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Interview: Ashley McBryde takes us on a tour of ‘Lindeville’ as she brings her new album to life

After two fabulous albums in ‘Girl Going Nowhere’ and ‘Never Will’ the stage was set for Ashley McBryde to release album three and continue her (rightful) ascent up through the levels of Country music stardom! Hell, she was even playing new songs like ‘Whiskey and Country Music’ out on tour in her live sets but then a writers retreat, with some of her most trusted collaborators and friends, gave birth to a whole new creative idea and here we are now with ‘Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville’.

‘Lindeville’, McBryde’s, now, third album was produced in tandem with a whole host of special guests playing, singing and producing across the album, an album that weaves an interlocking narrative about a fictional town and its inhabitants. It is released on September 30th and we were thrilled to grab some time with Ashley to talk all about it.

Hi Ashley, it’s lovely to touch base with you, thank you for your time today.

It’s fantastic to talk to you again.

It’s been a while but what a fantastic project you are coming back with?

Thanks, it was so much fun to make. Every aspect of making this record a reality was just fun to do.

Tell me about the inspiration behind Lindeville as a town and an album. I particularly want to know about Dennis Linde, who seems to have inspired the idea as a whole.

We thought it would be best to tip our collective hats to Dennis Linde who was the OG songwriter as far as many of us were concerned. What we have done here, though, is kinda like the opposite of what he did. He created a town and then populated it with characters from the songs he wrote – we wrote songs about characters for years and then found them a town to live in.

(For those interested in the songs, like ‘Goodbye Earl’ and ‘Callin Baton Rouge’, that Dennis Linde wrote, you can find out more about him .)

The first time we talked about it it was me, Nicolette Hayford (also masquerading as Pillbox Patti on this album) and Aaron Raitiere. We were writing a song that will be on my next album, the one everyone was expecting me to turn in this time around! (laughing) The song is called ‘Blackout Betty’. It’s about anxiety and about waking up and kicking your own ass because you’ve gone and down a load of dumb stuff again. We wrote that and I thought that Aaron had the song ‘Jesus Jenny’ in his locker, Nicolette wrote ‘Shut Up Sheila’ on my ‘Never Will’ album and we both wrote ‘Livin Next Door to Leroy’ years ago. I started to see that we had all these cool characters and thought that maybe we should give them all a place to live in! (laughing)

We were all off the road during the pandemic and I thought that we should just all go and lock ourselves in a house for a while and see what we could come up with. We were all very responsible, health wise. We drank booze, smoked cigarettes, ate sandwiches and wrote songs! (laughing) We made it happen!

We were rather pleased with ourselves and watched our friends and colleagues losing their shit over the songs and so we decided to try and get the album out to more than just our close circle of people.

So, at some point, you must have gone to the label and said, ‘Listen, I don’t want to release the album I’ve given you yet, I want to release this!’?

Yeah. I hadn’t told anybody that we’d made the Lindeville record! Warner was aware that I was up to something and working on the ‘other’ record. We kinda just said, ‘Hey folks, here’s two records but I kinda want to put the Lindeville one out first, though!’

One of the reasons I wanted to do it this way round is because your first record is often a snapshot of where you are in your life when you pop on the scene. Your second record, whether you like it or not, has to prove that you were not an accident, you know? Historically your third record is supposed to be your best work, showing growth and you owning your lane, right? The music industry is full of great third records from the 70s, 80s and 90s. I feel like we’ve done that, but we’ve done it in two different ways – What everyone was expecting was my ‘proper’ third record so I’m putting out ‘Lindeville’ first, which I probably shouldn’t be allowed to do for my third album because it’s more a 5th or 6th album project, I think.

My thinking is that if we shouldn’t be allowed to do a record like ‘Lindeville’ this early in a career then that’s the exact reason why we should! (laughing)

Where and when did collaborators like John Osborne and Brandy Clark come into the process?

Normally when I plan a writer’s retreat it’s me, Nicolette Hayford, Aaron Raitiere and Connie Harrington that get together. Anytime Brandy Clark is available she’s always my first go-to. Even when she’s not available I still call her anyway! (laughing) So it was wonderful that she was available this time around.

I asked Nicolette to bring me someone I’d never met before. I was like, ‘Bring us a bottle of hot sauce to throw into the mix!’, you know? Nicolette brought in the wonderful Benjy Davis. That’s how the gang got together.

Then I started to think that instead of just making work tapes we should make these songs into something that at least resembled a demo. After the songs reached that point the conversation turned to, ‘We should cut this as an actual record.’ My first question was, ‘Will John Osborne be available and be the band leader?’ I love John’s mind. After that it was, ‘John, will you produce this record?’ because I knew he would ‘get’ it, I knew he wouldn’t just ‘slick it up’ and make it as mainstream as possible.

We had taken such care in writing the songs and the lyrics and John was able to match that with his brilliance and his creative spirit.

What is so evocative and fascinating about the behaviours and lives of folks in the ‘trailer hood’ that fuels songs like ‘Brenda Put Your Bra On’, ‘Jesus Jenny’ or ‘If These Dogs Could Talk’?

(Laughing) I mean, why not write a song from the point of view of an animal, right?

I think that most of us are from small towns. We do a really good job in Nashville of telling you about tailgates and tanned legs and we have a tendency to paint this really perfect picture of life in small towns and I love that we honour that. Also, though, those places are full of trailer parks and meth heads and people doing shit they are not supposed to do too! (laughing)

I’ve been using the term ‘human disaster’ a lot lately to describe a lot of people. We’ve all been in that place at some point in our lives. Where I grew up, you might be just walking around the supermarket and some girl will get her ass beaten in the produce department, you know? Do we feel bad for her? Absolutely, but she shouldn’t have done whatever she did in the first place!

We didn’t just want to exploit those people though and go for the whole ‘there’s darkness in them there small towns’, you know? This is not an exploitative project in any way. We are ‘tongue-in-cheek’ celebrating the diversity of life in the places that we come from.

I guess you walk a very fine line between patronising or glorifying people who come from areas of economic deprivation and telling the truth of your lived experiences? You are telling the stories of the people you’ve known all your life.

These are all people that we have encountered. Nicolette is from Florida, Aaron is from Kentucky and I’m from Arkansas so we’ve seen all the different types of folks that the south throws up. We’ve even been these people at different times in our lives too.

Just the other night Nicolette and I were talking and I think that I said something that bothered her and hurt her heart a little bit. She said straight back to me, ‘I will fight you. I have nails on and I will 100% physically fight you right now!’ (laughing) This is the people we are dealing with! We’ve been friends for a long time but I would NOT go toe-to-toe with her! (laughing)

Drilling down into some of these fascinating songs. What happened to ‘The Girl in the Picture’ to bring her to the point that she is at in that wonderful song?

There is another song that didn’t get to stay on the record called ‘The Man That Runs the Lift at the White Feather Inn.’ I’m always a big fan of a gigantically long title, right? (laughing) When I was trying to fight for it to still be on the record I was, like, we can tie it into Caroline and ‘The Girl in the Picture’. That song was one of the first that we wrote on the retreat and I remember thinking how sad would it be if this guy was taking pictures at a wedding: his family would be so proud of him, and they would encourage him to enter it into a competition at the County Fair. Right on the heels of that, though, they have to use the picture for Caroline’s missing poster instead! It’s pretty heavy stuff, that thought that all she’ll ever be is the girl in the picture for the rest of time.

I remember us writing that and being, like, ‘Damn! Wow! We can’t write 13 of those!’ (laughing)

There are so many moods and such an ebb and a flow to ‘Lindeville’ that ‘The Girl in the Picture’ fits in beautifully amongst the more light-hearted songs.

Thank you. John Osborne did such a wonderful job, sonically, on that track. The riff is so cool, I think he played it on a sitar, maybe? He gave that song such a cool vibe which made it feel as heavy as it lyrically is.

Alongside songs like ‘Bonfire at Tinas’, which might well be my favourite song on the album, ‘The Girl in the Picture’ feels like an actual Ashley McBryde song that you could play in your live sets for years to come.

Thank you, yeah. I feel the same about ‘Gospel Night at the Strip Club’ too. I could go to a writers room tonight by myself and play that song. A lot of the songs can stand on their own outside of the narrative of this project.

‘Brenda Put Your Bra On’ is in my live set already. That’s such a fun song, especially when you can watch people’s faces when you sing the line, “I knew she shouldn’t have let that bitch watch her baby!’ (laughing)

I love the concept behind ‘Bonfire at Tinas’. A group of women sitting around offloading about all the pressures and grievances in their lives. You guys must not have been short of things to say?

