Ashley McBryde Recruits Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark and More for Concept Album, ‘Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville’
Ashley McBryde is bringing along a few of her friends, including Brothers Osborne, Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack and more, for a new concept album called Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville.
Written on a retreat in a cabin outside Nashville, the 13-track album tells the elaborate stories of characters who live in the fictional small town of Lindeville.
The entirety of the album — out Sept. 30 — was written by McBryde, Aaron Raitiere, Nicolette Hayford, Connie Harrington, Clark and Benjy Davis, and it was inspired by the writers' own small-town experiences, as well as songs they'd penned in in the past.
"A few years ago, Aaron Raitiere, Nicolette Hayford and I were on a write," McBryde says. "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 project was named "Lindeville" in honor of songwriter Dennis Linde, who wrote tunes such as "Goodbye Earl," "Burning Love" and "Bubba Shot the Jukebox." He died in 2006.
"Not long after that, I thought, 'What if we call it Lindeville?' in honor of Dennis Linde," McBryde adds. "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."
McBryde enlisted of the vocals of Brothers Osborne, Clark, Raitiere, Pillbox Patti (Hayford), Hammack and Davis to help tell these all-American stories. Brothers Osborne's John Osborne doubles as the project's sole producer. He says he aimed to encapsulate the spirit of each character in the tracks.
"This is technically the first full-length album that I’ve produced by myself," he explains. "One of the things I tried to do was capture each character as a performance. I listened to each song, and I wrestled with it for a while. 'Do I want to make the songs sound the same? Make it sound like it’s all done in one room on one day?'"
"And then I thought to myself, 'Each song has to represent not only a different character, but a different emotion and a different story,'" he continues. "There is certainly continuity between the tracks — we have vocalists and mostly the same musicians on every song. But I decided to take different approaches to each song because it needed to represent the story."
McBryde, Hammack and other artists teased the announcement of the album earlier this week by reading amusing and eccentric excerpts from the fictional "Lindeville Gazette," giving insight into the kind of characters that will greet fans on the album. The project is available for pre-order is now, and members of McBryde's Trybe Fan Club can pre-order a limited-edition, purple vinyl, which will ship in October.
"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,'" says McBryde.
Ashley McBryde's Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville Tracklist:
1. "Brenda Put Your Bra On" feat. Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti
2. "Jesus Jenny" feat. Aaron Raitiere (Aaron Raitiere and Jon Decious)
3. "Dandelion Diner"
4. "The Girl in the Picture" feat. Pillbox Patti
5. "If These Dogs Could Talk" feat. Brandy Clark
6. "Play Ball" feat. Brothers Osborne
7. "Ronnie’s Pawn Shop"
8. "The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette" feat. Brandy Clark & Aaron Raitiere
9. "Gospel Night at the Strip Club" feat. Benjy Davis
10. "Forkem Family Funeral Home"
11. "When Will I Be Loved" feat. Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti (Phil Everly)
12. "Bonfire at Tina’s" feat. Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark & Pillbox Patti
13. "Lindeville"