It’s been a big year for Carter Faith.
Not only did the country singer snag an Academy of Country Music Awards nomination for Album of the Year for “Cherry Valley,” she was also the face of a LoveShackFancy collaboration with Cotton Incorporated this past spring.
Now the 26-year-old North Carolina native is teaming with Stetson on a special-edition trucker hat tied to the release of “Pearl Handled Pistol,” a song on the deluxe version of her album, titled “Cherry Valley Forever,” which features five new tracks.
In the opening scene of the video of the song, which Faith sings along with Laci Kaye Booth and Baby Nova, she’s pictured in a Stetson cowboy hat pointing a pistol at the screen. The first line of the song is, “Your Stetson Looks Good on Me,” a reference to the hat she borrowed after she and her friends murdered her boyfriend and went on the run.
The song, reminiscent of The Chicks’ 2000 hit “Goodbye Earl,” where the trio similarly took care of an abusive husband, has quickly become a hit. So the lyric was put on the front of the hat in raised vinyl lettering and “with love from Carter Faith” embroidered along the black mesh side panel. There’s also an embroidered mesh back and an adjustable snapback closure.
Faith performed at Stetson’s celebration in New York at the end of last year and approached the team about creating a piece that could accompany the song’s release. The result is the Stetson x Carter Faith trucker hat, which will launch in a limited run of 150 units on the Stetson website. It will retail for $45.
“I love a good cowboy hat, but the trucker hat felt a little more true to everyday style. It’s got that vintage, worn-in feel,” Faith told WWD as to why she opted for a trucker instead of a cowboy hat.
She added that the song “definitely came first” before the Stetson deal, “but the partnership felt like such a natural fit. I’ve always loved Western style, and Stetson has been part of that story long before we officially worked together. Once ‘Pearl Handled Pistol’ came to life, it just made sense to have Stetson be part of the visual world we were creating. It felt authentic to me and to the song.”
To commemorate the launch, Stetson also donated $10,000 to Education Through Music, a nonprofit that brings in-school music education to under-resourced schools.
“‘Your Stetson Looks Good on Me’ is the very first thing you hear on ‘Pearl Handled Pistol,’ so it’s wild to me how fast it went from a line in a song to something you can actually hold,” Faith said. “Getting to make something real with Stetson is one thing, but knowing $10,000 will be donated to help facilitate music education for underserved students is honestly the part that gets me. That’s the stuff that really matters.”
Faith admitted that she’s “incredibly grateful” for the success of “Cherry Valley,” adding: “You always hope people will connect with the music, but you never really know what will happen once it’s out in the world. ‘Cherry Valley’ is such a personal record, so seeing people embrace it the way they have has been really special.”
And being nominated for an ACM “was surreal. Growing up, I watched the ACM Awards every year, so to be recognized by the country music community in that way was a huge honor,” she said. “It made me think about everyone who’s believed in me and supported me along the way. It’s definitely a moment I’ll never forget.”
So what’s next for the artist? “I’m definitely writing a lot right now, and I’m heading back out on my headlining tour soon,” she said. “I’m already working on new music; I can’t say too much yet, but I’m really excited about where these new songs are taking me.”
