The Long Road Sit Down with Ashley Monroe
After more than four years since the release of “Rosegold” three time GRAMMY nominee Ashley Monroe recently returned with her sixth studio album “Tennessee Lighnting”. Recorded in the wake of her transformative battle with cancer and co-produced alongside Gena Johnson, the 17-song collection documents her remarkable journey as a celebration of life, love and the healing power of music.
After previous visits to the UK playing C2C: Country to Country, shows with Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton and headline dates of her own, Ashley is about to embark on a co-headline tour with Fancy Hagood and she will also be performing at this weekend’s The Long Road festival.
It’s great to have you back and we’re really looking forward to having you at The Long Road this weekend plus I’m also going to come and see you and fancy on Thursday night in Manchester as I travel up from London. It's a fun festival, it's really nice. Even compared to other festivals over here, the vibe's just really cool but you have some shows with Mr Hagood as well. It must be so nice to travel about with someone like Fancy that you know, he’s such a great person and someone that's really positive to be around.
“Yeah, we went to dinner last night and we just laughed the whole time. I'm so thankful that we get to do this together and we get to sing a few songs at the end of our show, so we're going to try to be Dolly and Kenny, we're really giving off those vibes.”
The I understand how the tour is working is that you're both doing a decent length set and the two of you are like doing an encore together at the end. Is that the simple way to describe it?
“I don't even know ha-ha. Honestly, we're rehearsing today, I think I'm playing an hour and I think maybe he's playing forty, I'm not positive. When we were we discussing our songs at the end, I'm like, wait a second, how many songs do we need to do? How long is this whole set? So, yeah, he does a set then I do my set and then we come back out and do some of them together.”
Is it just you or have you got a band with you?
“We've got a band over here, actually, which is the first time that we’ve done that. He's rehearsing right now and I'm going to go in like an hour to do mine, then tomorrow we have to go and rehearse too.”
After previous visits to the UK playing C2C: Country to Country, shows with Little Big Town and Chris Stapleton and headline dates of her own, Ashley is about to embark on a co-headline tour with Fancy Hagood and she will also be performing at this weekend’s The Long Road festival.
It’s great to have you back and we’re really looking forward to having you at The Long Road this weekend plus I’m also going to come and see you and fancy on Thursday night in Manchester as I travel up from London. It's a fun festival, it's really nice. Even compared to other festivals over here, the vibe's just really cool but you have some shows with Mr Hagood as well. It must be so nice to travel about with someone like Fancy that you know, he’s such a great person and someone that's really positive to be around.
“Yeah, we went to dinner last night and we just laughed the whole time. I'm so thankful that we get to do this together and we get to sing a few songs at the end of our show, so we're going to try to be Dolly and Kenny, we're really giving off those vibes.”
The I understand how the tour is working is that you're both doing a decent length set and the two of you are like doing an encore together at the end. Is that the simple way to describe it?
“I don't even know ha-ha. Honestly, we're rehearsing today, I think I'm playing an hour and I think maybe he's playing forty, I'm not positive. When we were we discussing our songs at the end, I'm like, wait a second, how many songs do we need to do? How long is this whole set? So, yeah, he does a set then I do my set and then we come back out and do some of them together.”
Is it just you or have you got a band with you?
“We've got a band over here, actually, which is the first time that we’ve done that. He's rehearsing right now and I'm going to go in like an hour to do mine, then tomorrow we have to go and rehearse too.”
It's going to be a first chance for people to hear this lovely new record that you've just put out just over a week ago. It's been a long been a long time coming and there’s an obvious reason for that so firstly and genuinely in terms of things with you, how are you doing? Is everything looking all good still on that side?
“Yeah, I had just my louds done actually last week and I have to Zoom with my cancer doctor whilst I’m over here, but I'm a doctor now in my mind, so I can read my louds, I can tell the markers and everything because I've looked at them so much for all this time. But anyway, they look so good, I've literally patted myself on the leg being like good job.”