Noooooo, not at all! (laughing) This song came out at a part of the retreat where Nicolette and I were butting heads. It happens because we trust each other so much that we are not afraid to hurt each other’s feelings. We were trying to get somewhere with this song and I was, like, ‘Nicolette, I’m trying to contribute to this song but you won’t tell me where you are or what page you’re on.’ She was, like, ‘Dude! Back off for a minute will you? Nicolette starting playing the ‘small town women’ part on a keyboard and I had to run to the rest room and I ran back in after and just sang, ‘Bonfire at Tina’s!’ (singing)

‘Gospel Night….’ and ‘Bonfire at Tina’s’ are probably my two favourite songs on the album. You are right, too, we were not short of things to complain about either! (laughing) We’ve all had the issues we mention, or know people that have. You know, my step kids hate me, that sort of thing, that’s a real thing. Brandy and Nicolette’s verse about not getting paid enough or laid enough still cracks me up, even today! (laughing) All the women put aside their differences in that song and come together to offload or mourn whatever it is they need to mourn and then on Monday, they’ll go back to being catty with each other again! (laughing)

The cover of the Everly Brothers’ ‘When Will I be Loved’ is outstanding. It has a great energy to it. What place does that have in the Lindeville story and who brought that into the mix?

My manager, John Peets, brought that into the mix. At the time, when we were talking about it, I was playing ‘When Will I be Loved’ in my live set. We don’t do very many covers but that’s not because I don’t love covers, it’s because if we are going to do one I want it to be something we really love for the right reasons.

John Peets said that he thought we should put it on the Lindeville album. I asked him why because there is already so much going on on the record. He said, ‘Listen to what the lyrics are saying.’ I listened and realised that it fit perfectly – it’s a song that asks when is life going to be good? We wanted to put it right before ‘Bonfire at Tina’s’. The story arc explains that Tina got cheated on and her life exploded and we encounter a couple of other people cheating and at some point the phone tree starts, right? Eventually all the women converge at Tina’s house and it’s during the phone call that the women all begin to sympathise with each other and ask the question, ‘When will I be loved?’

The album ends on quite a hopeful note with the title track. The clock is watching over the town. Betty, Patti, Leroy and Patience are all having what is quite a calm and settled evening. Is that how you wanted the album to end, on a hopeful note?

Yeah. Someone asked me recently why I didn’t start the record there but there’s just no way that song could open the story. It was important for me to try and round off this look at this town and these people. Number one was Betty, because that’s me, that’s those of us that tend to drink a little too hard, right? Patti, meanwhile, has her pills and cigarettes.

The song gives us the chance to say, yes, everyone is a wreck but there are also times when everything is ok for a little while too. Whilst we are poking fun at how screwed up everyone is and who is cheating on who, it’s also really important to celebrate that the sky over Lindeville is just so beautiful tonight. As a matter of fact, our town square is really beautiful and there is a lot of good in the world if you look for it. Patience, the dog, got adopted just by waiting outside the diner and the meth head guy that works there feeds her sometimes and now they are really happy together and have found friendship with each other.

It makes so much sense that it is the clock tower that is singing the song, watching down over the town for all those years. It’s seen everything that Lindeville has gone through and it endures. That last verse, when it says ‘at times like this, I wish I could just stand still,’ it’s kind of magical. It gives me goosebumps, even now, to think about it.

‘Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville’ is out on Friday 30th September. You can buy, stream or pre-order the album now.

• Ashley McBryde

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Welcome to LINDEVILLE LIVE: Ashley McBryde & Company Perform Critically Acclaimed Album to Sold-Out Ryman Auditorium with Back-to-Back Nights

Ashley McBryde performs Lindeville Live at Ryman Auditorium on Feb. 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: Katie Kauss

Following her first GRAMMY Award earlier this month, The New York Times – lauded “skilled curator, as well as a performer” Ashley McBryde , with her collaborators and special guests, brought two things to Music City the past two nights: her critically-acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated project Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville to the Mother Church and sold-out crowds to their feet throughout the theatrical experience.

“I can’t even believe that Lindeville at the Ryman is something we were able to dream of and then DO,” McBryde shared after the show. “To have two sold out nights with the people that developed this project with me was unbelievable. It took a lot to bring Lindeville and all of its characters and charisma to life, and we’re all thankful that so many people wanted to be part of our little town.”

“As a musician, it’s rare when you play a show that really stands out as something genuinely special,” added bandleader John Osborne . “Something that reminds you why you picked up an instrument in the first place. Tonight, for me, was that night.”

As the lights dimmed, the girl in the red dress as seen on the album cover sat alone on stage, turning the pages of a book, following along with a narration from McBryde: “Three little misfits had an idea one muggy as hell afternoon. The idea, it was weird, but they weren’t ‘a-feared,’ for they knew another weirdo or two. They figured they knew just exactly the few they would call to chorale and explore. The phone calls were made and if you ask them, they’ll say, ‘The stars lined up too good to ignore.’ Soon there were six at a small kitchen table in a cabin, mysterious and quirky. They toiled away all hours of the day, helping themselves to tequila and jerky. It wasn’t long before song after song came falling right out of the ether – onto sketch pads and laptops and guitars and keyboards about pawn shops and strippers and preachers. What they had on their hands , through some kind of plan , was so magic, it grew legs and wings. So Ash called a friend who said he was in, he built the band and asked her who should sing. There was just one more dream these weirdos could dream, and it’s all yours tonight. You’ve got good timing. Ladies and gents, we proudly present: Lindeville Live.”

Introducing the audience to the wild and wonderful town, McBryde, Pillbox Patti , Caylee Hammack on night one and Lainey Wilson on night two, kicked off the set with album opener “ Brenda Put Your Bra On ” backed by the Lindeville Band, immersing the crowd into the NPR -dubbed “glorious detour into downhome character studies” that “ sits at the intersection of storytelling country concept albums and musical theater ,” as a flood of brassieres were hurled on stage.

The set was interrupted by a cheetah-print-clad Jenny from the floor of the Ryman, giving Aaron Raitiere an ear full as he strolled on stage, filling the air with laughter ahead of performing “ Jesus Jenny ,” with POLLSTAR noting “the regret, tenderness and embarrassment he feels for the woman was delivered as a complicated cocktail of compassion that’s easy to miss if working in caricatures.”

Led by Charlie Worsham , the Bluegrass band backed each jingle throughout the evening, with McBryde donning an apron for “ Dandelion Diner ,” followed by Pillbox Patti ’s “ The Girl In The Picture ,” a heartfelt power ballad for a missing woman named Caroline that landed on Los Angeles Times ’ “Best Songs of 2022.”

Dubbed by Stereogum as “a soft-glowing honky tonk lullaby,” Shelly Fairchild expressed the irony in “ If These Dogs Could Talk ” with ease as McBryde provided background vocals from a park bench, accompanied by Pete and his dog (a stuffed Husky later adopted by an audience member via the Lindeville Humane Society), from Brothers Osborne ’s sentimental ballad, with TJ Osborne ’s Esquire – dubbed “classic, sonorous voice” resonating through the auditorium reminding us to “go to church, love your momma and ‘Play Ball .’”

Queued up by What Fuzz Radio DJ Storme Warren , Raitiere, armed with a tank top, cargo shorts, socks, slides and a bag of avocados, along with Fairchild in her sparkly top, green leggings and case of Bud Light, transported the audience to Food City with “paired pidgin-level method acting with songwriting that made the entire proceeding feel –  appropriately – like suburban community theater,” as noted by The Tennessean , in “ The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette .”

Hailed by Billboard “as one of the project’s most gripping, soul-searching pulses,” Benjy Davis began “ Gospel Night at the Strip Club ” to cheers from the audience, the lights coming up just in time for the chorus led by five local drag queens, Vivica Steele, Justine Van de Blair, Britney Banks, Vidalia Anne Gentry and Shelby Lá Banks , as the at-capacity crowd came to their feet to join. “That line, ‘Jesus loves the drunkards and the whores and the queers’ is crucial,” asserts PASTE , “because it makes explicit the project’s unifying theme: Everyone is flawed, and everyone is worthy of love and respect despite those flaws. Perhaps we should spend less time hiding our sins and weaknesses, and more time forgiving the same in others.”

With just two notes, the crowd remained standing and whooped for the all-female driven cover of The Everly Brothers’ “ When Will I Be Loved ,” as vocals soared from McBryde, Fairchild, Patti and Wilson before McBryde rejoined the Bluegrass band for the album’s final jingle “ Forkem Family Funeral Home ” with urn in hand for those “two-for-one cremations.”

Rejoined by Fairchild, Patti and Wilson, McBryde launched into “ Bonfire At Tina’s ,” celebrated as PAPER Magazine ’s “No. 1 Country Song of 2022” noting, “the women of country continue to create fruitful collaborations and build each other up in spite of a system that has encouraged them to tear each other down. Light it up, indeed.”

The Bluegrass band, referred to as Levi and the Wranglers and Good Time and the Bad Decisions among other aliases throughout the evening, prompted the audience to join them for a classic Grand Ole Opry singalong with “I Saw The Light,” complete with rhythmic clapping and stomping.

