Carly Pearce Opens up About Loving Michael Ray on a 'Deep Level' (Exclusive)

By the time Carly Pearce and Michael Ray got married, they had already been dating for over a year, and had been living together for quite some time. So while it may not seem like marriage was much of a difference for them, Pearce said that one day changed plenty about their relationship with each other.

"This is the first person that I have chosen to love them in the way that they need to be loved, and in not in the way that I want to love somebody, if that makes sense?" Pearce reflected to PopCulture.com. "Just really getting to know each other, on a deep level every day. I get to know him, I learn little things about him every day and that's fun to me. This is the person that I now get to just continue to peel layers back and grow together with."

Both Pearce and Ray's careers continue to soar, which is great for their professional lives, but challenging for their personal lives.

"It's harder. I think it's gotten harder. It's just hard," Pearce said. "Being both artists who are at similar playing fields, we are gone a lot, and we have to sacrifice that, and you have to find creative ways to balance it in some way. But I do feel like we want each other to go after our dreams and we know that this is the time where we need to prioritize that as well, all while staying very communicative. He's very good at that and I'm grateful for that."

Pearce and Ray duet on a song on her upcoming self-titled sophomore album. The song, "Finish Your Sentences," was written by Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini, along with Jesse Frasure and Ashley Gorley. "Finish Your Sentences," which marks their first true collaboration, is a fun, uptempo tune, and not the big romantic powerhouse ballad fans might be expecting, although Pearce hints that type of song will likely happen in the future.

"I think we'll have that moment to do the 'It's Your Love,' but I really wanted this song to be exactly what happened when we started dating," Pearce said. "I'm so literal with my songs, and with the way that I put together albums. When we were making this album, that's what was going on. It was the fun, flirtatious, dating side of falling in love. So when I heard that song, I was like 'There it is.'"

Pre-order Carly Pearce by visiting her website.

Photo Credit: Getty / Taylor Hill