Ashley McBryde & Friends Take Fans To ‘Lindeville,” A Small Town Of Drinkers, Cheaters, Sinners And Jesus Believers

Mosey-on-down with Ashley McBryde to Lindeville — a fictional small town of drinkers, cheaters, sinners and Jesus believers.

McBryde released her fourth studio album this Friday (Sept. 30th), Lindeville, in collaboration with a team of writers including Aaron Raitiere, Connie Harrington, Brandy Clark, Benjy Davis and Nicolette Hayford. Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville includes performances from McBryde, Raitiere, Clark, Davis, Brothers Osborne, Pillbox Patti, and Caylee Hammack.

Produced by Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne, the 13-track album takes listeners on a journey through the made-up town of Lindeville and its richly drawn characters who reside there. The name and idea was inspired after legendary singer-songwriter Dennis Linde, who wrote the stories of Mary Ann and Wanda of “Goodbye Earl,” Billy Bob and Charlene of “John Deere Green,” Bubba of “Bubba Shot the Jukebox,” and Earl of “Queen of my Double Wide Trailer.”

McBryde had learned through her manager that Linde had drawn a map of a fictional small town and wrote songs about the characters whom he imagined lived there, all as a part of a creative exercise. This inspired McBryde to dig deeper and jumpstart the project.

“I’m like, this guy was a genius, an absolute genius,” she said.

“I didn’t know what else we would name it. I had been here in Nashville for several years before I found out the same guy had written all those songs,” she added, “It’s kind of the opposite of what we did — we realized we had the characters and then developed the town for them. But we wanted to make sure we paid tribute, and we thought we should name the town after him.”

The Arkansas native and her friends gathered around a couple bottles of tequila in a Tennessee cabin and started writing. After taking a look at McBryde’s previously written songs, “Living Next to Leroy,” and “Shut Up Sheila,” the team decided that these characters could be a part of Lindeville along with new characters on the album, “Brenda Put Your Bra On,” “Jesus Jenny,” “Bonfire at Tina’s,” “Ronnie’s Pawn Shop,” and more.

“I’d like to think that when you first get to town, you think to yourself, ‘What a cute little neighborhood,’” McBryde outlined. “And then the next thing you see is dishes flying across Main Street. And you’re like, ‘Okay! Good morning, Lindeville!’ And that’s when we find out that Tina’s friends are witnessing her catching Marvin cheating. So ‘Bonfire at Tina’s’ is about all of those women in that town going, ‘Look, we all hate each other, and we can go back to talking shit about each other, but right now, one of us is hurting, and that gives us permission to drink too much, smoke and set shit on fire,” McBryde continued.

“I secretly hope that multiple people get together to burn the things that have been holding them back (in a super safe way),” McBryde admitted. “But I hope that it becomes an anthem and an outlet, not just for women, but for anybody who’s like, ‘You know what? I’m so tired of struggling with my weight.’ And they go burn their scale. Yes. Do that!”

McBryde told Rolling Stone, “We recognized we did have characters and expanded on that. It feels like a part of an awesome tradition that we get to tip our hats to.”

The team of writers wrote for nearly 18 hours a day.

“We hunkered down like a family surrounding a big puzzle — only all the pieces were invisible,” McBryde said.

They even turned their smoke breaks into a writing session, creating the three old-timey radio jingles placed throughout the album that highlighted Lindeville local favorites such as the local pie at the Dandelion Diner and the Ronnie’s Pawn Shop aphorism, “We don’t ask, We don’t tell/ We just buy, we just sell.”

McBryde is proud to encapsulate the quirks and eccentricities of a small town, and is glad to share it with her listeners.

“We get to reference the people we are and the characters we can be and then also the people, that you’ve definitely encountered in the city or the town you live in,” McBryde added. “It doesn’t matter if you were from Seattle or Starke, Florida, or the Ozark Mountains, you know this one woman that if her husband cheated on her, she would absolutely throw that bitch through a table.”

Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville can be streamed on all available platforms. See the full track list for the project below.

1. Brenda Put Your Bra On feat. Caylee Hammack & Pillbox Patti
2. Jesus Jenny feat. Aaron Raitiere (Aaron Raitiere and Jon Decious)
3. Dandelion Diner
4. The Girl In The Picture feat. Pillbox Patti
5. If These Dogs Could Talk feat. Brandy Clark
6. Play Ball feat. Brothers Osborne
7. Ronnie’s Pawn Shop
8. The Missed Connection Section of the Lindeville Gazette feat. Brandy Clark & Aaron Raitiere
9. Gospel Night At The Strip Club feat. Benjy Davis
10. Forkem Family Funeral Home
11. When Will I Be Loved feat. Brandy Clark, Caylee Hammack, & Pillbox Patti (Phil Everly)
12. Bonfire At Tina’s feat. Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark, & Pillbox Patti
13. Lindeville

*All songs written by Ashley McBryde, Aaron Raitiere, Connie Harrington, Brandy Clark, Benjy Davis and Nicolette Hayford unless noted otherwise.