McBryde then perched solo on a stool, a backdrop of shining stars behind her, for album closer “ Lindeville ” from the perspective of the town’s clock tower, laying bare “a lovely benediction for this place and its unresolved conflicts, a gentle reminder that we’re all a little messy and deserve a little grace as well,” observes Rolling Stone .

Written by the album’s namesake Dennis Linde, the entire cast returned to the stage for a cover of The Chicks’ “ Goodbye Earl ” as an homage to the songwriter whose methods inspired the “six weirdos” who sat around a kitchen table in a cabin outside of Nashville, giving their beloved characters a place to live.

Following the company’s final bows, McBryde returned to the stage solo to perform her GRAMMY-nominated hit “ Girl Goin’ Nowhere .” As fans flocked to the stage, the Arkansas native paused throughout the performance to take in the crowd’s reaction to her line “I hear the crowd,” before concluding the evening with a heartfelt thank you to the sold-out audience for coming along on this journey, and especially, this joyous occasion.

Setlist: “Brenda Put Your Bra On” “Jesus Jenny” “Dandelion Diner” “The Girl In the Picture” “If These Dogs Could Talk” “Play Ball” “Ronnie’s Pawnshop” “The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette” “Gospel Night At The Strip Club” “When Will I Be Loved” “Forkem Family Funeral Home” “Bonfire At Tina’s” “I Saw The Light” “Lindeville” “Goodbye Earl” “Girl Going Nowhere”

Lindeville Band: Bandleader – John Osborne Acoustic Guitar – Chris Harris Electric Guitar – Matt Helmkamp Banjo/Keys – Joe Andrews Bass – Caleb Hooper Drums – Quinn Hill Pedal Steel – Preston Wait

Singers: Ashley McBryde Caylee Hammack (Night One) Lainey Wilson (Night Two) Shelly Fairchild Pillbox Patti TJ Osborne Connie Harrington Aaron Raitiere Benjy Davis

The Bluegrass Band: Guitar – Charlie Worsham Upright Bass – TJ Osborne Banjo – Tim Sergent Fiddle – Dan Hochhalter Mandolin – Ben Helson Drums – Jerry Pentecost

Drag Queens: Vivica Steele Justine Van de Blair Britney Banks Vidalia Anne Gentry Shelby Lá Banks

Character Actors: Storme Warren as What the Fuzz Radio DJ Chris Serino as Pete Kelsey Kopecky as Jenny Audrey Byrd as seen on Lindeville ’s album cover / girl with an accordion

Directed by John Peets, Produced by Q Prime South

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Tracklist All songs written by Ashley McBryde, Aaron Raitiere, Connie Harrington, Brandy Clark, Benjy Davis and Nicolette Hayford unless noted otherwise.

• Brenda Put Your Bra On feat. Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti
• Jesus Jenny feat. Aaron Raitiere (Aaron Raitiere and Jon Decious)
• Dandelion Diner
• The Girl In The Picture feat. Pillbox Patti
• If These Dogs Could Talk feat. Brandy Clark
• Play Ball feat. Brothers Osborne
• Ronnie’s Pawn Shop
• The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette feat. Brandy Clark & Aaron Raitiere
• Gospel Night At The Strip Club feat. Benjy Davis
•  Forkem Family Funeral Home
•  When Will I Be Loved feat. Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti (Phil Everly)
•  Bonfire At Tina’s feat. Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark & Pillbox Patti
•  Lindeville

Album lyrics and credits available HERE .

L to R: John Osborne, Caylee Hammack, Ashley McBryde, Pillbox Patti and Shelly Fairchild perform Lindeville Live at Ryman Auditorium on Feb. 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: Katie Kauss

About Ashley McBryde GRAMMY, CMA and ACM award winner Ashley McBryde cut her teeth playing country songs in rural biker bars – and it shows. The Grand Ole Opry member’s 2018 major label debut Girl Going Nowhere (Warner Music Nashville) charmed The New York Times , NPR , Rolling Stone , Paste , The Washington Post and more, all en route to landing a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album. McBryde closed out 2019 with ACM New Female Artist, CMT Breakout Artist, a New Artist of the Year win at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards and two nominations for the 2020 GRAMMYs for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.” Her follow-up Never Will was tagged by Rolling Stone as one of the most anticipated of the year alongside NPR, who also ranked her Top 10 RIAA Platinum-Certified single “One Night Standards” as one of the best songs of 2019. The album earned McBryde a 2021 GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album, making Never Will the only album nominated for Country Album of the Year by the ACMs, CMAs and the Recording Academy in the same award season. Her GRAMMY-winning duet with Carly Pearce, “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” went all the way to No. 1 and earned McBryde and Pearce the ACM and CMA award for Musical Event of the Year. McBryde was also honored with the 2022 CMA International Artist Achievement Award for the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the country music industry outside of the United States. The Arkansas-native invites listeners to Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville , a collaborative project featuring Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Pillbox Patti, Caylee Hammack, Aaron Raitiere and more, earning McBryde her third consecutive GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album, making her a six-time GRAMMY nominee. Upon its release on September 30, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville garnered applause from The New York Times , NPR, Variety, Vulture, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Stereogum , among many more. McBryde recently wrapped The Judds: The Final Tour with Wynonna two sold-out nights at the Ryman Auditorium with Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Live. McBryde is slated to play headlining shows, festivals and three dates with Eric Church on The Outsiders Revival Tour this spring and summer. For more information, visit AshleyMcBryde.com or follow her on Facebook , Instagram and Twitter @AshleyMcBryde and TikTok @AshleyMcBrydeMusic.

Cast and characters of Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Live on Feb. 16, 2023. Back Row, L to R: Tim Sergent, Dan Hochhalter, Charlie Worsham, Ben Helson, Jerry Pentecost, Quinn Hill, Matt Helmkamp, Caleb Hooper, Chris Harris, Preston Wait. Front Row, L to R: Vidalia Anne Gentry, Britney Banks, Kelsey Kopecky, Joe Andrews, Connie Harrington, Aaron Raitiere, Benjy Davis, Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Audrey Byrd, Pillbox Patti, Shelly Fairchild, John Osborne, TJ Osborne, Storme Warren, Justine Van de Blair, Vivica Steele, Shelby Lá Banks. | Photo Credit: Katie Kauss

Cast and characters of Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Live on Feb. 15, 2023. L to R: Britney Banks, Vivica Steele, Justine Van de Blair, TJ Osborne, Caylee Hammack, Audrey Byrd, John Osborne, Shelly Fairchild, Ashley McBryde, Pillbox Patti, Joel Beaver, Connie Harrington, Benjy Davis, Storme Warren and Aaron Raitiere. | Photo Credit: Katie Kauss

L to R: Britney Banks, Vivica Steele and Justine Van de Blair perform Lindeville Live at Ryman Auditorium on Feb. 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: Catherine Powell for Ryman Auditorium

Ashley McBryde performs “Dandelion Diner” with the backing Bluegrass band during Lindeville Live on Feb. 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: Katie Kauss

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Ashley McBryde Invited Some Friends to Make Her New Fictional-Town Album

Ashley McBryde has long excelled at painting portraits of small-town America. Her first two albums — 2018’s Girl Going Nowhere and 2020’s Never Will — were critically acclaimed for their stripped-down realism and effortless vulnerability. In song, McBryde is as easily able to relay a scarred tale of being doubted by her loved ones as she is to reminisce on how smoking joints eases the pain of life’s harshness. As she has made abundantly clear over the course of her short but fruitful career, she is principally interested in peeling back the layers and speaking the truth.

Now she’s taken things a step further. On Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville , the singer-songwriter has teamed up with some of her closest friends and collaborators, including Brandy Clark and Brothers Osborne’s John and T.J. Osborne, to create a fictional, small-town world full of liars, cheaters, and drug addicts (“If These Dogs Could Talk”),and home-wreckers doubling as babysitters (“Brenda Put Your Bra On”). The resulting project — which includes humorous jingles for funeral homes and pawn shops, and sees some of her co-writers including Clark, Aaron Raitiere, and Benjy Davis taking their turn at the mic — is a loose, joy-filled exercise in letting creativity, humor, and friendship serve as one’s muse.

On a recent morning, Vulture spoke with McBryde on her reasoning behind pursuing a project like Lindeville , why she’s totally fine no longer being Nashville’s shiny new object, and how small-town America is often inaccurately portrayed in country music.

After the success of Never Will , you could have gone ahead and released a more traditional third album. But instead you made Lindeville . I think the reason it got to happen in such a cool way was because at no point had we planned to put it out. We had written a song one day — Aaron Raitiere, Nicolette Hayford, and myself — called “Blackout Betty.” Now Blackout Betty is my nickname when I party too hard. I have earned every syllable of the nickname without a problem. Nicolette’s alter ego when she parties too hard is Pillbox Patti. Aaron had a song called “Jesus Jenny,” and he and Nicolette had written “Living Next to Leroy.” “Shutup Sheila” also exists. I was like “My God, on accident we’ve made all these cool characters over the years.” And we didn’t mean to do it, but it happened. So what we should do is get together and give them neighbors and give them a place to live.