That’s really good news. When you took time out what did you find you missed more? Was it the actual creative process of making music, being on the road or did you find that you missed them both equally as much?
“You know, I was never like a road dog as you would say, you know, I get so worn out, but I will say I always loved writing and I always love recording, I'm always going to love that and always have. So, I loved doing that but I will say that these shows, I started doing, I think the first one, I did in Nashville in 2023 and then I did East Coast, West Coast and I'm just kind of easing back into it. Then I've been over here a couple times so I will say that connection with people in person is really amplified in my heart right now. Sometimes you don't realise how much you miss that that energy between the crowd and the singer and I just get so into it, like in my soul when I'm singing for people because my whole goal is to touch somebody, you know, through music because that's what touches me. Feeling that in person is feeling energy from people in person, getting to sing for them and I will say I really missed it. I didn't realise how much I had missed it until I started doing it again, these past couple of years was more that I had been and I'm like, oh, wow! That connection is just pretty powerful.”
Moving on to this new record, I want to start with the Jeff Lynne cover firstly. I think it's really cool how you've done it with the subtle changes compared to the original, like how you have the first part with guitar rather than piano and you have the violin in it but you've still sort of retained some of the choral element of the track. Brendan (Benson) is a featured artist on this track and obviously he co-wrote quite a few of the other songs on the record but what was it about “Blown Away” that made you want to cut it and have him involved on it?
“Brendan and I have been making music together since 2008 when I did that Ricky Skaggs and Raconteurs song so we've been writing and singing together for that long. Back in the early days, I would go over to his and now his wife, but it was his girlfriend at the time, their house and at three o'clock every day. It was when we were both wild still, so we just smoked cigarettes, drank wine and wrote. I remember he always played like ELO or would just pull crazy stuff out to play me that I've never heard, but I always just thought the way he plays guitar and something about his tone and his writing vibe always kind of reminded me of Jeff Lynne, just like subconsciously, I guess. Then fast forward to when I was in Nashville and I’m closing out the record, it was almost done and sometimes I'll just get on an artist and just go back to their very first record and just listen to that and then go to the next record and just I just like to dive in, you know what I mean, and see if there's any lost treasure songs back there. Well, I was doing that to Jeff Lynne and when “Blown Away” came on, I had to pull over, it just touched me so deep and it was just that it's so simple. There's no huge hook, there's just, you are the one I should have known, like that twisted me, it just killed me. I think I was driving to the studio and when I went in, I kind of played it for Gena and I said have you ever heard this song? She’s also good about just bringing a mic and doing all the things that she needs to do to accommodate me when I get in the zone, I’m kind of the spirit of a song. She records it all, which I appreciate, because there is magic in those moments when you're all in, you know, and you're feeling it. So, yeah, that's how it kind of started and I didn't even know that Tom Petty was a co-writer. I have always loved Brendan’s tone of voice with mine because it's like a lower, like warm tone and so I thought if I'm ever feeling like a song's too sweet or just need a little bit of like edge, he's the voice I want.”
I just think you’ve done a really cool job of it and I really dig it. Another song I really dig on there is your kind of a little funky one called “Bitter Swisher Sweet” where you had Brittney coming in on that with you. I love what she brings to it but what was it about Brittney Spencer that you thought was the right person to get in and how much of her ideas and input were things you weren't even considering before you were cutting that song?
“Yeah, I had just my louds done actually last week and I have to Zoom with my cancer doctor whilst I’m over here, but I'm a doctor now in my mind, so I can read my louds, I can tell the markers and everything because I've looked at them so much for all this time. But anyway, they look so good, I've literally patted myself on the leg being like good job.”
That’s really good news. When you took time out what did you find you missed more? Was it the actual creative process of making music, being on the road or did you find that you missed them both equally as much?
