If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about grinding out on the road and doing whatever it takes to “make it,” it’s Ashley McBryde.
And her new single that’s out everywhere today, “Made For This,” is all about what it takes to be a touring musician in a van, traveling all over the country and doing her best to stay the course and keep her life together back home.
A co-write with Travis Meadows, Ashley says they actually wrote it quite a while back while she was still touring in a van, though the songs meaning applies to anyone with a job that calls you away from home more often than you might really like:
“Travis Meadows and I wrote ‘Made For This,’ and at the time, I was still touring in a van and he was using his truck, so we definitely had touring and the life of musicians top of mind.
But this song reaches beyond that. It’s not just touring musicians and bands and crews who are on the road 200+ days a year who are ‘calling home for a telephone goodnight kiss.’
It’s also members of our military, our truck drivers and those that work long or odd hours sacrificing time with their family. We’re lucky we’re made for this.”
Ashley is gearing up to release her her fourth studio album The Devil I Know in September, and is slated to drop everywhere you listen to music on September 8th.
She previously shared that the overall theme of the record will focus on her deeply personal internal struggles as both an artist and a person:
“‘You guys are great but you’re a little too rock and roll.’ Man y’all are good but you need less tender songs.’ ‘If there’s such a thing as too country, that song is it.’ You spoke. I listened.'”
So far, she’s released three singles, the title track, “Learned To Lie,” and the lead single “Light On In The Kitchen,” which is also her current single at country radio.
This new single definitely shows off the more rock-leaning side of her musical style, but it’s one she’s played at live shows for quite a while and I can only imagine is even more fun to hear in-person.
Turn it up:
“Light On In The Kitchen”
The Devil I Know tracklist:
Made For This (Ashley McBryde and Travis Meadows)
Coldest Beer in Town (Ashley McBryde, Autumn McEntire and Nicolette Hayford)
Light On In The Kitchen (Ashley McBryde, Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington)
Women Ain’t Whiskey (Ashley McBryde, Hillary Lindsey, Jon Nite and Chris LaCorte)
Learned To Lie (Ashley McBryde, Nicolette Hayford and Sean McConnell)
The Devil I Know (Ashley McBryde, Jeremy Stover and Bobby Pinson)
Single At The Same Time (Ashley McBryde, Benjy Davis and Andy Albert)
Cool Little Bars (Ashley McBryde, Trick Savage and Lainey Wilson)
Whiskey and Country Music (Ashley McBryde, John Osborne and Lee Thomas Miller)
Blackout Betty (Ashley McBryde, Aaron Raitiere and Nicolette Hayford)
6th Of October (Ashley McBryde, Blue Foley and CJ Field)
Ashley McBryde 2023 tour dates:
July 7 Wenonah Park Bay City, Mich.
July 8 Hodag Country Festival 2023 Rhinelander, Wis.
July 13 Santa Maria Fairpark Santa Maria, Calif.
July 14 Green Valley Ranch Backyard Amphitheater Henderson, Nev.
July 15 Stanislaus County Fairgrounds Turlock, Calif.
July 16 California State Fair Sacramento, Calif.
July 22 Ionia Free Fair Fairgrounds Ionia, Mich.
July 23 Country Thunder Wisconsin 2023 Twin Lakes, Wis.
July 28 Country Fan Fest 2023 Tooele, Utah
July 29 Headwaters Country Jam 2023 Cardwell, Mont.
July 30 Abayance Bay Marina Eureka, Mont.
Aug. 1 Mount Baker Theatre Bellingham, Wash.
Aug. 2 Britt Festival Pavilion Jacksonville, Ore.
Aug. 4 Oregon Jamboree Music Festival 2023 Sweet Home, Ore.
Aug. 5 Memorial Field Sandpoint, Idaho
Aug. 6 Big Valley Jamboree 2023 Camrose, Alberta
Aug. 11 Jiffy Lube Live* Bristow, Va.
Aug. 12 Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater* Virginia Beach, Va.
Aug. 19 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre* Maryland Heights, Mo.
Aug. 25 CHI Health Center Omaha* Omaha, Neb.
Aug. 26 T-Mobile Center* Kansas City, Mo.
Sept. 1-3 Georgia Country Music Festival Marietta, Ga.
Sept. 5 Red Rocks Amphitheatre^ Morrison, Colo.
Sept. 19 Paycom Center* Oklahoma City, Okla.
Sept. 21 Germania Insurance Amphitheater* Austin, Texas
Sept. 24 Pilgrimage Festival 2023 Franklin, Tenn.
* Jelly Roll Backroad Baptism Tour 2023
^ Dierks Bentley Gravel & Gold Tour
