The Bowery Ballroom was electric on October 27th, 2015 as phenomenal country songstress Ashley Monroe was set to kick off her 2015 The Blade Tour. Newcomer Ryan Beaver opened the show with a fantastic set, getting the crowd hyped before the delicate voice of Monroe would ascend the stage. . The Texas-born singer/songwriter mixed country with a rock edge that had the audience’s full attention, performing two personal favorites – “Kristofferson” and “Dark” (which is his current single available on iTunes).
As Ashley Monroe’s five-piece band entered the stage and took to their instruments (keys, guitar, fiddle, drums, and standup bass) it was hard to not notice that they were all wearing white button down shirts, a tie and most accompanied by a suit jacket. Very jazzy and classy. And Monroe was not to be out done, joining them in an asymmetrical black and white dress with above-the-knee suede boots. She took to the center of the stage and opened the first date of her The Blade Tour with “I Buried Your Love Alive,” the second track from her new album. The bluesy, sultry tune pulled the crowd right in, making it obvious that her audience was familiar with her new record as they sang along right from the start.
From “Bombshell” to “Mayflowers” to her most recent single, the up-beat “On To Something Good,” which was clearly a fan favorite as requests for it had been shouted out throughout the show, the set was heavy with tracks from The Blade that was wonderfully mixed with some of her past recordings as well as a few other gems.
Monroe’s delicate voice shined as she sang the autobiographical title track from her highly acclaimed second album Like a Rose followed by the humorous “Two Weeks Late.” She explained the moment when she presented “Weed Instead of Roses” to Vince Gill (producer of Like a Rose), and how despite her fears, not only did he approve of the song, he said he wouldn’t produce the album without it. An extra bonus: even Amy Grant loved it. Monroe also dug all the way back to her 2009 album and performed the title track “Satisfied.”
About halfway through, Monroe described how she and good friend Miranda Lambert one day wanted to write an “honest” song and penned “Heart Like Mine,” (which scored Lambert her second #1 single). She also dipped into the Pistol Annies’ catalog, performing “Bad Example.”
Monroe is a beautiful talent, and a humble one at that. Exactly how humble became obvious when at one point during the show, the crowd started an “Ashley” chant which caused Monroe to get somewhat embarrassed and motioned for the crowd to stop, commenting that that was her first ever chant. But the crowd didn’t stop – doing it a few more times throughout the night resulting in Monroe saying she was getting used to it with a huge smile across her face.
While listening to Monroe’s classic tone fill the Bowery Ballroom, it became annoyingly clear how ironic the complaints of fans and critics that country music is no longer what country music used to be is. Here is an amazing talented singer/songwriter with songs like “If The Devil Don’t Want Me” and “Has Anybody Ever Told You” (both on The Blade) that easily can fill that void in today’s country music. But why isn’t she given more airplay on country radio? (Monroe commented at one point about how the fans in attendance must own her music to know her as she doesn’t have radio presence to rely on). It would be one thing to complain if there were no artists out there producing counter material to what is filling the airwaves today. But as Monroe proves, that’s not the case.
Check out photos from the night here.