On “Pearl Handled Pistol,” Faith, Laci Kaye Booth, and Baby Nova follow the Chicks’ lead with a little light revenge (and a man in the trunk)
Country music is a genre of traditions, and there’s none more deliciously devilish than the one started by the Chicks in 1999 with “Goodbye Earl”: throwing a dead-beat man in the truck of a car and disposing of his sorry ass in the woods.
In the video for “Pearl Handed Pistol,” off her deluxe LP Cherry Valley Forever, Carter Faith enlisted Laci Kaye Booth and Baby Nova, who are also featured on the track, to bring to life the revenge song that — like the Chicks classic — is really more about the power of a strong woman than it is cold-blooded murder.
Written by Faith, Booth, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Chris Tompkins, “Pearl Handled Pistol” conjures the spirit of the Chicks and the Pistol Annies with a bit of a Bakersfield guitar and the trio’s distinct voices trading turns on the verses. Though no plans have been announced for any further projects together, we don’t think anyone would object to them transitioning the song into a full-fledged Pearl-Handled-Pistol Annies album.
For now, however, it’s another track to add to the line of women, like Willow Avalon and Margo Price, who have been following Miranda Lambert’s gunpowder and lead, and a reclaiming who exactly gets to pack some heat in country music.
Currently on tour with Post Malone, Faith will launch her Cherry Valley Forever tour this fall. Booth’s new album (and first for Lost Highway Records), Love Ain’t for the Faint of Heart, will be released on Sept. 18. She’s been spending her summer on the road as well, opening for Ella Langley in select cities.
