Ashley McBryde: the path to success from «A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega» to «Never Will»
4 december 2024 в 06:37
Ashley McBryde is best known for the singles «A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega», «Girl Goin' Nowhere», and «One Night Standards». The first was certified gold by the RIAA, while the latter is a platinum single. Her debut album «Girl Going Nowhere» in 2018 established her as a bright new voice in the country scene. She released her second album «Never Will» in 2020.
Ashley already has one Academy of Country Music award on her shelf. She won the ACM for Best New Female Vocalist of the Year in 2018. Since then, she has been nominated for several ACMs — including Song of the Year («Girl Goin' Nowhere», «One Night Standards»), Female Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year. She won the ACM for Musical Event of the Year and the Country Music Association award for Best New Artist of the Year.
Born in Saddle, Arkansas, Ashley started writing music at the age of 12. In high school, she told her algebra teacher that she wanted to write songs in Nashville. «She looked at me in front of the whole class and said, 'That's stupid. That’s not going to happen, and you better come up with a really good backup plan,'» McBryde told The Tennessean. «I couldn’t shake it for a few years».
Fortunately, her mother was always on her side. «I could say I want to be a one-legged purple gorilla, and she’d say, 'Okay, honey,'» she said in a 2019 Rolling Stone interview. «Not everybody gets it. Somebody doesn’t think they can go to college. Somebody doesn’t think they can 'write well'. Somebody doesn’t get a 'yes'. … If someone has told you not to follow what lights your soul on fire, they’re wrong».
Studying bassoon at the University of Arkansas, Ashley thought she would become an orchestra conductor after graduation, but when she started traveling to Memphis to perform, she realized she couldn’t give up on her dream. She dropped out of school and moved to Music City. She spent ten years living in poverty and working hard to make her dream come true. Everything changed in 2017 when she signed with Q Prime management. That same year, Warner Music released her debut single «A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega». The following year, she released the album Girl Going Nowhere.
For the cover of her 2016 EP «Jalopies & Expensive Guitars», Ashley straightened her usually curly hair. The songs were ones she had written for other artists. «We were trying to play by the rules», - she told The New York Times. After the EP didn’t bring the success she wanted, she returned to her curls and increased the number of tattoos. She decided to accept herself as she is.
If Ashley McBryde seems calm to you, that’s because she is. When the nominations for the 2021 ACM Awards were announced, she wasn’t eagerly awaiting to find out if her name was called. She was returning from a writing retreat. She found out that the album Never Will was nominated for Album of the Year from one of the other nominees.
«I got a message from John Osborne [of Brothers Osborne]», - McBryde told Taste of Country. «Of course, he didn’t mention that he was also in that category». In the end, the award went to Chris Stapleton’s album «Starting Over»
Ashley already has one Academy of Country Music award on her shelf. She won the ACM for Best New Female Vocalist of the Year in 2018. Since then, she has been nominated for several ACMs — including Song of the Year («Girl Goin' Nowhere», «One Night Standards»), Female Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year. She won the ACM for Musical Event of the Year and the Country Music Association award for Best New Artist of the Year.
Born in Saddle, Arkansas, Ashley started writing music at the age of 12. In high school, she told her algebra teacher that she wanted to write songs in Nashville. «She looked at me in front of the whole class and said, 'That's stupid. That’s not going to happen, and you better come up with a really good backup plan,'» McBryde told The Tennessean. «I couldn’t shake it for a few years».
Fortunately, her mother was always on her side. «I could say I want to be a one-legged purple gorilla, and she’d say, 'Okay, honey,'» she said in a 2019 Rolling Stone interview. «Not everybody gets it. Somebody doesn’t think they can go to college. Somebody doesn’t think they can 'write well'. Somebody doesn’t get a 'yes'. … If someone has told you not to follow what lights your soul on fire, they’re wrong».
Studying bassoon at the University of Arkansas, Ashley thought she would become an orchestra conductor after graduation, but when she started traveling to Memphis to perform, she realized she couldn’t give up on her dream. She dropped out of school and moved to Music City. She spent ten years living in poverty and working hard to make her dream come true. Everything changed in 2017 when she signed with Q Prime management. That same year, Warner Music released her debut single «A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega». The following year, she released the album Girl Going Nowhere.
For the cover of her 2016 EP «Jalopies & Expensive Guitars», Ashley straightened her usually curly hair. The songs were ones she had written for other artists. «We were trying to play by the rules», - she told The New York Times. After the EP didn’t bring the success she wanted, she returned to her curls and increased the number of tattoos. She decided to accept herself as she is.
If Ashley McBryde seems calm to you, that’s because she is. When the nominations for the 2021 ACM Awards were announced, she wasn’t eagerly awaiting to find out if her name was called. She was returning from a writing retreat. She found out that the album Never Will was nominated for Album of the Year from one of the other nominees.
«I got a message from John Osborne [of Brothers Osborne]», - McBryde told Taste of Country. «Of course, he didn’t mention that he was also in that category». In the end, the award went to Chris Stapleton’s album «Starting Over»
© Kolganov Andrey
