Album Review – Ashley McBryde’s “Wild”

Country Rock (#560), Southern Rock (#562), Country (#500), and Rock (#XXX) on the Country DDS.

Well now. Nobody’s going to be accusing Ms. McBryde of being too mild on this one. That’s for sure. There’s nothing demure about the approach the approach of this album. There’s no subtle deliveries that paint in nuanced colors. If Ashley isn’t blowing out your speakers with flamethrowing chainsaw guitar, she’s drowning you in a torrential downpour of waterworks with a power ballad. Even the more hushed moments come with a smoldering intensity. If nothing else, Wild lives up to its name.

Ashley’s always been a little bit more on the rock side of country. But she’s never been more rock than on Wild. She’s also favored the more singer/songwriter side of country, but she’s never leaned into this side of her artistry so intentionally. How does she accomplish both of these things and more, and in what these days is a relatively moderate eleven track record? By taking listeners of a wild roller coaster of influences and emotions.

The album starts off with four songs that are much more suited for the hard rock realm than country, perhaps purposely pushing past the limits for the shock factor, and to challenge the country listener. Big swaths of Southern rock fans will be banging their head along in bliss to producer John Osborne’s aggressive rock approach. And though it’s hard to not appreciate the boldness, you suspect some “push play” country listeners may never make it past this initial gauntlet of songs.

Those that do persevere into the middle portions of this album will be richly rewarded with songs that that might not rely on waylay guitar and belting vocals, but still come with the same level of underlying boldness. “Bottle Tells Me So” is already one of the best songs of the year, and “Behind Bars” also benefits from smart, double-entendre songwriting that so many of the best country songs employ.

“What If We Don’t,” “Lines In The Carpet,” “Hand Me Downs” and really every song of Wild refuses to dilute its emotions, and if anything, dials up the ferocity beyond conventionally acceptable levels, especially for what’s officially a mainstream country release, even if McBryde has never really fit very well in that universe.

Each song on Wild looks to address the incredibly thin membrane between doing right, and doing wrong, informed by McBryde’s own sobriety journey. Many of these songs illustrate how sin and redemption aren’t opposite sides of a spectrum, but two sides of the same coin that can flip on a dime.

Ashley McBryde delivers something for everyone to love on Wild. The only real question is if anyone will love everything, which it’s fair to wonder since the album might be too wild and varied to present a cohesive experience. It doesn’t help that five of the tracks were released beforehand, including some of the best, which always makes the album release day that much less special.

But makes no mistake about it. Ashley McBryde and producer John Osborne (of Brothers Osborne) chose audacity and fearlesness over everything else for this album, blowing through conventional governors and stop signs to release an album that first screams for your attention, and them makes the most of it once you’re tuned in, even if there is some casualties and collateral damage along the way.

8.1/10

Stream/Purchase Wild

Song Reviews:

1. Rattlesnake Preacher

This is a song Ashley McBryde had been rockin’ in concert for a while before she unleashed it as the album’s lead single, letting folks know that Wild would be holding nothing back. Finally past the point of trying to put a single on country radio, Ashley now just wants to release singles that unleash her inner rock star. “Rattlesnake Preacher” certainly accomplishes this, even if the wanton, cranked to 11 nature of it will immediately put some country fans at arm’s length.

2. Arkansas Mud

Though this Arkansas-bred performer is officially stone sober at the moment, “Arkansas Mud” presents either an alternative universe, or previous life where McBryde is anything but. “I need a little rock ‘n roll” she sings early in the song. But you get much more than a little. Surpassing the already dialed-up abandon of “Rattlesnake Preacher,” the album’s second track even breaks out into a power jam reminiscent of Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.”

3. Water in the River

Though perhaps not as sonically aggressive as the first two tracks, “Water in the River” still pulsates with sin and intensity in a swampy, sweaty experience that attempts to steel your attention. Many of the tracks on Wild search for that place where sin and virtue intersect. The idea there’s not even enough water in the river to wash one’s sins away is a strong concept to put to song.

4. Creosote

This is a fun song, and one you can go ahead and include in the rock portion of the album, even if there’s a fiddle in there. “Creosote” is the potentially carcinogenic tar-like material they slather railroad ties and telephone poles in to keep them from rotting. This song uses the material to give the song a rustic, backwoods feel. But the song also fails to really convey what exactly its point is, if it has one. Maybe the point is simply the mood and setting.

5. Bottle Tells Me So

Co-written with Shelly Fairchild and Terri Jo Box, “Bottle Tells Me So” is a legitimate early Song of the Year candidate for 2026. Even though the arrangement is rather contemporary, the way the writing and hook of the song works is totally classic country. Blending “bottle” with “Bible” is an overused trope in country songs. But as Ashley McBryde proves, there was one angle that had yet to be explored. Being able to take a country cliché and turn it into something genius is what great country music is all about.

6. What If We Don’t

Some will certainly find this early single one of the most powerful and resonant tracks from the record. It’s definitely has the guts and emotional mechanics to accomplish this. But where the intensity benefits so many of Wild‘s selections, it’s fair to wonder if on this particular song, it comes across as a little overwrought. Trying so hard to evoke a “moment” “What If We Don’t” feels like it hyperextends itself, and ends up prostrate.

7. Lines In The Carpet

Similar to “What If We Don’t,” “Lines In The Carpet” will be especially resonant with a daytime television audience that loves these sort of emotion-laden performances. So many of the characters presented in Wild come across as quietly screaming, which is so easy to relate to in the American experience. But the high melodic guitar parts remind you of Jay Joyce production that tries to weave catchy, pop sensibilities into country rock tracks. And the concept of this song is better than the result. And frankly, the concept is not especially novel, even if the lyrical hook is.

8. Behind Bars

Ashley McBryde is such a champion of good songs. It’s worth mentioning that even though she’s such a strong writer herself, only six of the album’s selections were co-written by McBryde. She instead decided to go with the best material available, which includes “Behind Bars” written by Jeff Hyde, Jessie Alexander, and Jon Randall. Similar to “Bottle Tells Me So,” even though the production is a bit more contemporary, this is an exquisitely-written traditional country song.

9. Hand Me Downs

This is a great song and one of the best on the album, and the early portions contrast themselves well with the rest of the album by creating a quiet, acoustic moment for Ashley and her voice to be alone for a while. Having the full band come in for the final portion of the song is fine. But the busyness of the drums, and just the general overplaying attitude of this album starts to expose itself through this track as you wonder if it wouldn’t have been better remaining an acoustic song. Sometimes Wild just needs to give itself a moment to breathe.

10. Wild

Inside of all of us are certain proclivities to give into our urges, our angers, our desires to break free from routine that suppressing and wrestling with are part of a daily life, however passive and involuntary. It’s that wildness, and the nexus between suppression and fulfillment that marks the virtue/sin wrestling match ever-present inside the human soul. This is what Ashley McBryde explores in the album’s compelling, though perhaps prone to be overlooked title track.

11. Ten to Midnight

Ashley McBryde concludes her album of “devil on one shoulder, angel on the other” moments with one about being at a bar, and knowing it’s probably past the point of leaving early, and making right decisions.

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