“You know, I was never like a road dog as you would say, you know, I get so worn out, but I will say I always loved writing and I always love recording, I'm always going to love that and always have. So, I loved doing that but I will say that these shows, I started doing, I think the first one, I did in Nashville in 2023 and then I did East Coast, West Coast and I'm just kind of easing back into it. Then I've been over here a couple times so I will say that connection with people in person is really amplified in my heart right now. Sometimes you don't realise how much you miss that that energy between the crowd and the singer and I just get so into it, like in my soul when I'm singing for people because my whole goal is to touch somebody, you know, through music because that's what touches me. Feeling that in person is feeling energy from people in person, getting to sing for them and I will say I really missed it. I didn't realise how much I had missed it until I started doing it again, these past couple of years was more that I had been and I'm like, oh, wow! That connection is just pretty powerful.”
Moving on to this new record, I want to start with the Jeff Lynne cover firstly. I think it's really cool how you've done it with the subtle changes compared to the original, like how you have the first part with guitar rather than piano and you have the violin in it but you've still sort of retained some of the choral element of the track. Brendan (Benson) is a featured artist on this track and obviously he co-wrote quite a few of the other songs on the record but what was it about “Blown Away” that made you want to cut it and have him involved on it?
“Brendan and I have been making music together since 2008 when I did that Ricky Skaggs and Raconteurs song so we've been writing and singing together for that long. Back in the early days, I would go over to his and now his wife, but it was his girlfriend at the time, their house and at three o'clock every day. It was when we were both wild still, so we just smoked cigarettes, drank wine and wrote. I remember he always played like ELO or would just pull crazy stuff out to play me that I've never heard, but I always just thought the way he plays guitar and something about his tone and his writing vibe always kind of reminded me of Jeff Lynne, just like subconsciously, I guess. Then fast forward to when I was in Nashville and I’m closing out the record, it was almost done and sometimes I'll just get on an artist and just go back to their very first record and just listen to that and then go to the next record and just I just like to dive in, you know what I mean, and see if there's any lost treasure songs back there. Well, I was doing that to Jeff Lynne and when “Blown Away” came on, I had to pull over, it just touched me so deep and it was just that it's so simple. There's no huge hook, there's just, you are the one I should have known, like that twisted me, it just killed me. I think I was driving to the studio and when I went in, I kind of played it for Gena and I said have you ever heard this song? She’s also good about just bringing a mic and doing all the things that she needs to do to accommodate me when I get in the zone, I’m kind of the spirit of a song. She records it all, which I appreciate, because there is magic in those moments when you're all in, you know, and you're feeling it. So, yeah, that's how it kind of started and I didn't even know that Tom Petty was a co-writer. I have always loved Brendan’s tone of voice with mine because it's like a lower, like warm tone and so I thought if I'm ever feeling like a song's too sweet or just need a little bit of like edge, he's the voice I want.”
I just think you’ve done a really cool job of it and I really dig it. Another song I really dig on there is your kind of a little funky one called “Bitter Swisher Sweet” where you had Brittney coming in on that with you. I love what she brings to it but what was it about Brittney Spencer that you thought was the right person to get in and how much of her ideas and input were things you weren't even considering before you were cutting that song?
“Now, Brittney, I've known Brittney for five years at least, we're both Virgo’s and are so much alike ha-ha. I mean, she's a friend, I love writing with her, she is so kind to me and listens to all things. So when we recorded that one, these were songs I've written over the past however many years, I’m writing like three or four times a week so, you know, these songs aren't getting cut, which is a lot of art and I like them so it’s like, well, why not just do them myself? Who cares? You know what I mean? I don't want them to just sit there and that was one of them, I'm like, this is so fun and hooky and I don't know, it just always gave me a good feeling. When we were recording that, I think it was Gena or my manager that said, "Brittney would kill this” and I'm like, oh, my gosh, yes so I sent it to her and she was all in. She came over there and I'm just like, do what you want. She’s got so many ideas, so many cool harmonies and I love that, you can hear her personality and just things I could never have thought of that she could just do. That day was so fun, I feel like you can hear that we were having fun in the studio. I love when you can hear sadness through recordings and like a good fun time too. She’s just a light in my life and I'm so thankful, I love how our voices sound together.”
