Ashley McBryde: ‘I’m So Excited For This Record To Finally Be Out’

Ashley McBryde releases her much anticipated The Devil I Know album today (9/8), and according to the triple 2023 CMA nominee (Female Vocalist, Album of The Year For Lindeville and Video of the Year for "Light On In The Kitchen") she's had the album done for about a year now.

We talked with Ashley yesterday (9/7) and asked if she felt pressure making the new album. She reference her Grammy win for Best Country Duo for "Never Wanted To Be That Girl" with friend Carly Pearce. She told us, "I think going in to make the record, because we've been sitting on it for a year since I didn't have the Grammy yet, that helped take some pressure off."

McBryde doesn't let award nominations and wins influence her music. She said, "And releasing the record, we try to keep things like that, CMAs, ACMs, Grammys... We love them and, appreciate them fully, and celebrate them, but when we go into creation mode, nothing gets to come into the room. Not what radio thinks and not who thinks what I should wear or what I should say. None of that gets to come into the room; we try to keep them separate. I'm so excited for this record to finally be out."

Ashley was quite happy with her CMA nods that she learned she had just before our interview. She was especially thrilled with the nod for Video of the Year for her latest single, "Light On In The Kitchen." She told us, "I'm so excited that 'Light On In The Kitchen' got nominated for Video of the Year because that video was taken in one continuous shot. Which means the production team and everybody was there in the early, early early hours of the day, building all the sets. It's in one big room, and then what you see is this really smooth transition from a bedroom to a kitchen scene to where the band is."

McBryde added that behind the scenes wasn't so calm. She offered, "In the background, there's the guy with this camera and the guy holding on to him with his belt telling him to spin, and they're yelling at me, 'Clear, go two, three, four to the kitchen now.' And I'm trying to not be out of breath and get there (sings) 'Light on in the kitchen.' It took so much rehearsing. We were rehearsing all damn day."

This could be a big week for Ashley McBryde as she attends the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards as a double nominee on Sunday (2/5). Her fifth and sixth GRAMMY nominations are for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for her chart-topping duet "Never Wanted To Be That Girl" with Carly Pearce and for Best Country Album for her project Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville.

When she got the news a few weeks ago, she said in a statement, "I'm so proud to be able to share these nominations with so many friends and collaborators – for a duet we wrote and took to No. 1 with Carly and the entire cast of Lindeville, where we gave ourselves the opportunity to change the approach and make decisions based solely on serving the songs." She added, "I've always said that recognition from the Recording Academy and joining the Grand Ole Opry are the two best things that could ever happen to you as an artist, so here I stand just in awe of this moment. It's such an honor to be right here right now. And especially in such good company."

Ashley has had a few significant years in country music. She will perform "Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Live," featuring the cast of collaborators and special guests performing songs at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on February 15 and 16.

Here, we take a look at her last few years in country music. Will she become one of country's newest Grammy darlings this week?