Ashley McBryde on The Inspiration Behind The Artwork For Her Album 'The Devil I Know,' Friendship with Jelly Roll & More | CMA Awards 2023 - video Dailymotion

Billboard

Ashley McBryde chatted with Billboard on the red carpet of the 2023 CMA Awards.

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00:00 We are here with Ashley McBride.

00:01 How's it going so far?

00:02 Good, good.

00:03 Nerves are fully set in.

00:04 We're good.

00:05 Great, we love that.

00:06 You were just saying, so last night, everyone is complimenting your performance last night.

00:09 You were saying that, you know, there's only one other time you've been as nervous.

00:13 Yes, there's only one other song I've been as nervous to tackle, and it was a Marty Stewart

00:18 song, but last night it was "Wrong Side of Memphis."

00:21 And how were the nerves then?

00:22 You managed to conquer them.

00:24 It was okay.

00:25 Yeah, after the performance I felt a little better, and now I only have to be nervous

00:27 about performing my song.

00:28 There you go.

00:29 Much better.

00:30 Yeah.

00:31 So I want to talk about "The Devil I Know."

00:33 Yes.

00:34 Beautiful album.

00:35 I love the album art.

00:36 Tell me about the inspiration for that, and also how you shot it, because it's a lot of

00:40 you.

00:41 And what was interesting was I was trying to get a shot of the full band in that cool

00:45 space, and while we were doing that, we were also shooting several different looks of me

00:49 throughout the day.

00:50 But as we went, the photographer, Katie Koss, said, "You know what?

00:53 Let's put you in each position where there is going to be a band member.

00:57 I'd love to have each look just for us to look back on."

01:00 And then when we got done and we go to picking selects, and she's like, "Oh, here's the one

01:05 of you doing all the things."

01:06 And I was like, "I love it.

01:08 I think that's the cover."

01:10 It's really striking.

01:11 Do you feel like when you look at it, it's like, "Yep, that was me then.

01:15 That was me."

01:16 It's like versions of you that make up the you today?

01:18 Absolutely.

01:19 Especially when it comes to a title like "The Devil I Know," when there's the glam version

01:22 of you, and then there's the Blackout Betty version of you sitting there balancing a shot

01:27 glass on her face.

01:28 I remember being that.

01:29 I remember being the other me, kind of looking over there in the corner going, "I don't know

01:33 what she's up to."

01:34 It was wonderful.

01:35 It was wonderful to capture so much personality in one shot.

01:38 And now, how does it feel to not be Blackout Betty?

01:42 What has that done for you creatively?

01:44 You're just standing here in sort of a power pose, like I said, and I just feel like I

01:47 see it on your face, this happiness and this confidence.

01:51 But in your own words, how does it feel?

01:54 I was worried about stopping drinking and what it can do to your reputation and all

02:01 of that, because it was such a big part of my identity.

02:04 And I thought, "What's going to happen to songwriting?

02:06 What if I can't write as good?"

02:08 Turns out, I had it backwards.

02:11 And everything has just been, "What if my skin feels better?

02:13 I sleep better.

02:14 I sing better.

02:15 I make lots of better choices."

02:18 And I still do many, many of the things I used to do.

02:20 I still go to bars and I still drink.

02:22 The only thing different is what's in the cup.

02:24 There you go.

02:25 I think that's such a misconception, is like, "Ugh, we're never going to see them again."

02:29 It's like, "No."

02:30 Yeah, I know.

02:31 I didn't just suddenly take up only knitting or something like that.

02:33 Plus, knitting, I'm sure, is fun.

02:34 I still do all the things.

02:35 You can ask Jelly Roll, being on tour with him.

02:37 He said, "You're still the same homie.

02:38 You just don't drink the same thing everybody else drinks."

02:41 Right.

02:42 Yeah.

02:43 Jelly Roll is right next to us.

02:44 He may come by.

02:45 Do you have a favorite memory with that man?

02:47 I know you guys are such good friends.

02:49 Working together for the first time.

02:51 And we sat there and talked for like two hours before we ever wrote a single word down.

02:55 And it just felt like, you ever meet somebody and instead of getting to know them, it's

02:59 like remembering that you know them?

03:01 That kind of sounds weird.

03:02 But yeah, it was sort of like we'd always been friends and we finally got to realize

03:06 that.

03:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Ashley McBryde on The Inspiration Behind The Artwork For Her Album 'The Devil I Know,' Friendship with Jelly Roll & More | CMA Awards 2023

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