COUNTRY STAR OF THE MONTH: ASHLEY MCBRYDE

Ashley McBryde is slowly getting the recognition she deserves for all the right reasons. The Arkansas product started singing as a teenager and after she finished college at Arkansas State University she moved to Nashville. Ashley put out her first two albums independently. It wasn’t until singer/songwriter Eric Church asked her to join him on stage that things started to take off. Ashly got signed to Warner Bros. records and her third album “Girl Going Nowhere” got her some great airplay and recognition. While her single “A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega” only reached number 30 on the Country Charts it grew her following as a great singer and songwriter herself. Her albums drew reviews from Rolling Stone magazine saying that her first charted single was one of the top 25 best Country songs of 2017. The New York Times ranked it as one of the 54 best songs of all in 2017. In 2019 she won CMT’s for Best New Artist, Breakthrough Video Of The Year, and Best New Female Vocalist. She was also nominated in 2020 for Grammy’s for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”.

Ashley and “Dahlonega” seemed to slip back into obscurity. She came roaring back with her latest single “One Night Standards”. It’s a song about forgetting all the lies and stories people tell each other and just call their upcoming tryst what it is. Her soulful voice and straightforward lyrics seem to be a call out to a world that has just had enough BS, and wants the lies or self righteous fantasies to end right here and now. Looking at Ashley tells you that she’s comfortable in her own skin and sits outside the current wave of female artists on the charts. She’s “real” and it’s refreshing. The video tells a bit of a story and it looks like we should get a follow up with the next chapter. Until then we can rest easy with a no-nonsense song about just saying it like it is.