So what happens next to make that a reality?  A few weeks go by and I think, Let’s get six of us songwriters into a house . We contacted our publishers, we found some house near a lake; it wasn’t on the water and none of us can remember exactly where it was, which is very interesting to me. But we went there, we locked ourselves in this house for like six days. I think it was me, Nicolette, and Aaron, plus Connie Harrington. And we always love to have Brandy Clark around. And then I asked Nicolette to bring someone I’ve never met — a wild card — so she chose Benjy Davis, which worked out wonderfully. The goal was for all of us to just write things we felt like writing. Anything can happen on a writer’s retreat: You might split up three and three; you might split up two, two, and two; you might write with all six people together; and you might write a whole bunch of different songs you use for different projects. Best-case scenario: You end up with a batch of songs that all work for one project. And that’s what we did.

All the while knowing that I felt like we should call this town Lindeville — in honor of the late songwriter Dennis Linde — if we were able to create a town and characters to live in it. We were able to do it with no “shoulds.” There was no These songs should have a track we’re writing to . There was no Oh, we should write an up-tempo song today . I think the first song we wrote was “The Girl in the Picture,” and the second one we wrote was “Brenda Put Your Bra On” — two vastly different songs. “Brenda” is all about chaos and acting trashy and fighting a bitch, and “The Girl in the Picture” is pretty heavy: There’s this picture that exists that’s now being used as the missing picture for this girl, and how fucked-up is that. We just wrote what we felt like writing. And what we noticed was we were just having so much fun, like a bunch of kids in a sandbox. And we were just trying to make cool shit. That was the only goal.

I want to talk to you about this idea of community, which seems central to the album. I’d have to imagine it’s also super-essential in your own world; the highly competitive Nashville system seems lonely. It does get a little bit lonely, and you can spend a lot of time feeling a little bit like an island. When you’re making something like this, it was such a completely community-driven thing. There were six damn writers on every song! Finding people like John Osborne that do understand me both musically and as a human being is really important. And you write with so many different people all the time — it’s important to write with mixed nuts — but to have people like Connie Harrington and Aaron Raitiere and Brandy Clark that we know that no matter what we get today we’re probably gonna like it, it’s a really nice way to keep yourself calm in any creative situation. That allows the pressure to be taken off of it.

How did you choose who should sing on each respective song? I wanted everybody that was writing on the songs to be singing on the songs because that’s what expressed the characters the best. And then bringing T.J. Osborne and Caylee Hammack in to be those extra characters, I felt they expressed them the best.

Do you feel like country musicians are as supportive of each other as this little crew you formed is? I’m glad you pointed that out, because even though I think in country music we’re all pretty much in each other’s corners about half the time — “You can do this! Yay!” — just like any pirate, everybody is ready to blow a hole in your ship at any time as well. Not everyone. But it’s a 50-50 shot on that. So that sense of community tickles me a little bit. We were just like, “Yay, let’s invite more people to the sandbox!”

One thing I love about Lindeville is how there are little jingles and commercials that flesh out the track list. It brings some levity to the project. Was that a reflection of the mood of the writing sessions? I think so. You can’t write sad songs all day or you’ll drive on the curvy parts when you leave. Even though we love writing sad songs. But those jingles were all written when we were taking a break from writing a song. We’d go outside and all of a sudden we’d come up with a jingle. I guess it is a really nice representation of just the mood we were in and also everybody’s personalities. That’s just how we are. It’s a good representation of those six individuals: somebody’s making a salad, somebody’s shooting tequila, someone’s smoking a joint, and one of us is over here like, “I have a jingle for a funeral home!” [ Laughs ] We’re just a bunch of weirdos.

Another thing I love about this album is it’s about “small town” life but not the stereotypical small town we often hear about on country radio. There’s a lot more grit to Lindeville .  Yes, it is about a small town, but we need to remember that not every small town is as polished and slick as radio would make you believe it is. It’s not all beautiful red-dirt roads. There’s nothing wrong with those songs and those pictures of those moments. But also, sometimes Tina is tossing some spray-tanned orange girl through a window because she slept with her husband when she was supposed to be babysitting her children [ Laughs ]. That happens in those small towns too! And it’s okay to address it as well as laugh at it. Because that’s comical. We are human disasters.

People talk all the time about country music being the most honest genre, but by presenting small towns as this idyllic world, there’s some dishonesty there. There’s more honesty in the pictures you’re painting in a messed-up town like Lindeville. I think we started that with my first record. Nicolette and I wrote “Living Next to Leroy.” Leroy was a real person in Florida and he was a meth-head. He wasn’t a bad guy … he just used a lot of hard substances. That’s why we referenced him on this album on “If These Dogs Could Talk” — “He’s a meth-head who smokes up his paycheck and that’s okay.” It’s a little bit of brutal honesty. Even the absurdity of “Gospel Night at the Strip Club,” I dreamed that title. I called Brandy Clark and said I had this dream and we walked into my house with all this cash in our hands and our friends were like, “What you girls been doing?” And I said, “Gospel night at the strip club!” In the bars that I played — I’ve been playing in bars since I was 19 —they’d have cowboy church. Some of them would have biker church. So even the absurdity of gospel night at the strip club I think is being honest. Because if a group of people were to gather there for that purpose, then that would be totally fine and not completely unprovable. It’s happening somewhere.

Your first two albums have both been critically praised. Does that empower you to draw outside the lines more with a project like Lindeville ? I’m working on the word empower with my therapist. I don’t know if it empowers you to draw outside the lines, but it definitely gives you permission a little bit. There have been times in country music — even though I think we are the most honest genre — where I’ve heard writers over the years say, “Our listeners are as smart as we tell them they are.” And this would be in moments when I’d come up with a line that they thought was too heady. And it may not have been the right line. But let’s not not use something because you just told me this about our listeners?! That’s the most insulting thing you could ever say to me! Remember, these are very intelligent people who are listening to your songs and they’re going to grasp the absurdity and the levity.

Nashville — and I suppose the music industry in general — seems to prioritize the shiny new object, which in turn puts added pressure on artists to maintain their success as they head into, say, their third and fourth albums. Does this idea of maintaining relevance cross your mind at this point in your career? I wasn’t previously aware of the progression of your albums and what those were supposed to be. The first record comes out and it’s supposed to be an active snapshot of where you’re at. Then record two comes out and that’s proof that record one was not an accident. Now you have permission to grow a little. Of course, if you grow too much, the people are going to be super-judgy about it. I didn’t realize that was a thing. I don’t think it bothers me to not be the shiny new object; I do love our shiny new objects on the scene right now. I dunno. It’s such a weird thing to accept that as a reality. I guess I was just like, “Fuck it. I’ll make two records in two completely different directions.” To me, it’s weird that you either have to be the shiny new object or not. If you’re making music for enjoyment it will be audible in the record. But if you’re just doing it to stay relevant, that also will be audible.

You mentioned you’ve completed two new albums. So I assume fans can expect another in addition to Lindeville ? Oh, it’s ready! In fact, we went back and forth of whether we put the third record out first or Lindeville . Until we said, “What is expected? Record three is expected. Then Lindeville deserves a shot now.” So I would say spring 2023. It’s all ready to go and we’re already trying some of those songs out live. We’re trying one or two per set to test them on audiences, to help us pick a single for when that record comes out. I think if you don’t test it out on audiences then someone behind a desk who doesn’t even listen to music regularly gets to try to tell you what your single should be. So I’d rather try it this way.

After listening to Lindeville , fans are surely going to want to hear it live. Do you have any plans to perform it with the people who helped create it? That’s a hell yes! I’ve got my fingers in some things right now trying to make that happen. In my perfect world, this would happen at the Ryman. It would be done very Opry style, because of the jingles and the ads. I have no problem giving credit to where that inspiration comes from. And it would be all of us from the original record. I also think if that were to happen and we couldn’t get everybody, we could cast other artists as those other characters and there would be nothing wrong with that. That would be an interesting concept.

