I feel like a traitor to country music. How is it possible for Ashley McBryde’s talent to have slipped through my fingers for so long?
The UK have well and truly fell head over heels with this ‘Girl Going Nowhere.’ Ashley McBryde’s debut album released by Nashville powerhouse label, Warner Music, packs an unprecedented, exhibiting the experience of an artist who has more than paid her dues in a notoriously difficult industry. She has more than earned the buzz surrounding this latest release, that fully demonstrates why she has been praised by the likes of country greats, Eric Church and Garth Brooks.
The album exhibits McBryde at her best, combining genuinely witty anecdotal lyrics with powerful, tear-inducing and beautiful melodies that speak directly to you, with hints of southern rock n’ roll, blues and pure nostalgic, traditional country. McBryde stands out, an artist who knows who the hell she is, and is not afraid to hide it, or change herself to fit any industry criteria. Catchy, clever and unique, the album is packed with more emotion than many will find it difficult to dredge up in the entirety of their careers. Most importantly though, the album moves through with an ease and narrative, a beautifully crafted record, with a flow that moves beautifully through from the first note of ‘Girl Going Nowhere’ to the last of ‘Home Sweet Highway.’ Much as the record’s craftsmanship is exquisite, so too the calibre and quality of McBryde’s vocal should not go unnoticed, as it shines through powerfully throughout, and chameleon-like transforms to exactly fit the tone of each differing track.
Surprisingly, the album opens with the sweet ballad ‘Girl Going Nowhere,’ rather than a huge tune that knocks you off your feet. Still, this opener packs more of a punch than the biggest drumbeat could allow, laying bare McBryde’s soul, and the story – all too familiar throughout the music industry – of doubt, both self-inflicted and from industry and popular put-downs. It is a track that sets exactly the right tone for the album going forward, reading like a mission statement – ‘in the record McBryde will reveal exactly why she’s not going anywhere, other than to the upper echelons of the musical stratosphere.’ It is a brave and exquisitely crafted song that will doubtless be a classic for years to come, imbued with just the right tinge of sadness, yet wistfulness and hope that will make the cold-hearted feel, particularly when the drumbeat gets in full swing. Emotion is not lacking throughout the album. What may be the most emotional and important moment of the record is ‘Andy (I Can’t Live Without You),’ that tells the story of love for the incredibly flawed Andy. Humour and emotion in equal measure, the down-to-earth and relatable nature of McBryde’s lyrics here – ‘you use my good towels on the dog’ – is what provides the magic for this track.
From there, the album ramps up ten notches in pace with the already wildly popular, ‘Radioland.’ A big rock tune, heavy on the guitar, looking back to the lost days of the radio, the tune has proven a hit for McBryde already on the circuit, as the opener for many shows. It is no waif of a song, powerfully asserting the more dominant side of McBryde in contrast to ‘Girl Going Nowhere,’and demonstrating her ability to master and orchestrate big rock-country tunes, captivating an audience and ramping up the energy in her sets. No less a song is the more rock-ballad-esque belter that is ‘American Scandal.’ This huge tune and its heart-warming music video sweep you off your feet, with its melody, telling the tale of love and scandal, familiarly returning to the underused trope of the Kennedy-Monroe scandal.
‘Southern Babylon’ breaks up the rock-themed section of the record, moving into a more lilting jazzy beat, that may surprise many listeners. The song veers into unchartered terrain in its content, too, telling the tale of purgatory, and the devil of playing in bars non-stop. ‘Home Sweet Highway’ and ‘El Dorado,’ bring back this theme of life on the road, in markedly different guises, with ‘El Dorado,’ providing a pacier beat and a massive chorus that will make the song an instant success on tour, in contrast to ‘Home Sweet Highway,’ that returns to the jazzier feel of ‘Southern Babylon.’
Stepping back into her more familiar shoes, ‘The Jacket,’ the fourth track on the album, returns to true traditional country. It is quite some feat to turn a story of a patched-Levi jacket into a sweet and emotional tune, but McBryde accomplishes just that, jam-packed with as much nostalgia as will fit in one song. Along with ‘A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega,’ both songs powerfully exemplify what has made so many fans from both sides of the Atlantic fall hard for McBryde. This last, with the catchy chorus that first resonated in the ears of many as a pre-released track from the album, is an instant classic. Along with ‘Tired of Being Happy,’ there is a sense of a return to traditional country, both in content for the latter – it is a story of love triangles and homes wrecked – and it’s delivery that has a Loretta/Patsy-quality to it – is a return to an era of crackling records and high hair delivered by a singer who utterly breaks this mould of pageant queens with her tattooed sleeves and IDGAF attitude.
Such a theme is backed up in the hotly-anticipated track ‘Livin’ Next to Leroy,’ that is as raw and lacking in a sugar coating as they come. The so-called Leroy is a drug user of a neighbour, and the song provides a hell of a narrative – the decline of Leroy and his eventual demise – that does not shy away from the raw and real aspects of drugs and their consequences, providing an incredible break from the traditional content of tailgates and hometowns, so often found in country music. A cautionary tale but one told in a raw and real, and witty way, it is a track that will surely make McBryde be taken seriously as a unique artist, unafraid to exhibit all parts of herself.
McBryde is the exemplification of the country motto of ‘Three Chords and the Truth,’ though she is unique enough to use a few more than three chords. The album provides a moment, not just for country music, but for the wider landscape of music generally. McBryde is as much a breath of fresh air as she is a window to the past, a role model and class act, and this album is one that is bound to be a classic for years to come – if only for the UK fans alone, who are bound to listen to this on repeat, more times than is probably healthy.
