Ashley McBryde is one of the most-nominated artists at the upcoming 55th Annual CMA Awards, competing for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as Single and Song of the Year for her top-10 hit “One Night Standards.”

But the “Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” hitmaker is not just sitting back waiting for her next trophy. She’s already hard at work on the follow-up to last year’s Never Will.

“We jumped back in the studio August 8th,” she recently told ABC Audio backstage at the Opry. “So this is our first time to make a record this way.”

“We usually get everything together,” she explains, “get our ducks in a row, go rehearse it, talk to [producer] Jay [Joyce] about it, select which ones we’re gonna keep, and go cut ’em. And we’re not able to do that right now ’cause we’re on the road.”

That means historic venues like the Grand Ole Opry are often testing grounds for the new tunes from Ashley and her band Deadhorse.

“We’re using soundchecks to kind of test and arrange a song, and then we may throw it in the set that night and see if it sinks or swims,” she says. “And that’s how we’re choosing what’s going on this record right now. So it’s a little bit nerve-racking, but the first three I’m very happy with.”

She adds, “We’re gonna do one of them tonight. We’re gonna do ‘Whiskey and Country Music’ tonight.”

This fall, you can listen for new music from Ashley as she’s on tour with longtime pal Luke Combs. Meanwhile, the Grand Ole Opry is counting down to its mammoth 5000th show on October 30.

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