Ashley McBryde

McBryde started out as a songwriter, working for a music publisher for three years, but she couldn't get anyone to record her songs. So instead of writing songs for others, she wrote them for herself, which made them much more authentic. It took about 10 years, but she finally got a major-label record deal in 2017 with help from Eric Church, who brought her on stage at one of his shows to perform her song "Bible And A .44." From there, it was downhill: She released her debut album, Girl Going Nowhere, in 2018 and became a popular live draw.

She loves candles and started making them as a hobby after realizing she was spending way too much money buying them.

McBryde knows some American Sign Language (ASL) and usually has interpreters at her shows. This tradition dates back to when she was playing bars and was friends with an ASL teacher who would bring members of the hearing-impaired community to her shows and sign for them.