YOUR GUIDE TO SOUTHERN CULTUREMUSIC
Before she takes the stage, Ashley McBryde likes to get a feel for the room. Sometimes she’ll sit in the seats if it’s a theater; if she’s playing a festival, she’ll grab her band and sit on the grass. In the silence, she has learned to listen to what the venue might say to her. Maybe that night calls for a deep cut from one of her albums. Or perhaps it’s an Allman Brothers Band or Eagles cover. McBryde has played all kinds of venues. Before moving to Nashville in 2005, she spent years honing her live shows at dives and biker joints in her native Arkansas.
Locals say Nashville is a ten-year town, meaning, centered around a fictional small town. She has now won three CMA Awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry last year. Earlier this year she took home her first Grammy for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” a duet with fellow Nashville singer-songwriter Carly Pearce.
