Former Band Perry member-gone-solo, Kimberly Perry, took the Hard Rock Nashville Reverb stage as part of Audacy’s continued coverage of CMA Fest 2023 brought to you by Simple Green. The first-time mother-to-be opened up about her solo EP, new single and the pros and cons of going solo.
LISTEN NOW: Kimberly Perry talks to Mo & Styckman at CMA Fest
The Jackson, Mississippi native has officially arrived as a solo artist with the release of her debut EP, Bloom, on June 9. Currently 7-months pregnant, Perry says the arrival of the album is the fist healthy, happy delivery of the year.
“I have a baby due in late August, so this [album] is the first birth of the year,” she told Audacy’s Mo & Styckman. “It came out healthy, and without a hitch, there was no epidural, there was no pain at all,” she laughed.
The Bloom title is fitting in more ways than one as Perry not only readies to welcome new life into the world as a first-time Mom, but is also creating the space to grow her new solo career after having success with her brothers Reid and Neil as part of the Band Perry.
While a new start is something Perry is excited about, there are some elements she’ll miss about the good ol’ band days.
"I think pro [of being in a group] obviously was getting to do that with family,” she shared. “That was such a wonderful thing, we did it since we were kids. [I was] 15, Reid was 10, Neil was 8 at our first show, so we always traveled together, so that was a huge pro, just to get to experience the world with family.”
While she’ll surely miss the company of her brothers, Perry says she’s looking forward to reaching a new level of vulnerability with her music as a solo artist.
“Not that it’s a con, but I’ll say now a pro, as a female solo artist, to not have to think about things like, ‘Can I say the word girl in a song?’… I feel like this time around, I’ve definitely gotten to write the most vulnerable song ever because I’m just thinking about my perspective.”
She continued, “This first half of this project is really about creating the space to be able to grow. The process of kind of busting out of the earth and on your own two feet and learning how to be all the sides of ourselves — that’s what it’s all about.”
Hear more from Kimberly regarding new music, the EP and more by checking out her entire conversation with Mo & Styckman above.
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