Ashley Cooke just celebrated her first No. 1 hit, with “your place.” The song, written by Cooke along with Jordan Minton, and Mark Trussell, is from her 2023 shot in the dark album, and was unfortunately inspired by a true story.
“I was dating this guy, and he cheated on me,” Cooke told Everything Nash. “After we broke up, he was trying to come back into my life, and asking people where I was, what I was doing and who I was with. I was like, ‘Okay, it isn’t your place to know those things.’ And also, as the songwriter that I am, I thought it would be really cool to do a flip on that hook, and be like, ‘You don’t get to care where I’m waking up these days, because it’s not your place, like your apartment or your house.’
“So I kind of made a unique twist on it, and it’s a special song,” she added. “I think a lot of people feel that, like they were cheated on and they want revenge.”
“your place” is Cooke’s first single to land at the top of the charts. It’s also only the second single to reach No. 1 from a female artist at country radio in 2024.
“It is truly an honor to join the legacy of country radio No. 1s,” Cooke said of the achievement. “Reaching the top of the chart has been a goal of mine since the first time I picked up a microphone and getting to ring the bell with the greatest team at Big Loud and the radio champions I now call friends is all the more rewarding.”
Cooke’s meteoric rise is continuing throughout the year. The 27-year-old is currently serving as the opening act on Jordan Davis‘ Damn Good Time Tour throughout the summer. She will headline her own your place Tour, beginning on October 23, with Greylan James joining her on the road.
“Is it October yet? I can’t WAIT for this tour celebrating ‘your place’ and all that’s happened since my first tour!” the 27-year-old said when the tour was announced. “The shot in the dark Tour holds some of my all-time favorite memories so of course, my band and I can’t wait to get out there and make some more. This new set will have a lot of fun surprises arrangement-wise and also a few sneak peeks at brand-new unreleased music. Counting down the days!”
shot in the dark boasts an impressive 24 tracks. Although far longer than most records, it was important for Cooke to share all of the songs at once for the project.
“I’ve been writing songs since I was 11,” Cooke told Everything Nash. “I think for me, a big part of why I even got into music was because writing songs is such a release. I love to journal, I love words. I love poetry. And so I think to me, in all of the craziness of my life, not only career, but just being a 25, 26-year-old girl, there’s so much going on and so much that I’m dealing with and struggling with and happy with and experiencing, and love and life and family and career and all of these things. I was just like, ‘Man, I just want to write it all out.’ And I did.”
Cooke has a duet out now, “Over When We’re Sober,” with Brantley Gilbert. Find all of Cooke’s music and tour dates at AshleyCooke.com.