Ashley McBryde’s New Album Could/Should Be Her Breakout Moment
Ashley McBryde is the most successful and accomplished unsuccessful artist in all of country music at the moment. In a relatively short period, she’s racked up CMA and Grammy Awards along with scores of nominations that most artists would kill for. She’s been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. For those who read silly little music websites, she feels like a superstar already. After all, she was nominated for Female Artist of the Year during the last rounds of both the CMA and ACM Awards.
But aside from her collaboration with Carly Pearce on “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” Ashley McBryde has never even had a Top 10 radio hit. Her career’s had a very early Kacey Musgraves feel it it—a critical darling that doesn’t rack up big radio hits or gaudy sales numbers. But unlike Kacey Musgraves, Ashley McBryde has the grit to let you know she won’t be jumping ship to pop anytime soon.
We knew with McBryde’s last album Welcome to Lindeville, it wasn’t going to be a big commercial success. It was too good and too real to be concerned with that. It was a shame though that it barely even charted at all. But we can hope that through McBryde’s new album The Devil I Know set to be released on September 8th, Ashley goes from an artist that critics and Americana fans rave over, to an artist that everyone does.
In some respects, McBryde may have been a little too early for the current upswing we’ve seen in quality songs and songwriters in the mainstream, as well as the increased attention deserving women are finally receiving. Now, the timing might be right for an Ashley McBryde breakout after the rising success of Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, and others. The success of “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” also put Ashley on the radar of a lot of new folks.
What we have come to know about Ashley McBryde is that she’s not going to cater her songs or her sound to whatever the popular flavor of the day happens to be. She’s more interested in staying true to herself, wherever that takes her.
“‘Y’all are too country,'” Ashley McBryde says, mocking her critics. “We leaned into that – more country it is. ‘Y’all are awfully rock leaning for a country artist.’ Is that so? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. ‘Last thing y’all need is another tender, finger pickin’ song.’ Oh? Tender makes you uneasy, cowboy? I hear you. Let’s see how much more tender we can be. We listened to all those opinions and said, ‘I hear you. I understand what you’re saying.’ But sadly, there’s no room on the record for your opinion. We’ll do what we want.”
Warner Music Nashville has given Ashley McBryde a lot of latitude in her career—much more than we saw from major labels in previous eras—believing that ultimately McBryde’s creative aptitude and knack for storytelling will pay off. Once again McBryde solicits the services of Jay Joyce as producer for the new album, and she utilizes her backing band Deadhorse as well.
A few songs have already been released from the album, including McBryde’s current single “Light On In The Kitchen,” and the song “Learned To Lie” that was released to coincide with the album announcement. The latter song once again shows off Ashley McBryde’s knack for storytelling. “After it was written, I called my mom to let her know that I had told a little bit more of our story as a family,” says McBryde. “I said, ‘It’s going to be hard to hear, but none of it is untrue.’”
The Devil I Know is now available of pre-save/pre-order.
Track List:
- Made For This (Ashley McBryde and Travis Meadows)
- Coldest Beer in Town (Ashley McBryde, Autumn McEntire and Nicolette Hayford)
- Light On In The Kitchen (Ashley McBryde, Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington)
- Women Ain’t Whiskey (Ashley McBryde, Hillary Lindsey, Jon Nite and Chris LaCorte)
- Learned To Lie (Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford and Sean McConnell)
- The Devil I Know (Ashley McBryde, Jeremy Stover and Bobby Pinson)
- Single At The Same Time (Ashley McBryde, Benjy Davis and Andy Albert)
- Cool Little Bars (Ashley McBryde, Trick Savage and Lainey Wilson)
- Whiskey and Country Music (Ashley McBryde, John Osborne and Lee Thomas Miller)
- Blackout Betty (Ashley McBryde, Aaron Raitiere and Nicolette Hayford)
- 6th Of October (Ashley McBryde, Blue Foley and CJ Field)
June 4, 2023 @ 9:02 am
I loved her 1st album, it is always good to her music from her.
June 4, 2023 @ 9:09 am
Top shelf country music every time. I love Ashley McFuckinBryde. Cannot wait.
June 4, 2023 @ 9:19 am
Good songs and vocals but the production is WAY too over the top, style over substance. Great country music doesn’t need such contrivances.
