Yup, Garth Brooks + Trisha Yearwood Are Big Ashley McBryde Fans
Ashley McBryde is doing pretty well for a girl supposedly going nowhere -- just look at who's championing her career and it's obvious she has star power. None other than Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are huge fans of the Arkansas native singer-songwriter. Both have a genuine admiration for McBryde, and have given her opportunities that have only boosted her further.
"When you talk about what a true songwriter is, you have her standing right here," Brooks said at a recent taping of the Tennessean's Country Mile podcast, which also featured McBryde. While the two discussed songwriting, their influences and more, Brooks didn't hold back his compliments for his newer-to-the-scene counterpart.
"You seem to be rare in everything you do," he told her, also calling McBryde wise beyond her years.
Brooks has covered McBryde's "Girl Goin' Nowhere" at various shows since 2017, exposing potential new fans to McBryde's work. His version swaps "girl" for "boy" in the chorus' hook but stays relatively true to the original. It's a dream come true for McBryde, who has long looked up to the country star.
"One of the most important things about a song is for it to reach people," Brooks says "Girl Goin' Nowhere," a song he admits that he relates to. Its lyrics tell stories of forging ahead with a dream, despite the naysayers -- something that plenty of people relate to, in fact.
The support for McBryde's career doesn't stop there, though: A song she penned for her own debut album, Girl Going Nowhere, also appears on Yearwood's latest album, Every Girl. "Bible and a .44," which features vocals from Patty Loveless on Yearwood's version, is a song of admiration for McBryde's father.
“When I heard "Bible and a .44," I just was like, ‘I want to sing that,’” Yearwood tells The Boot. “It’s about her dad, but it was so about my dad for me. We cut it, and then I just kept hearing Patty Loveless. She was kind enough to come sing on it.”
Support from well-established artists is key in many artists' country music careers. McBryde's well-written songs speak for themselves, but increased visibility via more-famous fans has allowed more people to discover that.
McBryde recently released a brand-new single, "One Night Standards," from her forthcoming sophomore album. She's spending the fall out on the road, on Miranda Lambert's 2019 Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour.
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