Ashley McBryde Takes a Plucky, Funny Detour With Concept Album ‘Lindeville,’ Where a Small Town Meets a Big Country Music Cast
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Ashley McBryde, one of the premium-grade country stars of the 21st century, is at the point in her career where many country stars would be playing it safer than ever. She’s in-between the second and third releases in her album cycle, a time when many would be most fixated on grabbing for the brass ring. Instead, she’s got brass balls, opting instead to put out a beautifully quirky concept album full of guest singers and co-writers called “Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville.” Please pardon the minor vulgarity in the preceding paragraph, but that’s partly the after-effect of listening to “Lindeville,” a character-driven set of songs whose protagonists tend to be on the straight-talking side, to the point of definitely including a few songs you will never hear on country radio. But “going for adds” is the furthest thing from the mind of an album that takes place entirely in a fictional small town where virtue is rarely the thing being modeled, and where even the local dogs are a little embarrassed about the array of sins they’ve witnessed.