Carly Pearce talks CMA's 'Country Christmas' holiday special

Eight days before taking the Grand Ole Opry stage as a co-host — on the same night that Loretta Lynn died — Carly Pearce is sitting in a trailer on a North Nashville soundstage after an arduous day of recording the Country Music Association's "CMA Country Christmas" special.

On the show, Pearce joins an all-star cast, including Maren Morris, the War & Treaty, Old Dominion, Dan + Shay, Scotty McCreery, Molly Tuttle and Steven Curtis Chapman.

"CMA Country Christmas" airs Thursday at 8 p.m. CST on ABC. It will be available for streaming the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

For Pearce, who is riding a three-year streak of CMA Award victories plus three No. 1 singles on country radio, a Grammy nomination and back-to-back headlining gigs at the Ryman Auditorium, hosting events like this special meets her expectation for success and offers a road map of where she'd like to see her career continue to progress in the next half-decade.

Artists whom she considers influential heroines, like Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain and Trisha Yearwood, also frequently excelled as media personalities during their rise to superstardom. Mimicking their growth while simultaneously allowing her fans to "get to know her better" is her greatest hope from the increased exposure, Pearce tells The Tennessean. It is her second year hosting the TV event, which she considers "a special honor that solidifies where I'm at in my career."

"In general, women are good at presenting the kinds of shows that allow you deeper into their lives as people — being a light into the Christmas season," says Pearce, realizing that she's named some of the genre's most notable female performers of the past half-century.

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Pearce like many country music artists and fans grew enamored of the genre because of its enduring relevance to the holiday season.

"Any time anyone in country music was performing on a Christmas special I was watching," Pearce says.

This year's CMA special is specifically staged to recall what the organization refers to as "cozy at-home settings reminiscent of TV specials from prior decades," including "realistic Christmas trees" and holiday decor from Balsam Hill's line of Christmas-themed merchandise.

Regarding her second time as a host, Pearce eagerly anticipates that her fanbase, and country's fanbase at large, will learn about her family's Christmas traditions, highlighted in a script that she says is "tailor made" for her. Her parents, Todd and Jackie Slusser, are included as performers in the special.

"My mom may need some liquid courage to do it, but between growing up in Taylor Mill [her northern Kentucky hometown] and the time I spent as a young artist in Dollywood, everything about my art and life are presented on the show," she adds.

"Mountain vibes, Christmas music, the shows — and yes, the show I was in at Dollywood, 'Christmas in the Smokies,' as Frosty the Snowman — is represented in 'CMA Country Christmas,'" Pearce says.

As well, Molly Tuttle, the Grammy-nominated, International Bluegrass Music Association Awards' reigning Guitar Player of the Year, appears with Pearce in a special bluegrass segment.

"There's something for everybody," Pearce says.

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Asked what's the most important takeaway from a special like this during the Christmas season, the chart-topping award-winner offers a heartfelt note.

"Christmas sums up the faith, morals and values that many of us in country music appreciate," Pearce says. "So it's always important that we highlight family and tradition in country as it relates to that, too."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Carly Pearce hosts CMA's 'Country Christmas' holiday special