June 4, 2023 @ 2:18 pm
Her music isn’t over the top anyway. Her first three albums were just her and the band and it was mixed that way. This one will be the same way and with keyboards added this time. She’s more natural than any of the other artists out and she will do what she wants and how she wants it to be
June 4, 2023 @ 9:38 am
Love her attitude as quoted in the article above. Lindeville, if not commercially successful, is a great piece of work she wanted to do, and a great asset to have in her catalog as she becomes more well known. And she is an Opry member. A girl not going anywhere, meaning she’ll be sticking around! And this is from someone who isn’t an instant fan of anyone, took awhile to get there.
June 5, 2023 @ 5:06 am
Took me a while, too. But once it clicked, it clicked hard. She’s incredibly talented.
June 4, 2023 @ 10:10 am
I was a bit surprised by Lindeville’s lack of chart success,it was my favourite album from last year.
I thought it might be one of those word of mouth success stories that happen every now and then plus there seemed to be a bit of a buzz over Ashley and these were a couple of cool videos from the album.
I’m not from USA so don’t know about radio but I assume they weren’t playing it? If not, why not ?
Hope the new one does well I’ll certainly be buying.
June 4, 2023 @ 2:20 pm
Lindeville was not meant to have radio success. It was a project that she had an idea and John Osborne produced it. It was just that a project not a studio album
June 5, 2023 @ 6:21 am
Kind of like Dierks Bentley’s Hot Country Knights side project, though Ashley’s album was not intended as satire. Capitol was never going to send “You Make It Hard” to radio, nor will it send “Herassmeant,” no matter how much praise it receives.
June 5, 2023 @ 11:00 am
Herassmeant gets played on WSM, in fact they just did a little blurb on it.
June 5, 2023 @ 2:28 pm
AM or FM? AM plays a lot of stuff that the “hot country” FM will never touch. I want to hear it in heavy rotation on WSM-FM or WSIX and similar stations alongside Dierks’ solo hits.
June 5, 2023 @ 3:16 pm
Howard, I am using the WSM app which has WSM AM, WSM Opry, and WSM Americana channels. It’s easy to flip from one to the other depending on what song is playing. I started using it more since Gimmee Country died. Maybe Trigger will do a rundown on available free streaming “radio” stations sometime. Bluegrass Country is another other one I use a lot.
Replying here since your comment does not have a reply option.
June 5, 2023 @ 4:28 pm
Funny, Bill, that your latest reply to me also doesn’t have a reply option, so I’m posting this as a reply to your original reply! All I can figure is that I posted my most recent reply with my phone rather than my laptop, which is what I’m using now. No idea why that would make a difference, though.
June 5, 2023 @ 4:31 pm
Comments can only tier five times. Otherwise, they may tier indefinitely and run off the page. In these instances, just click the “reply” button on the last available comment, and it will show up beneath on the same thread.
June 4, 2023 @ 10:15 am
I never understood the hype, and I’ve tried a few times. IMO the Whitney Rose, Victoria Bailey, and Brennen Leigh songs on your playlist are much better and more country than this musically bland, overly dramatic, hallmark card of a song. I’d say they’re far more deserving of a “breakout,” and the award show recognition for McBryde probably does the opposite of convincing me otherwise. Also, she can’t write one single song on her album by herself? Why is that?
June 4, 2023 @ 6:11 pm
If the song is country, and it’s good, who cares how many people had a hand in writing it? Yes, some songs with four, five or six writer credits on them are cringeworthy list songs, but I see nothing wrong with a genuine, well-crafted lyric and melody that was the creation of more than the singer. It doesn’t bother me any more than singers who are pure interpreters and never write a word or note bother me, which is not at all.
My advice is to listen to a song first before you even peek at the credits. That’s what I used to do when I reviewed country albums in the ’80s and ’90s, and guess what? I found plenty of weak, cliched solo writes and plenty of strong, clever co-writes. I try to do the same thing today even though I’m no longer being paid for it; I hit Spotify on Friday morning, find one or two new releases that interest me and listen to each a couple of times. Unfortunately, since Trigger has supplied the credits for this upcoming album, I won’t be able to do so in September.