I'm a Sagittarius, but Virgo is both my rising and my moon sign which gives me a tedious link to ask about “Moon Child” which I see you had the wonderful Tenille Townes and also Meg McRee in the writing room on that one. I guess you and Tenille spent quite a bit of time together when you were both on the road with Miranda but where did that song come from?
“Well Tenille, I love every single song we've ever written together. She’s an amazing writer and yeah, I really started hanging out with her when she was out with Miranda and Annie's were too. She's just a gem of a human, she’s just a great person and a great writer. Meg McRee is another star in my opinion, she can play guitar, she can do all the things and is an amazing writer then Andrew Petroff too is one of my faves. That was one of those days where I saw all their names on my calendar and I'm like this is going to be a cool day. I might have had the title and then Tenille just starts writing, you know you can hear the wheels turning and I think she just spat out that first verse. It instantly made me think of my son, it made me think of my dad and made me think of anybody that you love. It’s like a comforting warm blanket you know, so there was definitely magic in the air that day.”
The last one I want to touch on is “Moth” and I love that video. I'm guessing that was a huge amount of fun to make where you had a couple of friends join in on it too.
“You know, this whole record, I have had the vision for it. I don't have a team anymore, I don't have a label and I've just let myself have a vision, see it clear, and thank God I have a team around me that whatever I say, they're like, okay, let's make it happen. I have a great videographer who has done all these videos that I can tell her this is what I'm seeing and I send her a board of all the images and when I hear the song, this is what I see. When she sent me that video back, I'm like, it's exactly how it feels to me so first off thank you and I love the video too. That feeling, kind of after the cancer deal, when I stood back and kind of looked at my life, being like, okay, what's happened? You know, you just kind of look back at that young, nostalgic chapter of all of our lives, you know, where friends we make, the lessons we learn and all those experiences, the older I get, the more I realise that a lot of those people ARE our roots and experiences. We’re good friends and anchors in a lot of ways, it wasn't just all, you know, oh, I was just young and stupid so I love that feeling of remembering that was good. Even in that video, when I pet the dog, I kind of got teary eyed because when I sing that chorus, you know, that could be that too. Honestly, I mean when she shot that in the video, I thought, oh my gosh, it can be so many things. Obviously, the verses are about a love thing, but when I sing that chorus, I can feel so many things in my heart over those lyrics. Angaleena is obviously like my sister and Lukas has become a great friend, we've written songs together, sang some together and when he's in Nashville, he's got a little place, like a writing apartment so he was in town and I was like hey. He drove like an hour and was my stud in the video but it was very natural when I watched it back, I'm like, well, you can tell we were just hanging, it wasn't really acting.”
I'm a Sagittarius, but Virgo is both my rising and my moon sign which gives me a tedious link to ask about “Moon Child” which I see you had the wonderful Tenille Townes and also Meg McRee in the writing room on that one. I guess you and Tenille spent quite a bit of time together when you were both on the road with Miranda but where did that song come from?
“Well Tenille, I love every single song we've ever written together. She’s an amazing writer and yeah, I really started hanging out with her when she was out with Miranda and Annie's were too. She's just a gem of a human, she’s just a great person and a great writer. Meg McRee is another star in my opinion, she can play guitar, she can do all the things and is an amazing writer then Andrew Petroff too is one of my faves. That was one of those days where I saw all their names on my calendar and I'm like this is going to be a cool day. I might have had the title and then Tenille just starts writing, you know you can hear the wheels turning and I think she just spat out that first verse. It instantly made me think of my son, it made me think of my dad and made me think of anybody that you love. It’s like a comforting warm blanket you know, so there was definitely magic in the air that day.”
The last one I want to touch on is “Moth” and I love that video. I'm guessing that was a huge amount of fun to make where you had a couple of friends join in on it too.
