Hands On You - Ashley Monroe

With an exciting new album 'Sparrow' due for release in April our next LCM featured artist is Nashville based Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe. Ashley is also part of the #Country supergroup The Pistol Annies along with Miranda Lambert & Angaleena Presley. Ashley's fourth studio album was recorded with producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Mary Chapin Carpenter) in Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio A. Our LCM #SongOfTheDay is the first single release from the new album the bluesy and sultry 'Hands On You'. The track co-written with Jon Randall (who also co-wrote 'Whiskey Lullaby' and 'Tin Man', has a classic retro sound and is a very interesting new direction for Ashley and her music. Please let us know what you think?

Ashley Monroe was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. At age 11, she won a talent contest in Pigeon Forge where she sang "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart", and found steady work at a local theater. Her parents played songs by the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd. After her father died from cancer when she was 13, Ashley started to write songs to help her deal with the loss. A few years later, she began to perform in small clubs in Nashville.

After a year in Nashville, she gained a publishing deal as a songwriter, which then led to her signing to a record contract with Sony Records under John Grady, where she began to record her debut album, 'Satisfied'. In 2006, the title track to the album was released as the first single to country radio. It failed to make the top 40 on the Hot Country Songs chart, however, a second single was released shortly after. "I Don't Want To" was released as the second single, which featured Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn. It initially did well on the charts, charting at No. 37.

Still after two singles, the album hadn't been released. The label then decided not to release the album until Ashley charted a top 20 single. But, no follow-up singles were ever released. In late 2007, Ashley and Columbia Records parted ways and 'Satisfied' went without being released. In addition to her own material, she co-wrote Katrina Elam's 2007 single "Flat on the Floor" (which was also recorded by Carrie Underwood on her 2007 album Carnival Ride), as well as Jason Aldean's 2009 single, "The Truth" and Miranda Lambert's 2011 single, "Heart Like Mine."

In April 2009, it was announced on Ashley's MySpace page that 'Satisfied' would be released to digital retailers (iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.) on May 19, 2009. The single "I Don't Want To" was not included. In early 2012 Amazon.com and Spotify began streaming and selling an MP3 track called "Promised Land" that was originally recorded for, but left off of, the "Satisfied" album and now is listed as a Bonus Track.

In late 2009 Ashley posted on her MySpace page that she was independently releasing a new self-titled EP. It would only be sold at the live shows. While she was touring with the Ten out of Tenn artists she realized she had nothing to sell to the fans who loved her sets and she wanted to give them something. This EP contains the tracks "Has Anybody Ever Told You", "Angeline", "Drink for Two", "And You" along with Trent Dabbs collaboration "Everything I Wanted".

Ashley received a record deal with Warner Bros. Nashville and released her second studio album, 'Like a Rose' on March 5, 2013. The album, produced by Vince Gill, was met with widespread critical acclaim. It features nine tracks co-written by the singer, one of which is a collaboration with Blake Shelton. "Like a Rose" (the title track) was released to radio as the album's first single on March 4, 2013. "Like A Rose" debuted at #86 at the European Top-100 Country Music Chart late April 2013, as well as the duet with Blake Shelton (You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter) which debuted at #73 and was the most played country music song in Europe according to the European CMA.

On July 24, 2015, Ashley released her third full-length studio album, 'The Blade', to critical acclaim. The album which included collaborations with Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill and Alison Krauss, earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Album.

On February 26, 2016, Ashley released a live album containing songs from her previous records and a cover of the Gram Parsons song "Hickory Wind". It was recorded at the Blue Room at Third Man Records live before an audience of 200 people on May 12, 2015. The recording was mixed live and recorded straight to acetate without the possibility for correcting any mistakes in post-production.

April 2018 mark's the release of Ashley's exciting new album 'Sparrow' produced by in-demand producer Dave Cobb.