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Ashley McBryde Opens Up About the Origins of Upcoming Album, ‘Lindeville’

Ashley McBryde’s new album is on the horizon. And it includes a cast of characters.

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville officially drops on Friday, September 30. Included are 13 tracks that tell stories of people living in a fictional small town—which is a theme that she never expected to stumble upon.

The concept came together when the Grammy nominee and her favorite collaborators were on a trip.

“A few years ago, Aaron Raitiere, Nicolette Hayford, and I were on a write,” McBryde said in a statement. “We wrote this song called Blackout Betty, and I realized we had written previous songs called Shut Up Sheila on Never Will and Livin’ Next to Leroy’ on Girl Going Nowhere. Aaron had a song called Jesus, Jenny, and I thought, ‘We should keep these characters together and give them a place to live!’

The trio got to work on the idea while pulling inspiration from storytelling songwriter Dennis Linde, who penned The Chicks’ Goodbye Earl and Mark Chesnutt’s Bubba Shot the Jukebox. And soon, they had crafted an entire list of memorable characters living in a lyrical community—appropriately named Lindeville. Jesus, Jenny also found a home in that community.

‘Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville’ Includes Collaborations

Ashley McBryde knew she had to get serious about the album. So the three of them called fellow writers Connie Harrington, Brandy Clark, and Benjy Davis for help. And the group locked themselves away from the work for an entire week to live and breathe Lineville.

The 39-year-old continued: “I thought, ‘What if we call it Lindeville?’ in honor of Dennis Linde. I want to lock six writers in a house and just spend six- or seven days writing. We stayed in Tennessee in this little house close to a lake. It was eight bottles of tequila, two cartons of cigarettes, one kitchen table, and six individuals out of their minds.”

The final product includes works with Benjy Davis, Brothers Osborne, Pillbox Patti, and Caylee Hammack. The artists all play a person living in the quirky town.

“I just hope that when a few, even just a handful, of people listen to the record, and it ends with the line ‘Nothing but stars over Lindeville,’ they put their hands over their heart and say, ‘What a nice trip that was,’” McBryde added. “And for the whole running time of the record, nothing else had to matter. You got to focus on other people’s drama and other people’s problems and got the reminder that everything’s all right.”