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Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville

Ashley McBryde delivers her most ambitious project yet with Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, a concept album set within a fictional town named for the late Nashville songwriter Dennis Linde, known for hits like The Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl” and Joe Diffie’s “John Deere Green.” Like William Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County, the town features a recurring cast of characters, a nod to Linde’s own occasional habit of carrying characters over from song to song. “We wrote a song called ‘Blackout Betty’ and we've had a good time with it,” McBryde tells Apple Music of the concept’s genesis. “I feel better. Therapy is complete. And then I'm like, you know what? ‘Blackout Betty,’ [Girl Going Nowhere’s] ‘Living Next to Leroy,’ [Never Will’s] ‘Shut Up Sheila,’ Aaron's got ‘Jesus Jenny,’ Nicolette is Pillbox Patti—we have all these characters that accidentally, over the years, they've popped up… What we should do is make them neighbors on purpose, and then a place to live.” The resulting collection listens like a fever-dream tour of small-town America, with McBryde’s expansive vision fleshed out by contributions from fellow artists like Aaron Raitiere, Pillbox Patti, Brandy Clark, the Brothers Osborne, and more. While Lindeville is an album that begs a start-to-finish listen—a compelling narrative quickly develops and sprawls outward, not unlike a novel-in-stories—standout tracks include the tender, realist “Gospel Night at the Strip Club” and a show-stopping cover of The Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” on which Clark, Caylee Hammack, and Pillbox Patti join McBryde in showing that at the end of the day, these small-town characters, these women, just wish to be seen. But McBryde’s doing them one better: Their voices are being heard. Below, McBryde shares insight into several key tracks on Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville. “Jesus Jenny” (feat. Aaron Raitiere) “Nobody delivers like Aaron Raitiere. I didn't notice this until I've been working things up this week to do an acoustic show, but when Aaron sings it, we're all laughing and we're going, ‘Oh, I don't know if I should be laughing at this.’ And then I went to go sing it and pick it and it's so sad. I had no idea how sad this song was. Because when Aaron delivers, his phrasing is just absolutely his own. And I'm like, ‘Well, if I say it that short, or if I say it this way, then it's going to sound like I'm trying to sound like Aaron.’ Then when I sing the line ‘All I can do for you right now is pray that your demons go away and you get home okay’—maybe that's what it is that's making me so like, ‘Oh my god,’ is that we know that person. And up until recently, I've been that girl, that people are looking at you and going, ‘Well, I hope you get home okay.’ How eye-opening.” “The Girl in the Picture” (feat. Pillbox Patti) “‘The Girl in the Picture’ is one of the more somber situations on the record, because that chorus ends with ‘It's a shame that all she'll ever be is the girl in the picture that won the blue ribbon at the Faulkner County Fair.’ So all we know, as we're writing it, is she was at this event and she had her picture taken and that photographer entered that [photo] into the county fair and it won the blue ribbon. It's also what they use for the ‘missing’ poster now. And nobody knows where she is, so right now all she is is just ‘the girl in the picture.’ We still don't know what happened to her.” “Play Ball” (feat. Brothers Osborne) “The song is about Pete, but it's sung from the point of view of a person who's an adult now who, when they were little, Pete took care of a little bit and put his arms around. We didn't start with that hook. We started with ‘Who is Pete?’ And so we literally started with ‘Pete chalks the ball field down at Dennis Linde Park.’ And then what else does that mean? That means he turns the sprinklers on at sunup and the lights on after dark. Okay. And then Benjy Davis is the one that comes out with ‘The grass is always greener on his side of the fence.’ And then we got tickled. I'm like, ‘He lost his wife to cancer and a thumb to Vietnam, and jokes he used to be a hitchhiker, but not for very long.’” “Gospel Night at the Strip Club” (feat. Benjy Davis) “‘Gospel Night at the Strip Club’ is a title that I dreamt. I had a dream that me and Brandy [Clark] had all this cash in our hands and our friends were like, ‘Where have you girls been?’ And I was like, ‘Gospel night at the strip club.’ And I took that to the table and I was like, ‘It feels like Kris Kristofferson-style spoken word. I know that spoken songs aren't [commercial]. But it doesn't matter. We're not going to work that to radio. So let's write this.’”

September 30, 2022 13 Songs, 33 minutes ℗ 2022 Ashley McBryde under exclusive license to Warner Music Nashville LLC.

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Music Interviews

Ashley mcbryde's 'lindeville' is a glorious detour into downhome character studies.

Jewly Hight

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville is a concept album about a fictional hamlet and its working-class residents, named after beloved country songwriter Dennis Linde. Katie Kauss/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville is a concept album about a fictional hamlet and its working-class residents, named after beloved country songwriter Dennis Linde.

On the recent September morning when the Country Music Association announced its latest round of award nominees, Ashley McBryde awoke to texts from her team. She'd racked up five nods, one for female vocalist of the year and the rest for a chart-topping collaboration with a fellow star , all of it recognition of recent achievement according to her industry's established benchmarks.

Two years out from her second major-label album, Never Will , McBryde was due for a third. If she followed convention and continued the musical approach she'd made her calling card so far, presumably, she must be at work on a full-length elaborating on her consummate, red-blooded blend of country's tough and tender extremes. That was only part of the reality, she clarifies: "You write all year and you make a record — in this case, we made two different ones."

McBryde did, indeed, complete the sort of album people now anticipate from her, but decided that its release could wait. Another project had to come first: Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville , a mischievous, and mightily pleasing, departure from the prescribed progression of a mainstream country career. It's titled more like a grand, group production than a solo album, and for good reason: It's a heartily witty concept album about a fictional hamlet and the untidy intricacies of its working-class residents, performed by half a dozen singer-songwriters in addition to McBryde, who happens to be one of contemporary country's most sumptuously natural singers with a fine sense of when to make her gestures vivid or subtle. Fully half of the tracks she chose to sing lead on are riffs on old-school radio jingles, each pitching a made-up diner, pawnshop or funeral home.

Ashley McBryde: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Even if it's been largely forgotten in the two decades since " Goodbye Earl ," there's a rich tradition of lusty, character-driven tales in country, folk and bluegrass songwriting — one to which the album's namesake, and the author of "Goodbye Earl," Dennis Linde, contributed for decades, as did Tom T. Hall . McBryde's own catalog has been peppered with memorably earthy personalities from the start, too. She included "Livin' Next to Leroy" on her 2018 major-label debut, Girl Going Nowhere , but it got a bit overshadowed by broader fascination with how charismatically the title track reflected her own heroic underdog story. McBryde quietly ventured a little further into character-driven territory on Never Will with "Shut Up Sheila," a salty scolding of someone who drops self-righteous platitudes at the worst possible moments. She sat down with NPR Music to talk about why going all in on downhome personality studies was well worth a professional detour.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jewly Hight: There's this perception of the country songwriting community as a homey, close-knit world, but it sounds like the writing retreat you held in a lakeside cabin, where you came up with a lot of this material, took that to a whole other level.

Ashley McBryde: Lindeville was all written around a kitchen table [with Nicolette Hayford, Connie Harrington, Brandy Clark, Aaron Ratiere and Benjy Davis]. For some reason, we kept the same seats the whole week we were there. The only agenda was we wanted to write stuff that felt good. The worst thing that could happen is that we write a whole bunch of songs that we have to use for different things. And the best thing that could happen is we write a whole bunch of songs that are really good for this one thing that we have this idea about, and that's what happened.

So you went in with this vision?

I'd written "Livin' Next to Leroy" with Nicolette, and she wrote "Shut Up Sheila" with Park Chisholm, and then Nicolette and Aaron and I wrote "Blackout Betty," and that's when I was like, "We've accidentally developed all of these characters over the years. I think we should put them in the same ZIP code and give them some neighbors." It's like we were like a family on family vacation, trying to put a puzzle together.

I love the artist portion of my life, but it can be a little confining. And you do need to do what's expected of you a fair amount of the time. This is how me and my friends blow off steam: by writing a verse and a chorus of a song about a strip club, and then going fishing for half an hour and then coming in and making a ham sandwich and taking a shot of tequila. And now there is a song about a brawl.

Dennis Linde is in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, thanks to iconic songs like "Burning Love," "Goodbye Earl" and "John Deere Green," but he died over a decade and a half ago and was fairly reclusive before that, so he's kind of receded from memory. He seemed like a folkloric figure, the way he created this map of a fictional town and came up with all of these ingenious, earthy songs about its colorful occupants. What was it about that template that captured your interest?

I kind of dove in [to Linde's catalog] and just realized how cool it was that all these songs were connected. Then I found out that there was a map and that he had created these characters. Then I find out that he was on the hermit side of things, and no one really knew what he looked like for a long time and he didn't like to go out and do things. He just became this magical, magical man [to me]. That was the only way I had gotten to know him — through his songwriting. So I did feel like it was the right thing to do, if we're going to build a town, to tip our hats and say "thank you" to Dennis.

Sense of place is really important to contemporary country songs, and the writing often puts an idealized gloss on rural or small-town settings. But you've painted a portrait of a place, and people living in it, who aren't exactly upstanding citizens. They're acting up, talking trash; their home lives are in shambles. Did you miss that kind of songwriting, and the class-consciousness of it?

Definitely. I have nothing against our modern songwriting tendencies and techniques, but we do polish an awful lot, and not everything is beautiful back roads and things like that. People are disasters. For much of our lives, we are just utter disasters. And it's OK to watch that and then celebrate the good moments — like the song "Lindeville" at the end [of the album], which is just the [chance] to go, "Everything's kind of a wreck, but sometimes things are OK for a minute and we should really pay attention in those times."

