Carly Pearce’s ‘The Ice Road’ Soundtrack Cover Is Super Country
Carly Pearce lets her traditional country stripes shine on her version of Kathy Mattea‘s “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” a cover performance that the younger performer contributed to the all-genre soundtrack of the new Netflix film The Ice Road.
The second single to come off of Mattea’s 1987 album Untasted Honey, “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses” was a No. 1 country hit, ultimately becoming what is arguably Mattea’s signature song. It’s also a favorite for Pearce, who explains that when she was approached about recording the song for the The Ice Road‘s soundtrack, she and producers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne jumped at the chance to lean hard into traditional country in the studio.
“It was so fun for Shane, Josh and I to get in there and do that,” the singer commented of her cover performance during a recent virtual press event. “I just got to be as country — and not worry about radio — as I wanted to be, and we had a really good time.”
Made up of songs contributed by various artists signed to Big Machine Label Group and elsewhere, The Ice Road‘s soundtrack also features artists including Miranda Lambert, Brantley Gilbert, Luke Combs and Tim McGraw. Though the country genre obviously has a strong footing in the compilation, rockers Rob Zombie and NIkki SIxx also make an appearance, teaming up with John 5 and Tommy Clufetos for a Hank Snow tune, “I’ve Been Everywhere,” most famously recorded by Johnny Cash. Gary LeVox‘s debut solo single, “We Got Fight,” also gets a prime spot during the film’s end credits.
Starring Liam Neeson, The Ice Road tells the story of an ice road trucker who must lead a team of rescuers on a dangerous mission across a frozen ocean as they race to save miners in a collapsed diamond mine.
Pearce’s version of “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses” comes on the heels of an exciting couple of weeks for the singer: In mid-June, Dolly Parton surprised her with an invitation to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry.
