Carly Pearce has said that her upcoming run of shows with Russell Dickerson is the result of a dream the two artists had years ago; they've been friends for so long, in fact, that they decided to name their 2019 co-headlining The Way Back Tour after their longstanding camaraderie. The two artists also posted pictures of themselves from then and now to social media as part of the #10YearChallenge that took social media by storm in January of 2019.

"We posted a picture of that show we did [several years ago alongside] the tour poster," Dickerson told the Boot and other media with a laugh during a press event. "I don't know [what the biggest difference is between then and now]. Our songs probably weren't as good as they are now."

In fact, in the nostalgic spirit of the challenge, Dickerson admits that he recently re-listened to one of the songs he was playing during those early days -- "and ... gosh," he adds with a grimace.

"[It was one I wrote by myself," Dickerson continues. "It is actually cool, though, to see how far your songs can grow and all that. I played a lot more guitar back then. I was still coming off my heavy rock phase."

Meanwhile, Dickerson says, when he met Pearce, she seemed to already have it all figured out. "I was starting to do the artist thing, but she already had a development deal. She was already rolling," the singer recalls. "We just kept in touch over the years, and whenever something awesome would happen for her, well, we'd cheer each other on every step of the way."

The two artists have always been in sync -- so in sync, in fact, that they both chose to record a song with the same name. Dickerson's newest single, "Every Little Thing," shares its title with Pearce's own breakout single, which she released in 2017.

"I just wanna be like Carly when I grow up!" Dickerson crows.

In all seriousness, though, he's hoping the two songs will give the pair a unique opportunity on tour: "I haven't actually tried to play this, but in my head, I'm like, 'There's gotta be a way to mash those two up somehow,'" the singer goes on to say. "You know? Like, at the end of the set, just as a little icing on the cake."

Dickerson and Pearce's The Way Back Tour begins on Jan. 24.

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