June 4, 2023 @ 11:54 am
Whiskey & Country music is as good as gets in my book I don’t see how anyone on this site doesn’t like that one. I also get stop listening to the learned to lie.
June 4, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Lindeville is a masterpiece and was my Album Of The Year as well. Didn’t love Never Will, not sure I’d blame it all on Jay Joyce because he did a great job with Lainey’s latest. Really hoping this record brings her to the next level.
I’ve seen Ash 3 or 4 times and she’s always great. One time she opened her set at the Windy City Smokeout with Girl Going Nowhere and she silenced the festival crowd with the opening words then her mic crapped out. She came to the edge of the stage and kept singing a capella The crowd went wild!! She’ll be here for an intimate sold out show in a couple of weeks where she could’ve easily played a bigger venue. Thanks Ash, we can’t wait.
June 4, 2023 @ 1:51 pm
Been a fan of hers since “Little Dive Bar” and hearing her on “The Highway” on Sirius. Was grateful to be a part of a Zoom meet & greet during the pandemic with her. She’s authentic through and through. Did a different Zoom meet and greet with a bigger named artist, and that one didn’t care. Because she cared? I’d buy an album of her sloshing beer inside an acoustic guitar while she yodeled The Bee Gee’s over a steel guitar.
And I guarantee you that would still be more country than half the crap on the radio.
June 4, 2023 @ 2:55 pm
Ashley reminds me so much of Miss Tanya Tucker. She will be a staple of Country music. Not a “flash in the pan.” She will do quality work and her time will come and so will the accolades of true artistry. Some of these girls can’t hang on when the going gets tough, but Ashley can. When she talked about a teacher discouraging her in school, I’m so glad she kept marching with an “I’ll show you” attitude. I let my parents talk me out of moving to Nashville in the 80’s. They said, “Do you know how many starving songwriters there are?” I still write ✍️. I think I might just write one for Ashley, if she would give me the honor of listening.
Sharon Prescott Rogers
Crossett, Arkansas ❤️
June 4, 2023 @ 3:36 pm
Co-writes with Travis Meadows, Sean McConnell and Aaron Raitiere-hard to go wrong with those artists.
June 4, 2023 @ 6:09 pm
If Ashley sings it, I’m buying it. Saw her open up for Stapleton and Hank Jr. back in 2016. That was my first exposure to her. I leaned over and told my wife “this girl has ‘it.’” We’ve been fans ever since.
June 4, 2023 @ 6:14 pm
First time ever at the Opry with my daughters wondering who this Ashley McBryde making her debut was. Girl Goin’ No Where still me chills to this day and knew then she would be as big or bigger star than that other McBryde girl!
June 5, 2023 @ 7:15 am
…the trouble with some people that are commenting in the realm of this rather useful blog is that they cannot make a comment without depricating someone else by doing so. ashley mcbryde is a terrific artist and vocalist and all her albums have been benchmark stuff in terms of quality so far, however, when refering to martina mcbride – i suspect you thought of her being “that other McBryde girl” -, who is in my opinion the only female vocalist that has so far ever been able to match (young) tammy wynette at “’till i can make it on my own” (arguably, one of the technically most difficult country songs to perform, not to mention having “independence day,” one of the all time classics of the genre, to her name) is falling quite a bit short when it comes to adequately appreciating the talent and achievments of martina mcbride. this would not underline the fine talent of ashley mcbryde either, if that was your original intention. commenting should be first and foremost a thinking thing – not a careless or rather obnoxious exercise in putting down people totally unnecessarily and quite ignorantly at any given opportunity..
June 4, 2023 @ 7:20 pm
“She’s racked up CMA and Grammy awards…” (wink/nudge)
June 4, 2023 @ 8:13 pm
Nice song. It’s lyrically sophisticated Southern Pop, just with tattoos.
June 5, 2023 @ 8:55 am
What a great description.
I get the impression the tattoos are how we can know she does her own thing, sort of like an “Edgy” signal.
June 4, 2023 @ 10:10 pm
Nice songwriting.
