Thomas Rhett’s beefing up his vocals for 2023, while Carly Pearce is just wondering what Dolly would do

Thomas Rhett’s beefing up his vocals for 2023, while Carly Pearce is just wondering what Dolly would do
ABC/Connie Chornuk

A new year marks a chance to focus on new goals, and for country stars, those goals often have to do with their music.

For example, Thomas Rhett says he wants to improve his vocal stamina so that his voice can still shine at the end of those three-day touring weekends.

“I think I want to learn, in the same way you would want to, like, get ripped in the gym, how to get your voice there, too,” he explains in an interview with his record label. “Thursdays and Fridays are always really easy for me, but Saturdays I tend to wake up kinda struggling.”

He adds,  “I just started doing vocal lessons a couple years ago, so I think I’ve got a lot of stuff left to learn.”

Meanwhile, Carly Pearce has never been shy about her fandom for the classic women of country — but in 2023, she wants to expand her brand the way artists like Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire have.

“I want to be the women that I love, the Dollys, the Rebas. They’re household names,” Carly points out. “So I want to figure out what is my version of that.”

She’s already got a head start: Carly hosted ABC’s CMA Country Christmas special to close out this year.

“You know, is that doing something outside of music? Is that just expanding and kind of stretching? I know I can do music, but what else can I do within that umbrella of just challenging myself?” the singer wonders.

Of course, she’s keeping her classic country sound heavily in the mix. Carly teased a snippet of audio from the studio this week, and from the sounds of it, her new material is twangier and more full of fiddle than anything she’s put out yet.

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