way it was written.”
After the race, Carly will join Brantley Gilbert, Midland and Callista Clark for the Grand Ole Prix post-race concert, which she’s excited is happening in her city. And although some Nashville police officers might beg to differ, Carly is happy to leave the driving to the professionals.
“I think Nashville has so many unique qualities to it, and the fact that this race gets to be here on the streets that all of us drive in is pretty crazy. And I definitely have no desire to get behind the wheel of a race car, but I will say, that probably a few police officers that have pulled me over for my speed would say that I really have a need for speed.”
You can see Carly’s national anthem performance live on NBC this Sunday 8/7, at approximately 2:20pm CT, just prior to the start of the race at 2:30pm CT, and you can learn more about the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix and see the schedule of events at MusicCityGP.com.
