Carly Pearce Praises Michael Ray's Transformation: 'He's Not That Timid Guy I Remember'

Carly Pearce and Michael Ray have only been dating for a little over a year, but they have known each other for more than five years. And in that time, Pearce has watched Ray go through a powerful transformation, coming out of his shell and opening himself up to life, and love, again.

"He's just not that timid guy I remember that looked sad," Pearce told Taste of Country. "I used to wonder if he was sad. He was guarded and had been hurt and all of those things and he was always very open to me about that."

"It's been fun for me to see him become himself and flourish as an artist and a man," she continued. "He is the sweetest person in the whole world and I think people automatically look at his appearance and think he's going to be something that he's not."

Pearce and Ray are likely tying the knot over the next few days, and have already been discussing children – just not yet.

"We are excited about that ... eventually. He's going to have to go out on tour with me. We are going to have to do our own Soul2Soul Tour," she said, referring to Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's famed tour. But all kidding aside, the 29-year-old has no doubt Ray will be an excellent father, someday.

"Michael has so much empathy and has so much heart," Pearce gushed. "He has good genes in every way. He has good genes in his heart, not just on the exterior."

Pearce previously revealed she and Ray both wrote their own wedding vows, which was not necessarily easy for her.

"I found it really hard," Pearce admitted. "I really didn't expect to find it that hard, I thought, 'I know what I want to say, I'm a songwriter. It'll be great.' But it was very hard to articulate, in a short little piece to this person, where they've taken you, what you've seen, your promises to them, where you want to go. It was pretty hard for me, but I think I got it. I wrote it enough in advance to be able to edit."

It might have been hard for Pearce, but Ray may not have had the struggles she had.

"Michael is a talker," Pearce admitted. "He's long-winded; I love him for that. Bill Cody from WSM is marrying us, so we're gonna have him look at both of our vows, but I literally last night just went, 'That's how long mine is.'"

Photo Credit: Getty / Jeff Kravitz