Carly Pearce sought to tell a “haunting” story when she penned the song that became the title track of her fourth full-length album.

The award-winning artist teamed up with Shane McAnally, Nicolle Galyon and Jordan Reynolds to write “hummingbird,” one of 14-tracks on the record that made its highly-anticipated arrival in June. The album marked Pearce’s debut in a producing role, alongside McAnally and Josh Osborne. Pearce said in a previous interview with iHeartCountry that “they really understand me as an artist, and so, getting to go back into the studio this time around with them was just really awesome. We knew what we wanted to do.”

Pearce recently took the stage in a stunning red gown to perform “hummingbird” on the historic Ryman Auditorium stage in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It happened when she returned to host the ACM Honors for her fourth consecutive year, this time with “Next Thing You Know” artist Jordan Davis joining her. The show took place in August and aired in late September. Both hosts performed that evening, along with Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Clark, Jackson Dean, Kameron Marlowe, Eric Church, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Ashley McBryde and Keith Urban.

“I grew up loving bluegrass music, and when I wrote this song, I really wanted to kind of honor that sound that has been so influential in my music. And we’re kind of bringing it to life in that way tonight in a really special way at the Ryman, so I’m excited for it,” Pearce told iHeartCountry on the 17th ACM Honors red carpet, which ran through Robert’s Western World, a historic honky tonk on Nashville’s Lower Broadway. “I loved Allison Krauss as a kid, and I wanted to write something that felt haunting like that. And I kind of wanted to write a very poetic lyric that…stood for, ‘I’m not gonna settle anymore.’ I’m not gonna look back, and I’m gonna keep going.”

Brooke Taylor