It's common practice for artists to ask their peers to sing duets or harmonies with them, but not so much to cast other singers as the leading characters on your own album. Aside from the jingles, you have others singing lead on more songs than you sing yourself. Why were you so willing to distribute the lead singing around?

It is interesting for an artist to be like, "Here's my new record and here are a bunch of other people singing." I opened the record. And then I wanted to sing the jingles. I wanted to sing harmonies on all the songs. And I knew that I wanted to [sing] the "Lindeville" track and be the voice of the clock tower, and [the Linda Ronstadt cover] "When Will I Be Loved?"

It might be kind of boring to hear me sing all of it. [The song] "The Girl In The Picture," that has to be Nicolette Hayford's voice. That's got to be delivered by [Hayford's performing persona] Pillbox Patti. I can sing it, but it's so correct when you hear it come through those pipes and that throat.

I dreamt the beginning of "Gospel Night At The Strip Club," the song idea. I bring that to the retreat and Benjy Davis ends up [recording] the work tape of it. There's nobody that can deliver that the same way as Benjy did. When he says, "Hallelujah" in that first chorus, that very first one, you feel it in your rib cage.

And with "Play Ball," we got all choked up once we figured out that this individual is going to say, "The only life advice I have for you is go to church, love your mom and play ball." And then I thought, "T.J. Osborne could sing anything and make you feel it."

So casting the characters wasn't a hard decision. I love that we're getting to use the term "casting," because that is completely what we did. That was what was right for those particular characters.

You worked with Brothers Osborne 's John Osborne as producer, and you both have a bit of bluegrass in your background. He gave the album a loose, loping groove and featured a lot of acoustic picking. He got a lot of playfulness out of the musicians too. What were you looking for from John?

My fear would be if you're going to make this into a record and then it comes out slick. Slick is not something I'm interested in. We sent the work tapes to John and [asked] "Hey, would you consider producing it?" And he got it immediately. What I needed from John was his ability to understand what I had done with my friends in writing the songs and translate it into other human beings on their instruments.

In "The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette," we had done a couple of passes and then John comes across the [studio] talkback [system] and says, "Forget everything I said. Everybody overplay for an entire pass." That solo section in that song is one of my favorite things on the record, because you're just listening to the keys player do really cool stuff at the same time that there's slide guitar, or whatever else is happening right there. It required a certain level of playfulness. If these songs take themselves too seriously, then we don't want to listen to this record.

You mentioned that you've also completed another album. How different is it from Lindeville ?

I would say apples and oranges, but it's more like apples and like pecans. It's just completely different. I was so excited to make the Lindeville record. We did that in December and January. And then in February we worked with our producer, Jay Joyce, and made our third proper release. And I'm really, really excited about it. I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it, but it's my record. I'll talk about it when I want to.

My [band] guys and I went in and decided that as rock and roll as we've ever been, it's OK to do that more on purpose and turn that up. As tender as we've ever been, it's OK to turn the volume up on that; as front porch jammy as we've ever been, it's OK to turn the volume up on that. And it's OK if it all lives on the same record.

That seems a whole lot more like the step that people would have expected you to take next. And it also seems like that would be an easier sell to your label.

You're like, "OK, we've got both of these records. What order do we release these in?" And then the next thing that pops in your brain or gets spoken in your ear is, "You should do this. It's what everyone expects." But then when we got to thinking about it, we wrote these songs and recorded [ Lindeville ] without any "shoulds."

I think that came into play here: "Yeah, we should release [the counted-upon, Joyce-produced] record three, so let's not. Let's do this." And if that's a little uncomfortable and a harder sell, cool.

There is a considerable amount of non-FCC-approved language, and so many songs with others singing lead. None of that is radio-friendly. So if the goal isn't sending singles to radio, where do you go with a project like this?

It's interesting to have a record [where] nothing about it is crafted to be on a chart. That doesn't get to be a factor. Hopefully the impact of it is a record that you listen to that you call somebody and tell them about.

In the country world, an artist is often well into their career, no longer considered a commercial contender, by the time they can finally do the things that they want to do that break the mold. Why is it important to you to do this now?

I'm taking notes from my father, who is terminally ill. He used to be this guy that would ask, "Are you working hard?" And you'd say, "Yes." And he'd be like, "Good. People will respect someone who works hard." And then eventually that became, "Are you working hard?" "Yes, sir." "Don't." He said, "I had all these projects and I waited all this time, because I was going to do these projects when I retired. And then I got sick and I can't do any of them. So do it."

He could care less about me being wildly successful. He just doesn't care. And that's all right. But to see him be so sad because he didn't take the time to do those things, Lindeville has to come out. I don't want to wait till I retire. I don't wait till I'm sick. And I want these songs to have the life they earned. They busted out of the ether at that kitchen table. They deserve to be on a record.

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Ashley McBryde Talks Life On Tour, Partying With Lily Rose & More | CMT Awards 2024

Posted: April 8, 2024 | Last updated: April 8, 2024

Ashley McBryde caught up with Billboard's Tetris Kelly at the CMT Awards 2024.

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2024 CMT Music Awards: See the Best Red Carpet Photos

Best pics from the CMT red carpet.

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The biggest names in country music headed to the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, on Sunday (April 7) for the 2024 CMT Music Awards hosted by Kelsea Ballerini.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards red carpet boasted appearances from Ballerini, Trisha Yearwood, Jelly Roll, Brandi Cyrus, rapper GloRilla, Little Big Town, Keith Urban, Cody Johnson and Amber Johnson, Mickey Guyton, Chayce Beckham and more. Several of the collaborators on Beyoncé’s country-influenced new album, Cowboy Carter , were also present on the 2024 CMT Awards red carpet: Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts. Cowboy Carter currently tops the Billboard 200, marking Bey’s eighth No. 1 on that chart.

In addition to the hosting the 2024 CMTs, Ballerini is also one of this year’s leading nominees. She, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson and Megan Moroney all netted three 2024 CMT Award noms, tying each other for the most this year. In her opening monologue, Ballerini joked about her viral reaction to Lainey Wilson winning best country album at the 2024 Grammy Awards (both were nominated in the category). She said you never really know what’s going on in anyone’s head, despite what their face might look like, when you’re watching them on your TV, and proceeded to do a bit where country stars in the crowd offered voice-over peeks into their internal thought processes.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards feature a tribute to country icon Toby Keith, who died on Feb. 5 of cancer. Lainey Wilson, rocker Sammy Hagar, Brooks & Dunn will lead a tribute to the legend, with Keith’s longtime backing band joining them, and Lukas Nelson and Roger Clemens appearing.

Jelly Roll attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Lainey Wilson

Lainey Wilson at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Ashley McBryde

Ashley McBryde at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Willie Jones

Willie Jones attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Mickey Guyton

Mickey Guyton at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Keith Urban

Keith Urban at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Brittney Spencer

Brittney Spencer attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Tanner Adell

Tanner Adell at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Reyna Roberts

Reyna Roberts at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Tiera Kennedy

Tiera Kennedy attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Chase Rice at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Ashley Cooke

Ashley Cooke at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Priscilla Block

Priscilla Block at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Sam Hunt attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Anne Wilson

Anne Wilson at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

GloRilla attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Carly Pearce

Carly Pearce attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Sammy Hagar

Sammy Hagar attends the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Dasha at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush, Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman & Phillip Sweet

Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush, Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet attend the 2024 CMT Music Awards at Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Warren Zeiders

Warren Zeiders at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Megan Moroney

Megan Moroney at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Parker McCollum

Parker McCollum at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Kimberly Perry

Kimberly Perry at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Dustin Lynch

Dustin Lynch at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Yo Gotti at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Brandi Cyrus

Brandi Cyrus at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Cody Johnson & Amber Johnson

Cody Johnson and Amber Johnson at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Jordan Davis & Kristen O’Connor Davis

Jordan Davis and Kristen O’Connor Davis at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Chayce Beckham

Chayce Beckham at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

Chase Matthew

Chase Matthew at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

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2024 CMT Music Awards: The Complete Winners List

Jelly roll reacts to his plane having an emergency landing ahead of cmt awards (exclusive), watch stephen colbert surprise maren morris with impromptu star spangled banner singalong, ‘mama june: family crisis’: june and justin’s heated argument threatens their marriage (exclusive), travis kelce jokingly says he 'doesn't know' how taylor swift romance started, why sandra oh won’t reprise ‘grey’s anatomy’s cristina yang ‘anytime soon’ (exclusive), 'married at first sight': kevin frazier calls out contestants trying to 'outsmart' show (exclusive), anya taylor-joy on connecting with charlize theron about 'furiosa' & keeping her wedding a secret, 'yellowstone': kevin costner would love to return for season 5 part 2 (exclusive), how robert downey jr. feels since nabbing first oscar win (exclusive), 'joker: folie à deux' trailer no. 1, patrick swayze's widow lisa niemi says he visited her in a dream to bless her second marriage, louis tomlinson explains why harry styles romance rumors 'irritate' him, zendaya defends wearing 'controversial' giant hat on 2014 red carpet, gwen stefani shuts down blake shelton divorce rumors, '90 day fiancé': natalie says she's the problem in her relationships and mike reveals he's moved on, jojo siwa dropped $50k on new teeth, 'y&r's eric braeden gives health update after cancer treatment (exclusive), tom cruise still gifts kirsten dunst famous cake, 30 years after ‘interview with the vampire’, missy elliott and ciara react to ‘1, 2 step’ turning 20 ahead of new tour (exclusive), carnie wilson opens up about weight-loss journey and new cooking show (exclusive), morgan wallen appears calm while handcuffed for rooftop incident, see which country stars took home the coveted trophies at this year's big ceremony..