June 4, 2023 @ 11:24 pm
I’m super excited as I can’t count how many times I listened to Lindeville. Her current radio song, Light On In The Kitchen, is about to hit the top 30 on country radio and may have the steam to make it as a top 10. Its definitely deserving of being one.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the 3 songs released for Devil I Know, especially Learned to Lie. It hit me with a ton of bricks as I reflected on how I am just another liar not expressing their true emotions to my loved ones.
While listening to so many country artists sing songs about Mayberry, I deeply appreciate that Ashley sings country songs about our actual lived experiences. I hope that the general public finally discovers what so many of us have known for years, Ashley McBryde is a future country legend.
June 5, 2023 @ 7:14 am
Ashley feels like a blend of Gretchen Wilson’s talent (Gretchen is a fantastic singer when given the right material) and Miranda Lambert’s industry backing. She also seems to be very down-to-earth and desiring to be authentic to herself. This new album does seem to be leaning really heavily in the alcohol tropes (five song titles mentioning beer, whiskey, bar, and blackout), and alcohol-related song titles are already a dime a dozen and lacking in memorability. However, if the vocals are good and the songwriting is clever, the album could be a launchpad to more varied material and greater notoriety. Ashley needs to change the industry and not let the industry change her.
June 5, 2023 @ 7:20 am
Sidenote: The song that cemented my opinion of Gretchen’s talent is “I’d Love to be Your Last”; her voice gives me chills, and it makes me wish she had recorded more songs in this vein. https://youtu.be/RYiBb5icSVY
June 5, 2023 @ 4:34 pm
I want to hear “Made For This” blasting from my car radio at some point. That’s the first song Ashley played at the Opry the night she was made a member and it’s been running through my brain ever since. Cool take on the familiar theme of paying one’s dues in country music, a rocking companion piece to “Girl Going Nowhere.”
June 5, 2023 @ 8:32 am
I didn’t know “Little Dive Bar” didn’t crack the Top Ten. Seemed like it was on the radio every other song or so. Regardless hope this is her breakthrough record. She deserves it.
June 5, 2023 @ 8:33 am
I always notice Sean McConnell popping up as a big go to songwriter. Producer now as well.
June 5, 2023 @ 9:07 am
We’ve cycled through Miranda, Carrie, Kasey, Carly, and Lainey. It’s definitely her turn and well-deserved. She’s worked hard. Her albums are fantastic; chart success and more accolades are just one song away.
June 5, 2023 @ 9:59 am
I have enjoyed her albums and have preordered this one. Saw her last year in concert and could hardly hear her voice over the drummer who was way over the top, which was disappointing.
June 5, 2023 @ 3:46 pm
Drummers! 😆
June 5, 2023 @ 4:09 pm
That’s a combination drummer over playing (you’re “pounding”) as my dad used to tell me in the basement …. lol and a sound engineer issue. Not sure how big the venue was but I’ll blame the sound guy, us drummers gotta stick together. Ash has some great drum songs … Martha Devine comes to mind……… still need the right mix though.
June 5, 2023 @ 6:53 pm
I’ve always enjoyed her music. Hope she gets her first Top 10 hit with this song, even if it “stalls” at #10, it’ll be nice for her to get that milestone.
June 5, 2023 @ 11:25 pm
I think it’s nothing to celebrate. Judging from the one song she released, it’s not going to be a country album.
June 6, 2023 @ 7:09 am
Never smart to judge an entire album off of one song. Also, this song very much fits into the singer/songwriter tradition within country music. It’s doesn’t have to be a shit kicker to be country. Pop would never own this, it’s too country.
June 6, 2023 @ 7:42 pm
Pop would never own it (?) because it has no EDM or rap-like aspects. It’s not Club Music for the Global Nowhere.
June 7, 2023 @ 2:00 am
I did say it’s based on the single lone track she released, and we’re well versed with artists putting out a very meat and potatoes country album with one pop-rock song which is the lone single out of it. To me this new highlight of her next offering is too little country. I’m not a pop fan and can’t tell what they think. But it feels like we’ve been here before haven’t we? I’ll reserve further judgement once I hear more of her.
June 6, 2023 @ 5:39 am
I understand the whole Lindeville deal. Didn’t really care for it. Looking forward to this one. My gripes: Once again, Pillbox Patti(Nicolette) & Jay Joyce…