“You know, this whole record, I have had the vision for it. I don't have a team anymore, I don't have a label and I've just let myself have a vision, see it clear, and thank God I have a team around me that whatever I say, they're like, okay, let's make it happen. I have a great videographer who has done all these videos that I can tell her this is what I'm seeing and I send her a board of all the images and when I hear the song, this is what I see. When she sent me that video back, I'm like, it's exactly how it feels to me so first off thank you and I love the video too. That feeling, kind of after the cancer deal, when I stood back and kind of looked at my life, being like, okay, what's happened? You know, you just kind of look back at that young, nostalgic chapter of all of our lives, you know, where friends we make, the lessons we learn and all those experiences, the older I get, the more I realise that a lot of those people ARE our roots and experiences. We’re good friends and anchors in a lot of ways, it wasn't just all, you know, oh, I was just young and stupid so I love that feeling of remembering that was good. Even in that video, when I pet the dog, I kind of got teary eyed because when I sing that chorus, you know, that could be that too. Honestly, I mean when she shot that in the video, I thought, oh my gosh, it can be so many things. Obviously, the verses are about a love thing, but when I sing that chorus, I can feel so many things in my heart over those lyrics. Angaleena is obviously like my sister and Lukas has become a great friend, we've written songs together, sang some together and when he's in Nashville, he's got a little place, like a writing apartment so he was in town and I was like hey. He drove like an hour and was my stud in the video but it was very natural when I watched it back, I'm like, well, you can tell we were just hanging, it wasn't really acting.”
Lastly and I’m sure you get asked this a bunch but as we mentioned Angaleena, is there potentially something? I know she has been busy working on her new music and Miranda is a total road dog right now but if time allows, have you all spoken about getting the Annies back together in the future?
“I mean, we haven’t like talked about it specifically, but I think that I'd say we all feel that, you know, at some point, because we have so many songs, we have a shared note actually of songs that we started and like a thousand billion titles and like little ideas. I hope and pray that before too long, we can just at least pile up and just kind of get the inspiration flowing and write some of the songs. I’d love for people to hear some of the songs we've written that nobody has heard too. It's hopeful, they're my sisters and the bond we have is really deep. That's a lot of shared history and a former life connection in all of us so we're always anchored in our hearts.”
UK/EU Tour Dates:
Thursday, 21st August - Manchester - Band On The Wall
Friday, 22nd August - Sunday, 24th August – Lutterworth - The Long Road Festival
Monday, 25th August - Glasgow - St. Luke’s
Wednesday, 27th August - London - Islington Assembly Hall
Thursday, 28th August - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Upstairs
“Tennessee Lightning” is the 6th studio album from Ashley Monroe which is out now and available HERE. Ashley begins her UK tour with Fancy Hagood tomorrow night in Manchester, with full dates listed above and includes a performance at The Long Road festival this weekend. You can find more details and ticket information on her WEBSITE and can keep up to date with all that Ashley is up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire over the weekend of August 22nd to 24th where you can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of the event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
“I mean, we haven’t like talked about it specifically, but I think that I'd say we all feel that, you know, at some point, because we have so many songs, we have a shared note actually of songs that we started and like a thousand billion titles and like little ideas. I hope and pray that before too long, we can just at least pile up and just kind of get the inspiration flowing and write some of the songs. I’d love for people to hear some of the songs we've written that nobody has heard too. It's hopeful, they're my sisters and the bond we have is really deep. That's a lot of shared history and a former life connection in all of us so we're always anchored in our hearts.”
UK/EU Tour Dates:
Thursday, 21st August - Manchester - Band On The Wall
Friday, 22nd August - Sunday, 24th August – Lutterworth - The Long Road Festival
Monday, 25th August - Glasgow - St. Luke’s
Wednesday, 27th August - London - Islington Assembly Hall
Thursday, 28th August - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Upstairs
“Tennessee Lightning” is the 6th studio album from Ashley Monroe which is out now and available HERE. Ashley begins her UK tour with Fancy Hagood tomorrow night in Manchester, with full dates listed above and includes a performance at The Long Road festival this weekend. You can find more details and ticket information on her WEBSITE and can keep up to date with all that Ashley is up to on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
The Long Road Festival takes place at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire over the weekend of August 22nd to 24th where you can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of the event by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