The  2024 CMT Music Awards  are here! Some of country music's biggest stars have turned out to see who will take home the coveted awards.

Heading into this year's big show, there was a four-way tie for most nominations, with Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini and Megan Moroney all getting three noms each.

As for Ballerini, the songstress wasn't just a nominee this year,  she also hosted the show once again  after previously co-hosting alongside Kane Brown in 2023.

Additionally, there were also 14 first-time nominees this year -- including several artists new to the country genre, including Amber Riley, Bret Michaels, Chayce Beckham and Hozier.

So who took home the night's top honors? Check out the full list of winners -- marked in bold -- below, which we will be updating throughout the show.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR (Final voting will be determined via social media and announced as the final category during the live show.) Cody Johnson - "The Painter" *Jelly Roll - "Need a Favor" -- *WINNER! Kelsea Ballerini - "IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO)"

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Ashley McBryde - "Light on in the Kitchen" Gabby Barrett - "Glory Days" Kacey Musgraves - "Deeper Well" Kelsea Ballerini -  "Penthouse" *Lainey Wilson - "Watermelon Moonshine" -- *WINNER! Megan Moroney - "I'm Not Pretty" Reba McEntire - "Seven Minutes in Heaven"

MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Bailey Zimmerman - "Religiously" Cody Johnson - "The Painter" HARDY - "Truck Bed"  *Jelly Roll - "Need a Favor" -- *WINNER! Jordan Davis - "Next Thing You Know" Luke Combs - "Fast Car (Official Live Video)"  Morgan Wallen "Last Night (One Record at a Time Sessions)"

DUO/GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR Brothers Osborne - "Nobody's Nobody" *Dan + Shay - "Save Me the Trouble" -- *WINNER! Old Dominion - "Memory Lane" Parmalee - "Girl in Mine" The War And Treaty - "Have You a Heart" Tigirlily Gold - "Shoot Tequila"

COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR *Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton - "We Don't Fight Anymore" -- WINNER! Ella Langley feat. Koe Wetzel - "That's Why We Fight" Jon Pardi and Luke Bryan - "Cowboys and Plowboys" Justin Moore and Priscilla Block - "You, Me and Whiskey" Lukas Nelson and Promise of The Real feat. Lainey Wilson - "More Than Friends" Mickey Guyton feat. Kane Brown - "Nothing Compares to You" Old Dominion and Megan Moroney - "Can't Break Up Now"

BREAKTHROUGH FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR, presented by Walt Disney World® Anne Wilson - "Rain in the Rearview" *Ashley Cooke - "your place" -- *WINNER! Brittney Spencer - "Bigger Than the Song" Tigirlily Gold - "Shoot Tequila"

BREAKTHROUGH MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR, presented by Walt Disney World® Chayce Beckham - "23" Tyler Childers - "In Your Love" *Warren Zeiders - "Pretty Little Poison" -- *WINNER! Zach Bryan - "Oklahoma Smokeshow"

CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR Amber Riley - "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." (from CMT Smashing Glass) Bret Michaels & Chris Janson - "Nothing But a Good Time" (from CMT Crossroads) Carrie Underwood - "Hate My Heart" (from 2023 CMT Music Awards) Cody Johnson - "Human" (from 2023 CMT Music Awards) Dierks Bentley - "Drunk on a Plane" (from CMT Storytellers)  Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter - "Thinking ‘Bout You" (from CMT Campfire Sessions) Hozier and Maren Morris - "Take Me to Church" (from CMT Crossroads) *Jelly Roll - "Need a Favor" (from 2023 CMT Music Awards) -- *WINNER! Kelsea Ballerini - "IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO)" (from 2023 CMT Music Awards) The War and Treaty - "On My Own" (from CMT Smashing Glass)

CMT DIGITAL-FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR Chase Rice - "Goodnight Nancy" (from CMT Studio Sessions) Dylan Scott - "Don't Close Your Eyes (Keith Whitley Cover)" (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions) Megan Moroney - "I'm Not Pretty" (from CMT Digital Campfire Sessions) Nate Smith - "Whiskey on You" (from CMT Studio Sessions) *Scotty McCreery - "It Matters to Her" (from CMT Stages) -- *Winner! Stephen Wilson Jr. - "Year to Be Young 1994" (from CMT Studio Sessions) The Castellows - "I Know It Will Never End" (from CMT Studio Sessions)

Hosted by Kelsea Ballerini, the 2024  CMT Music Awards  takes place at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas on Sunday, April 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The show airs on CBS and will also be  available to stream live and on demand via Paramount+.

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Tour Details

Moscow metro tour: architectural styles of the subway.

Duration: 2 hours

Categories: Culture & History, Sightseeing

This metro tour of Russia’s capital and most populous city, Moscow, is your chance to get a unique insight into the beautiful and impressive architecture of the city's underground stations. Admire their marble walls and high ceilings representing Stalin's desire for glory after World War 2, and see first-hand how the interiors change with the rise of new political eras. Your guide will lead you through the complex network, which is one of the most heavily used rapid transit systems worldwide, with over two billion travelers in 2011.

Opened in 1935, Moscow’s underground system, now 190 miles (305 km) long with 185 stations, is today one the largest and most heavily used rapid transit systems in the world. On this Moscow metro tour, discover the impressive architecture of Moscow’s underground stations and learn how they reflect the Soviet era.

Getting around by metro, your local guide will take you through parts of Moscow’s infamous history. Stop at stations built during the time of the USSR (Soviet Union) that are praised as one of the most extravagant architectural projects from Stalin’s time. After World War 2, he was keen on establishing Stalinist architecture to represent his rising regime and a recognized empire. Learn how when his successor started the de-Stalinization of the former Soviet Union in 1953, the extravagancy of the architecture was toned down.

Discover how the unique character of each station reflected several different eras. While stations like Kievskaya and Slavyansky Bulvar have pompous halls and high stucco ceilings brimming with extravagant decorations, those built later, like Volzhskaya, are lightly adorned with sparse furnishings. Architect Alexey Dushkin and painter Alexander Deyneka were just two of the many artists who made these magnificent landmarks possible.

Revel in Moscow's glory days, as well as the years of scarcity, on this fascinating Moscow metro experience. Conclude your tour at one of the central stations in Moscow. If you're lucky, you may even find the secret entrance to the unconfirmed Metro-2, a parallel underground system used by the government -- a mystery which has neither been denied nor confirmed today.

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Walking Tour of Moscow's Kolomenskoye Estate

On this walking tour through the Kolomenskoye Estate in Moscow, immerse yourself in Russia’s interesting royal history. Walk around the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ascension Church, built in 1532, and enter the Hou...

Moscow Cultural Walking Tour: Red Square, Kitay-Gorod and St Basil's Cathedral

Take a guided walking tour of Moscow's cultural highlights, like the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage-listed Red Square, said to be the central square of Russia. Walk through the adjoining district Kitay-Gorod, one of ...

Kremlin Grounds, Cathedrals and Patriarch's Palace Tour from Moscow

A great three hour tour exploring the Kremlin Grounds, Cathedrals and Patriarch's Palaces in Moscow! The small city in the center of Moscow, once the residence of Czars and Patriarchs, contains Russia's main cathedra...

Moscow City Tour

The Moscow City Tour covers all the highlights and most beautiful places in the enchanting Russian capital. The tour begins with a stop at the Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral, the architectural masterpiece and w...

Culture Shock Rating

We have a wide range of tours designed to give you an insight into the destination you're travelling in and there is something for everybody. The culture shock ratings considers the destination visited, transport used, activities undertaken and that "Wow, I'm really not at home now!" factor. While generalisations are always tricky, a summary of our gradings is as follows…

This is the least confronting of our tour range. Transport used on the trip is either private or a very comfortable public option, the activities included are usually iconic sites and locations that are not all too confronting.

The tour can include a mix of private and public transport providing a level of comfort that is slightly below what you would experience at home. Sites visited are usually iconic sites, tours can also include market visits, visits to communities etc that provide the traveller with a fantastic insight into destination.

