#CFF2023 Artists' Spotlight: Ashley McBryde

“I hear the crowd, I look around, and I can’t find one empty chair. Not bad for a girl going nowhere” sings Ashley McBryde on “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” the seminal title track from her GRAMMY-nominated major label debut LP. They’re words built from experience: over the course of her life, growing up in Arkansas, McBryde’s been finding her own way to fill those seats and sway those hearts since the very first time her teacher told her that her dreams of writing songs in Nashville would never see the light of day. Every time she was brought down, she persevered, trusting her timeless tone and a keen, unwavering eye for the truth. It paid off. In April 2017, Eric Church brought her on stage and called her a “whiskey-drinking badass,” confessing that he’s a massive fan. The rest of the world is quickly catching on, too.

McBryde isn’t afraid, to tell the truth, get raw and real and use the spirits of country, folk and rock when it serves her greater purpose. And McBryde indeed played "Girl Goin' Nowhere" at her Opry debut, and still performs it on stage to crowds that now sing along. She gets emotional from time to time, remembering the days when she was working at a guitar shop or as a security guard or selling barbecue, never letting that vision go – a vision she shares on her debut LP that will help remind Nashville what country music is about. And those are the stories that shake us, make us, and tell us a little more about what it's like to be human.

And that girl goin' nowhere, from a little town in Arkansas? She's a whiskey-drinking badass, going everywhere. Just watch.

We are so excited to welcome Ashley McBryde to our Main Stage in the summer of CFF2023. Connect with us @countryfanfest on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Be a fan on Facebook!

Original from Ashley McBryde's Bio