Ashley McBryde Opens Up About Her Late Brother in ‘Stone’

Ashley McBryde draws comparisons between herself and her late brother Clay in "Stone," a new song on her Never Will album (out Friday (April 3)). Clay died by suicide in June of 2018.

Nicolette Hayford co-wrote "Stone" with the "One Night Standards" singer, and the ballad explores the anger and sadness that McBryde has felt in dealing with the emotions of his death. Talking to Taste of Country Nights, she shares that the loss of a sibling is a strange kind of loss that she still hasn't come to terms with.

"That song started out from such a heavy place, especially when you're dealing with a subject as heavy as veteran suicide," McBryde says. Anger turned to laughter and then tears when McBryde realized her laugh sounds like her brother's laugh did.

"[Nicolette] said, 'Hey, you're angry because you're sad, and you're sad because you didn't realize how much you and Clay were alike until he was already gone,'" McBryde recalls. "'That's where we need to go.'"

Hayford suggested the theme of stones that led to the bulk of the first verse, the chorus and the song's title. During the second verse, McBryde draws the closest comparisons: "I sway like you when I get nervous / I'm shy like you, but most folks couldn't tell / I get the same shade of red as you did when I'm angry / I'm red right now 'cause I'm mad as hell."

A clip from McBryde's in which where she talks about "Stone" with ToC Nights is above. She also shares a bit more about the rest of her family and their reactions to the song, if they've heard it.

Don't expect to hear "Stone" at every concert from here on out, however: The room and the audience will need to be just right, McBryde says.

"It's not on there to remind you to hurt, it's on there to remind you that you are hurt."

Never Will is McBryde's second studio album on Warner Music Nashville.

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