There’s not anything that will slow Ashland Craft down. The rising star appeared on Season 13 of The Voice in 2017, and has been working on her music since then. Ashland released “Trainwreck,” a soulful song written by Channing Wilson and Randy Montana, which sums up exactly who Ashland is, and is working on her debut album, to be released on Big Loud Records.
“Trainwreck” is a song that I have been fighting to get for the past couple of years,” Ashland admitted to Everything Nash. “Channing finally gave it to me after he decided he was going to go a little bit of a different route with his music. I heard the song the first time when I opened for Channing. I didn’t know who he was and I fell in love with it, and begged him for the next year.
“And then finally, he texted me on my birthday, and was pretty much like, ‘Go for it. I really think if I’m not going to do the song, you’re the only other person that I would want to do the song,'” she recalled. “It was so crazy. I didn’t even realize that it was such a well-known song in Nashville already, before I even moved there.”
Ashland didn’t realize that both Channing and Randy had been playing it frequently around Nashville, which made her feel the pressure with releasing “Trainwreck” on her own –– not that she was willing to change her mind.
“It turned out to be perfect,” Ashland gushed. “I got Channing to sing the background vocals. I just instantly fell in love with the song, because I’ve never admitted to being perfect or, or having my stuff together. I don’t. I’m only 24, and I feel like a lot of people don’t admit that to themselves. They don’t give themselves a break when it comes to life and their tendencies.
“As soon as I came to the music industry, I’ve always said that I want people to know who I am right off the bat,” she added. “No sugarcoat, and so I thought this song was perfect to just say, ‘Listen, I don’t have my life together, but it’s OK.’ I’ve been single for two years now. and it’s kind of nice. It’s almost like an open letter to a guy that’s wanting to hit on me at the bar. It’s a fair warning. I’m like, ‘This is your red flag warning that my life is a hurricane, but if you want to go for it, then go for it and figure it out.”
Ashland is working on her freshman record, although she is still unsure when it will be released, or if “Trainwreck” will be included in the project.
“I haven’t really started forming an album yet,” Ashland revealed. “That is one of my goals, definitely in this upcoming year. I’m just so desperate to get music out to people, and it’s hard for me because I know there’s a very conventional way of doing it in the industry. Everybody knows what the heck they’re doing. I’m just biting at the bit to be able to release my own stuff to people. In terms of if it’s going to be on the album or not, if I have a choice, then it definitely will be, because I feel like it’s the soundtrack to my life, for sure.
“We’re really just trying to release music individually until we have enough momentum to be like, ‘OK, we’re ready to release the body of music.’ And it’s very nerve-wracking, knowing it’s going to be my first album. I’m definitely taking my time, because I want it perfect. And, I want people to be able to listen to it top to bottom and know basically my life’s story and why I’m here and what I want to do.”
Stream or download “Trainwreck” at AshlandCraft.com.