County star Ashley McBryde on new album ‘Wild’ and heading back on tour

[0:01] Known for her raw and unfiltered storytelling, Grammy, CMA, and ACM award-winning country singer [0:07] Ashley McBride is back with her fifth studio album, Wild. [0:11] Inspired by her upbringing, the album serves as an autobiography, [0:15] blending elements of rock and roll with country, [0:17] encouraging listeners to embrace the parts of them that are untamed. [0:22] Our Ashan Singh got a chance to talk with her, [0:24] but first, let's take a listen to her new single, What If We Don't. [0:28] What if we don't? [0:29] Ashley McBride joins us here in studio now. [0:44] Ashley, welcome. [0:46] Hi. [0:46] Thanks so much for being here. [0:47] Let's start with that single because I know it was a decade in the making. [0:50] Yeah. [0:51] And the video shows a story that's just so deeply personal to you. [0:54] What was it like to actually put that track out? [0:57] I knew when we wrote the song that I had it the way I wanted it in my head. [1:02] And we had tried a couple times and we just couldn't get it quite right. [1:06] And this time, we got it right. [1:08] And then being able to put a video with it that was a true story, [1:13] that's helpful, hopefully, for people who've dealt with the same kind of tragedy. [1:18] When you look back to the jump, I mean, I'm talking like a little dive bar in Dahlonega. [1:23] Now to now. [1:23] Wow. [1:24] The new record. [1:25] It's your fifth studio album. [1:26] You've always been a storyteller. [1:28] But what's changed between then and now? [1:30] I think being afraid of things not working, being told early on that the kind of the Ozark [1:38] Mountain sound, that kind of swampy thing, that backwoods thing is just not going to work. [1:43] You talked a little bit about growing up in a deeply religious household. [1:47] And it's right there on the record with Rattlesnake Preacher. [1:51] And then also you're struggling with sobriety. [1:54] And then you talk about it with A Bottle Told Me So. [1:57] What was it like exploring these themes on this album? [1:59] Because you've talked about these things in the past, but there's a rawness here in this record. [2:04] Yeah, I've talked kind of around it. [2:06] And I don't think I've ever really talked about it, especially the religious standpoint, [2:10] because there's a chance that I'm really going to hurt some feelings of some people in my family. [2:16] And I understand that. [2:17] It's a risk I'm willing to take. [2:19] And so the same thing applies to sobriety. [2:21] It's not something I spend an awful lot of time talking about, but it is part of the story. [2:25] And if I can let that struggle be seen and the actual problem of that be seen, then it could help somebody else. [2:34] As someone whose storytelling is so tied to the music that they make, is it tough to put those tracks out? [2:40] Yeah, it's two things. [2:41] Because it's feeling like I've never been fully seen or understood. [2:45] And so you're, okay, well, we'll just put a record out that's all just exactly me, exactly my stories, a video for every song. [2:51] There will be exactly things from my life. [2:53] And then it's terrifying because the fear of being seen is just as big as the need. [2:58] I want to ask you about the title track, Wild, because it's anything but that. [3:02] It's like this slow-moving, controlled ballad. [3:05] Tell me about putting out that track. [3:07] Discovering the song Wild made me think about when I was little. [3:11] And I was sitting on the floor with whatever, Barbies and G.I. Joes and Hot Wheels cars and a guitar. [3:17] And I was dreaming about what I would be like when I grew up. [3:20] And I thought anything was possible. [3:23] That part of me was wild. [3:25] And I am grown up. [3:27] And I am what I wanted to be when I grow up. [3:30] So I need to be able to honor that part. [3:32] You're also in the middle of tour right now. [3:34] What's that been like sharing these new records with people who are coming out to see you? [3:38] Watching these songs punch an audience in the face is so satisfying. [3:43] Whether we're out on the road with Eric Church, whether we're at a show that we are the headliner, [3:47] Lines in the Carpet, Arkansas Mud, these songs blow your hair back. [3:51] And we are six people on that stage playing instruments plugged into amplifiers. [3:56] And it sounds and feels like it. [3:58] I'm so proud that this record sounds so much like we do live. [4:03] Yeah. [4:03] How does it contrast with doing something like Redemption Residency, which you wrapped up last year, [4:08] which harkens a lot more back to how you started, right? [4:11] Playing in one venue for a crowd who comes out to see you on a weekly or monthly basis. [4:16] What's that like doing? [4:18] What's it like touring versus actually having a residency? [4:20] The residency was fun. [4:22] And it gave us the opportunity to workshop some things. [4:25] And since you know, as soon as we announced it, every single show sold out, we know we're going to have those two shows every month. [4:33] And so now we get the opportunity to try something. [4:36] And if it doesn't work on Friday night, it might work on Saturday night. [4:39] Or if it worked really well on Friday night, how can we up that on Saturday night? [4:42] Or next month, maybe let's not do that at all. [4:44] The album actually comes out in a week. [4:46] What are you looking forward to most about seeing that complete picture for your fans? [4:50] I just hope everybody listens to it at full volume. [4:53] I can't wait for these songs to become stories that get said back to me at meet and greets, [4:59] that get to become a real human interaction, not just me telling my story. [5:03] I get to hear theirs. [5:04] Ashley McBride, thank you so much for joining us. [5:06] And congrats on the new record. [5:08] Her new studio album, Wild, is out May 8th, and you can catch Ashley on tour right now.