See Ashley McBryde’s Poignant ‘Girl Goin’ Nowhere’ at the Opry
While Taylor Swift gets her revenge by delving deep into her dark side, Ashley McBryde got hers last month on the stage of the Grand Old Opry, playing her song “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” that’s more triumphant than purely vengeful. Once dubbed a “whiskey-drinking badass” by Eric Church, McBryde wrote the track for a teacher who didn’t believe in her Nashville-bound, country music dreams. But McBryde had faith in herself when few others did, and that perseverance landed her on the stage of the Opry, proving them wrong with a weepy smile and a strum of her guitar. Watch the video of her debut on that hallowed stage above.
McBryde, who was thinking about someday performing “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” at the Opry when she wrote it, even tweaked a line for the occasion. “I step into this circle with a Gibson in my hand,” she sang with an emotional punch, holding back tears. It’s a song about coming out on top when others think you’ll just sink to the bottom, an experience McBryde has lived out in the past few months as her single, “A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega,” climbed rapidly up the iTunes charts and scored her slots touring alongside Brothers Osborne and plenty of love from Church, who invited her to join him on stage.
Returning to the Opry stage for another performance tomorrow, McBryde is currently working on her debut album with Brothers Osborne and Church’s producer, Jay Joyce.