Ashley McBryde’s third album is finished, and next Tuesday, she says she’s going in to listen to mixes.
This time around, the singer says, she pushed the envelope on just about every level. All the elements fans know and love her for are still there, but she and longtime producer Jay Joyce dialed up the energy in every aspect of the music.
Recalling her approach to the new material, Ashley notes, “As tender as we’ve ever been, let’s see how much more we can turn that up. As country as we’ve ever been, let’s turn that up a little bit. As much as we know how to rock ‘n’ roll, let’s turn that up just a little bit, and see what happens.”
The results? An 11-track “page turn” project that represents something new, but still contains all the key elements and people that have always made her records so powerful.
“It’s me and the guys, the same guys that have been on the road with me for every single show, and, of course, Jay Joyce and his magical mind,” Ashley says, adding that she went into the studio at least once with a song so fresh that the proverbial ink wasn’t even dry on the page.
“Jay said, ‘Can we cut that today?’ And I went, ‘Hang on.’ So I text[ed] my co-writer, because we wanted to rewrite the verses. So we just did it via text right then, and then cut the song,” she remembers.
“It was as magical as it always is, and as frustrating as it always is,” she sums up. When Ashley’s next album arrives, it’ll be the follow-up to her hit 2020 record, Never Will.