Expect to rough it for parts of this tour, whether it's a packed public bus where you are forced to stand, a visit to a local market, a local community, you are sure to have an experience that is very different from what you're used to at home.

The comforts of your home town and the environment you are used to are more of a rarity. Expect some challenging transport options, visits to local sites and areas that don't resemble anything at home.

You're out there in the global community! You are likely to be exposed to the elements, travel in whatever means of transport is available and basically take it as it comes, whatever comes! It can be tough.

Physical Rating

Our physical rating gives you an idea of how much huffing and puffing you can expect on the tour. While generalisations are always tricky, a summary of our gradings is as follows…

These tours have very limited physical activity. Usually climbing in and out of the transport provided, walking through sites, markets etc included in the itinerary.

These tours have a bit of physical activity but nothing that should challenge you too much. This could be climbing on and off public transport through to a walk through the destination you're travelling in, they can include walking only tours or a combination of walking and transport.

These tours involve a bit of physical activity from walking up and down hills in the destination you're travelling in or the surrounding areas. Climbing on and off local transport or riding a bike up to 30 kms along predominantly flat terrain or jumping in a kayak for a gentle paddle on flat water.

These Tours will provide you with some solid physical activity. Whether its bike riding, walking, trekking, kayaking or riding on public transport you will need to have a good level of fitness to enjoy this tour.

Be prepared for some serious physical activity. These tours are our most challenging and involve some serious walking, hiking or bike riding. Can involve step climbs by foot or pedal and some challenging public transport options in the destination you are travelling.

Luxury Rating

Some trips are like a stroll on the beach, while others have you trekking alpine passes. Some of you thrive on camping out on the savannah, while others may prefer a hot shower and a comfortable bed in a lodge. Follow the grading systems below to find the right trip for you.

To help you choose the trip that's right for you, we've broken all of our trips down into four service levels. Measuring the comfort level of the accommodation and transport. So whether you're travelling on a budget and want to save money by using public transport, or prefer upgraded accommodation and are happy to pay a little more, then we have a level for you.

This is grassroots travel at its most interesting

Authentic experiences with some of the comforts of home

For those who like to travel in comfort

All the unique experiences wrapped up with a gold ribbon

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

What is the kremlin in russia?

The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Morgan Wallen Lead ACM Awards Nominations

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

• Vampire Weekend Sinks Teeth Into a Daytime Show — or Is It Nighttime? — Celebrating Eclipse in Austin: Concert Review 1 day ago
• Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Morgan Wallen Lead ACM Awards Nominations 1 day ago
• Joni Mitchell Rewrites ‘I’m Still Standing’ and Metallica Slays ‘Love Lies Bleeding,’ Among Standouts in PBS’ Touching Elton John/Bernie Taupin Tribute: TV Review 2 days ago

Luke Combs leads the nominees for the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards with eight nods, followed by Megan Moroney and Morgan Wallen , who are tied with six each. Following behind with five nominations apiece are Lainey Wilson, Cody Johnson and Chris Stapleton.

Although the results aren’t a surprise for most of the multiply nominated artists, they provide a particularly big look for Moroney, a critical favorite who is still promoting her debut album, which produced a No. 1 single in “Tennessee Orange.”

Earlier this week, Jelly Roll was the big winner at the CMT Music Awards, sweeping all three categories he was in, including music video of the year. The newly minted superstar doesn’t have quite as outsize a presence in the just-announced ACM nominations, but he does have four, which ties him with Jordan Davis.

Kelsea Ballerini, who just hosted the CMT Awards for the fourth and final time, has three nominations for the ACMs, tying her with Zach Bryan with that number.

One of the nominations Jelly Roll can claim is the top one, entertainer of the year. There, he’ll be up against Combs, Johnson, Stapleton, Wallen, Wilson and Kane Brown.

The female artist of the year category puts Moroney and Wilson up against Kelsea Ballerini, Ashley McBryde and Kacey Musgraves.

The male artist category includes five of the previously mentioned names: Combs, Johnson, Stapleton, Wallen and Jelly Roll.

Combs’ leading eight nominations come for Entertainer of the Year; Male Artist of the Year; Album of the Year (Artist & Producer nominations); Single of the Year (Artist & Producer nominations); Song of the Year; Music Event of the Year. (Combs is doubly nominated for the album category because the ACM, pretty much alone among awards orgs, counts twice artists who double as songwriters or producers on an album or track.)

A complete list of nominations:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Cody Johnson
• Chris Stapleton
• Morgan Wallen
• Lainey Wilson

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Kelsea Ballerini
• Ashley McBryde
• Megan Moroney
• Kacey Musgraves

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

DUO OF THE YEAR

• Brooks & Dunn 
• Brothers Osborne 
• Dan + Shay 
• Maddie & Tae 
• The War And Treaty

GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Flatland Cavalry
• Lady A 
• Little Big Town 
• Old Dominion 
• Zac Brown Band

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Kassi Ashton
• Ashley Cooke
• Hannah Ellis
• Kylie Morgan 
• Megan Moroney 

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• ERNEST 
• Kameron Marlowe
• Dylan Scott 
• Conner Smith
• Nate Smith 

NEW DUO OR GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Restless Road
• Tigirlily Gold

ALBUM OF THE YEAR  [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

• Gettin’ Old – Luke Combs

Producer: Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton, Luke Combs

Record Company-Label: River House Artists / Columbia Nashville

• Higher – Chris Stapleton

Producer: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton

Record Company-Label: Mercury Nashville

• Leather – Cody Johnson

Producers: Trent Willmon

Record Company-Label: CoJo Music LLC / Warner Music Nashville LLC

• One Thing At A Time – Morgan Wallen

Producers: Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery, Charlie Handsome, Jacob Durrett

Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Republic Records / Mercury Records

• Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good) – Kelsea Ballerini

Producers: Kelsea Ballerini, Alysa Vanderheym

Record Company-Label: Black River Entertainment

SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

• Burn It Down – Parker McCollum

Producer: Jon Randall

Record Company-Label: MCA Nashville

• Fast Car – Luke Combs

Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton

• Last Night – Morgan Wallen

Producer: Joey Moi, Charlie Handsome

• Need A Favor – Jelly Roll

Producer: Austin Nivarel

Record Company-Label: Stoney Creek Records / BMG Nashville

• Next Thing You Know – Jordan Davis

Producer: Paul DiGiovanni

SONG OF THE YEAR   [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

• Fast Car – Luke Combs 

Songwriters: Tracy Chapman

Publishers: Purple Rabbit

• Heart Like A Truck – Lainey Wilson

Songwriters: Dallas Wilson, Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson

Publishers: Sony / ATV Countryside; Songs of Riser House; Songs of Wild Cat Well Music

Songwriters: Chase McGill, Greylan James, Jordan Davis, Josh Osborne

Publishers: Family Farm Songs; Hold On Can I Get A Number 1 Music; Songs of Universal Inc.

• The Painter – Cody Johnson

Songwriters: Benjy Davis, Kat Higgins, Ryan Larkins

Publishers: Big Music Machine; BMG Platinum Songs US; Nashblonde Music; Pompano Run Music; Songs for Ellie May; Sony / ATV Tree Publishing; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Group; Well That Was Awkward Music

• Tennessee Orange – Megan Moroney

Songwriters: Ben Williams, David Fanning, Megan Moroney, Paul Jenkins

Publishers: 33 Creative; Bone Bone Creative; Sony / ATV Tree Publishing

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR  [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

• Can’t Break Up Now – Old Dominion, Megan Moroney

Producers: Brad Tursi, Geoff Sprung, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Ross Copperman, Kristian Bush

Record Company-Label: Three Up Three Down, LLC / Columbia Nashville

• Different ‘Round Here – Riley Green (Ft. Luke Combs)

Producer: Dann Huff

Record Company-Label: BMLG Records

• I Remember Everything – Zach Bryan (feat. Kacey Musgraves)

Producer: Zach Bryan

Record Company-Label: Belting Bronco Records / Warner Records, Inc

• Man Made A Bar – Morgan Wallen (feat. Eric Church)

Producer: Joey Moi

Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records / Mercury Records / Republic Records

• Save Me – Jelly Roll (with Lainey Wilson)

Producers: Zach Crowell, David Ray Stevens

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR   [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]

Producers: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry

• Human – Cody Johnson

Producer: Christen Pinkston &Wesley Stebbins-Perry

Director: Dustin Haney

• In Your Love – Tyler Childers

Producer: Kacie Barton, Whitney Wolanin, Nicholas Robespierre, Ian Thorton, Silas House

Director: Bryan Schlam

Producer: Jamie Stratakis

Director: Running Bear (Stephen Kinigopoulos, Alexa Stone)

Producer: Lauren Starr, Saul Levitz, Laura Burhenn

Director: Jason Lester

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

• Jessie Jo Dillon 
• Ashley Gorley
• Hillary Lindsey
• Chase McGill
• Josh Thompson

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

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