Ashley McBryde describes her life as “joyful chaos” at the moment, and part of the reason is she just finished recording her third album.
“It’s scary to say finished, but we just finished our third record,” McBryde tells CMT. “We’re trying to get that together and figure out when that can be released, so I’m in a really excited state right now.”
The new album isn’t the only thing McBryde has to celebrate. Her duet with Carly Pearce, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” is a Top 15 hit at country radio and climbing. McBryde admits that when you look at the two of them, you’d never expect them to be friends – but they are.
“If you were to handpick two women in country music who would be pals, Carly and I are really different,” McBryde says. “She is tall with lighter hair, more clean-cut, very well-spoken and put together. I’m this Tasmanian devil that comes in the room making jokes with finger pistols. It doesn’t seem like we would be close friends, but we loved and respected each other so much we sat down and wrote this song together.”
Their friendship blossomed through writing and performing “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” and now their respective fan groups are making friends, too.
“We solidified the way we feel about each other and the love and respect just grows and grows,” McBryde says. “And thanks to that, our fans get to meet and love and respect each other, too.”
In November, the women’s friendship was on full display at the CMA Awards when Pearce won Female Vocalist of the Year. She still tears up when she talks about it, but she was so shocked she was speechless that night. McBryde helped her on stage and then hopped up to the microphone and started Pearce’s acceptance speech when she was too emotional to talk.
“I really didn’t think this was going to happen,” Pearce choked out between sobs. Then McBryde hopped on stage.
“What she meant to say was, ’There’s a lot of love, respect and admiration in this category,’” McBryde explained before Pearce composed herself and was able to speak.
“Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is from Pearce’s album “29: Written in Stone.”