Ashley Monroe

Tennessee's country singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe debuted with the singles Satisfied and I Don't Want To and recorded the album Satisfied (2009), which was initially unreleased. In 2011 she, Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley formed the Pistol Annies.

Meanwhile, Monroe's solo career continued with Like a Rose (2013), a rather traditional country album, produced by Vince Gill and Justin Niebank, with the comic duet You Ain't Dolly, the twangy square dance Monroe Suede, and especially the saloon singalong Weed Instead of Roses. She is less successful when she tries the melancholy girl (She's Driving me out of your Mind, Two Weeks Late).

The Blade (2015) ventured into country-pop (On To Something Good) and country-rock (the frantic boogie Winning Streak), but perhaps does better with some solemn melodies (the funereal Blade, the trotting Mayflowers). In general Monroe greatly improved on the pensive side (Tennessee Mountain Home, Has Anybody Ever Told You, and especially the closer I'm Good at Leavin') despite the fact that the production is pushing her towards a more lively sound.

After the uneventful Sparrow (2018), with the orchestral pomp of Paying Attention' and the chamber elegy of Rita, Monroe further expanded her stylistic reach on Rosegold (2021) with mixed results. She was now firmly outside the country tradition, swinging from orchestral dance-pop (Gold) to neosoul (Flying), from the languid lullaby See to the reggae-infected Groove.