Ashley Cooke Talks First No. 1 at Country Radio & Teases New Collaboration With "An Artist in a Different Genre"
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Over the last year or two, Ashley Cooke has taken country audiences by storm.
With her 24-song debut album, shot in the dark, celebrating its first anniversary on July 21, and it's lead single, 'your place,' ascending the country radio charts in the US and the UK – where she led for an astounding four non-consecutive weeks – it's safe to say that the young Florida native has laid quite the foundation for her burgeoning career so far.
As is customary in the country music business, Cooke and the village of supporters and team members from her label, publisher, management and the like all gathered at Nashville's Monday Night Brewing to celebrate her newest career milestone, and to share a few teasers at what's to come for the 'Never Til Now' singer.
Abounding in charm and charisma, Cooke took a moment to shed light on what made 'your place' the perfect choice for her country single, especially given that the options were plentiful when it came to offerings from her debut project.
"A lot of the reason why this song was even chosen as the single was because of the fan's reaction to it," she explains to Holler. "We were on my first headlining tour and playing this song fresh off the album coming out and it was undeniable. Every single night in every single city, people lost their minds over it."
Whether it's the song's melody, her delivery or something simply written in the stars, she adds: "Magic happened. I don't really know what it was, but we're lucky that we got to be there in the moment when it did."
Now notching just over a year since her debut record's release, Cooke isn't holding back when she talks about the work she's putting in for her sophomore effort. Noting that she's been spending lots of time on writing retreats with her inner circle of co-writers, it's unclear when she'll grace us with new music.
Everything you need to know about the fast-emerging Floridian's 2023 Country Radio single.
However, a year removed from shot in the dark, she explains that what she's really chasing for her second album is realness.
"I think [my artistry] is growing the way that I'm growing." Explaining further, Cooke shares: "We just had a retreat in Florida where we wrote some songs for the next album and I feel like, more than anything, I'm trying to be as blunt and real as I possibly can because that's what makes me feel something.
"I'm growing. I don't know if it's better or worse in that sense – hopefully it's not worse!" she adds with a laugh. "It's just different and I'm excited to see what people think and how they respond to me being more raw. I'm not writing because a song sounds like a hit, but because this is how I feel and the spot that I'm in in my life."
As we await her forthcoming record, Cooke assured us that we won't have to go too long without a new song to whet our whistle, teasing that there may or may not be a collaboration with an artist outside of the country realm in her future.
"I am actually currently working on a duet with an artist in a different genre," she gushes. "I'm very excited to get to talk about that at some point very soon, but I can't quite yet. It's going to be really, really cool and something different that I think will kind of shake up my listeners."
With a stacked resume of collaborators that already includes the likes of Nate Smith, Brett Young, Jackson Dean, Colbie Caillat and Brantley Gilbert, it's impossible to guess what could be coming our way from one of the format's newest chart-toppers, but if we've learned anything, it's that Ashley Cooke's place will always be on top.
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