Nick Tressler Raised Rowdy Founder
If the name Ashland Craft is not familiar to you yet then it will be soon. Ashland and her camp have been stocking our playlists out with high quality singles that are at the top of the game in Country music right now.
Her four singles released in 2019 (“They Always Do”, “Your Place or Mine”, “When a Cowboy’s Heat Breaks” and “Good Ole Girls”) got the buzz in Nashville and beyond turned up to a deafening sound. The last time I saw this kind of upward projection from a female artist was during the quick rise and release of Maren Morris’ EP. Honing her live show out on the road with two showmen Morgan Wallen and Jon Langston has her getting comfortable playing to bigger and bigger crowds and if the good Lord allows she will be playing a host of festivals this Summer and Fall sinking her teeth even deeper into proving she is deservingly rising in the ranks of Country music at the speed she has set herself on.
We can only guess as to what 2020 holds for Country music touring, but what we do know is Ashland’s new song “Trainwreck” is as good of a release as we have seen in 2020. That’s right Ashland and her sultry vocals and powerful smoky range set the Channing Wilson and Randy Montana penned track ablaze.
If you attend a lot of writers rounds around Nashville you might have heard Channing and Randy playing this track. Randy even released this song on his “Put Me In a Box” project from 2014. So fans of both of those artists know this track well, but Ashland took this track that many in Nashville hold dear and made it all her own. The words just hit differently from Ashland and that is no dig at Randy or Channing but there is something about a relatable female like Ashland telling her story of being that unapproachable train-wreck and running off the line. Breaking hearts, causing trouble to the uncareful or starry eyed.
Ashland told us in the podcast we did with her about hearing the song for the first time and just having her jaw on the floor listening to Channing Wilson play it and just feeling so connected to it and after a year of Channing mulling the idea over on her birthday he agreed to let her cut it.
Ashland’s version is slower and more melodic than Randy’s and with Channing’s distinct voice on background vocals it really brings the powerful words to life. A great song is a great song, but the right singer and production can take songs from good to great and with a song as timeless as “Trainwreck” it wouldn’t surprise us to see this be the first single of Ashland’s to truly get national mainstream acclaim.
So if you don’t want to get caught up in the force that is coming down the line with Ashland Craft you better get a little further from the track. This train is speeding off the line and it’s destination is Country music stardom for Ashland.