When Maddie & Tae heard they were in the running for an opening spot on Carrie Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360, they let go and let God. The country duo called on their "prayer warriors" to help them land the spot, taking every chance they could to put out there in the universe just how much they wanted to be on the trek.

"He was fed up with us by the time we got the tour," Tae Dye jokes to Kelly Clarkson, when she and duo partner Maddie Marlow visited The Kelly Clarkson Show recently.

"Word got out at our label that we were on, like, the list [to be invited on tour with Underwood]. And so, Tae and I, we had all of Texas and Oklahoma praying," adds Marlow. "Every single day, before very single show, we would sit in the back lounge and we'd say, 'God, please, please, please put us on the Carrie Underwood tour.'"

The pair's prayers were answered — though we'd like to think Underwood's selection of Maddie & Tae as an opening Cry Pretty Tour 360 act had something to do with their talent, too. In any case, Marlow and Dye have been on the road for much of the year with Underwood and fellow opening act, the all-female trio Runaway June.

"When I talk about God, it's like [actor] Octavia Spencer — like, that's kind of my vibe ... So, God was like, 'Girl, I am sick of y'all asking for this, I'm just gonna give it you, so here we go,'" adds Marlow, putting on a thicker Southern accent and causing Clarkson to crack up.

Maddie & Tae's spot on Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360 helped lift the pair up after a challenging couple of years: As they were working on a new album to follow their lauded debut, Start Here, their record label folded, leaving them without a professional home. The pair are now with Mercury Nashville and, in 2019, have released two EPs — One Heart to Another and the upcoming Everywhere I'm Goin', out Friday (Oct. 18) — that represent different parts of a complete album.

"After such a challenging couple of years, to get that ...," Marlow reflects to the Boot. "The cool thing about it is that Carrie actually said she didn't pick us and Runaway June because we were women, she picked us because she genuinely is a fan of our music and we deserve to be there."

Underwood's Cry Pretty Tour 360 will run through the end of October.

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