Riley Green may be a first-time coach on The Voice, but when it came time to find someone to help guide his team, he says the decision was surprisingly easy.
The country star selected Carly Pearce to join him as a mentor during Season 30, calling his fellow country singer an “obvious choice.”
For Riley, the decision goes back much further than their recent collaboration.
He revealed that he had been a fan of Carly’s music long before he ever landed a record deal or established himself in Nashville.
But working closely with her on their duet, “If I Don’t Leave, I’m Gonna Stay,” gave Riley an even better idea of what she could bring to contestants on The Voice.
The recording process pushed Riley outside his usual comfort zone.
He explained that the phrasing and harmonies on the original demo were very different from the way he would naturally approach a song, forcing him to learn a completely different vocal style.
Riley admitted it was probably one of the most challenging songs he had ever had to learn how to sing.
But that experience ultimately became one of the reasons Carly felt like the right person to bring onto Team Riley.
For Riley, The Voice is partly about encouraging singers to attempt things they may not initially feel comfortable doing — exactly what Carly had already pushed him to do in the studio.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Riley said while explaining why she stood out when he was deciding who could help him coach his contestants.
Carly also brings something particularly valuable to the role: experience.
She has spent years navigating the country music industry and understands what it feels like to be an aspiring performer trying to figure out what makes your voice different from everyone else.
And she doesn’t see her job as simply pointing out mistakes.
Carly said she wants to give Team Riley constructive criticism while also helping each contestant identify the qualities that already make them special.
Her goal is to find the things an artist does particularly well and encourage them to lean further into those strengths.
Riley believes that kind of encouragement could be especially meaningful for contestants who are still gaining confidence.
He admitted that there was once a time when he didn’t even enjoy hearing his own voice and questioned whether he was a strong enough singer to build a career.
Years of touring and performing eventually helped him develop confidence, but many of the contestants on The Voice have not yet had that same amount of experience.
That is where Riley believes he and Carly can help.
Rather than trying to completely change a singer, they can identify the qualities already working and help that artist understand why those qualities matter.
Carly also isn’t new to The Voice.
She previously appeared during Season 26 in 2024 as a Playoff Advisor for Michael Bublé’s team.
That experience gave Carly the opportunity to mentor singers outside her own country background, something she said taught her that artists across genres share many of the same struggles and ambitions.
Now she is returning with an even stronger connection to the coach she will be working beside.
Riley and Carly have already collaborated as recording artists, and Riley has already experienced what it feels like to be pushed creatively by her.
That is exactly why, when he needed someone to help challenge and encourage his own singers, Carly Pearce didn’t require much consideration.
For Riley Green, she was already the obvious choice.
