Ashley McBryde is not only a wordsmith with lyrics but also when describing what has shaped her as an artist. Over the years, Ashley McBryde has proven she is one of the most badass women in country music for a multitude of reasons. Her kind heart is met with the ability to write gritty songs; she pushes the boundaries of music and is genuinely an artist through and through. Today, McBryde released her first single since her last record, The Devil I Know. The cowboy-inspired track "Ain't Enough Cowboy Songs" is an anthem about the importance of hard work, having your people's back, and integrity. The love letter-style song to the cowboy way of life beautifully highlights her gritty work ethic (similar to a cowboy) and the unbridled vocal talent McBryde possesses. https://www.instagram.com/p/DDOXRBdxvWA/ While the lyrics detail this lifestyle that is going out of style, McBryde and her co-writers penned this track through the lens of the current state of country music and how it's changed since she came to Nashville in 2005. Ashley McBryde sat down for an interview on Today's Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen, and the two talked about touring, sobriety, and, of course, "Ain't Enough Cowboy Songs." The conversation surrounding the single kicked off with McBryde noting that some of the early feedback was not positive as folks associated cowboys with racism, misogyny, and other derogatory terms. McBryde empathized with that group and how they view cowboys, but the cowboy way of living is far from those terms. McBryde candidly told Bannen that the term "cowboy" was used because it best suited what was bothering them that day. "We sat down, the three of us, me, Chris Harris, Patrick Savage, and you can tell that something's bothering each of us. And you know how that is. You walk in, and you see a coworker, and you go, I know something's hurting, but I can't tell what it is. So we were just going to write whatever we write that day. You know how it is writing on the road. You're like, we do, or we don't. And when Chris says the phrase, "Man, there ain't enough cowboy songs." We’re like, okay." McBryde then compares the lyrics about putting horses out to pasture to her music career, and the way she got her starts in country music is being put out to pasture, too. "The horse I rode in on was, go play bars everywhere you can. Get to town play every bar you can while still playing the other bars you were playing. Build an audience, build an audience, build an audience, give yourself some value. Because this was all pre-social media, really, it's how we exist, but it's not how we function... You get to town, you go to every writer's night you can, you network, and you start make yourself known by word of mouth. You make your fans and followers by a handshake or sitting down and having a beer...That's the horse I rode in on, and she's got put to pasture. That way of life, I'm so thankful for it." McBryde illustrates that many aspiring country artists today have not had to put their noses to the grindstone as she did when building the foundation of her career. Many hope for a viral hit on TikTok, or hope they are discovered via social media without genuinely putting in the effort to songwriting, performing and touring. While she notes that she is thankful she had to make a name for herself the old-fashioned way, she's not naive to the fact that things they should. However, she makes a great point that it's harder to find a grounding point when you evolve too much. "If we lose the touchstone, the songs that made you want to write songs. We are in trouble... If you think about our job now, I think about the songs that made us want to make music, who made us the songwriters we are. The Kristofferson songs we heard. The Townes Van Zandt that we heard. The Van Morrison that we heard. The Janis Joplin that we heard.  We are all just the sum of every song that we've ever heard and every movie that we've ever seen. I'm so happy for the things that created me. And then when I look at who's coming up and who's coming to town, and I listen to the songs that are responsible for shaping them... I'm not saying they are bad songs; I'm saying they are farther from their own touchstone."  McBryde drives home the point that no matter how country music evolves and shifts and who the next big stars are, she needs to feel like she can come back to roots that helped shape her in the early days of her career. That's what "Ain't Enough Cowboy Songs" means to her. It's her touchstone. Ashley McBryde isn't trying to prevent the future of country music from happening; she just doesn't want the foundation to go missing. "Ain't Enough Cowboy Songs" perfectly reflects those feelings of the hard work needed to survive in this industry so you don't end up like a horse put out to pasture. McBryde knows what she is talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjeIeatDR18 If you haven't heard the new single yet, fire that up while you're here, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3q7jcDWrQ