Ashley Cooke

Blessed with a clear, earnest voice that nevertheless has a hint of grit, country singer Ashley Cooke emerged at the dawn of the 2020s with a series of Internet singles that helped her secure a contract with Big Loud. Cooke's profile also was elevated by her teaming with such star duet partners as Jimmie Allen ("Good Goodbye") and Brett Young ("Never Til Now"), both featured on her 2022 debut album, Already Drank That Beer. A follow-up album, Shot in the Dark, appeared in 2023 featuring a collaboration with Colbie Caillat.

Born in Wisconsin, Ashley Cooke split her time between California and Florida as a child, eventually settling in the Parkland, Florida area. She started writing original songs as a child and found herself drawn to country as a high schooler, particularly the pop permutations performed by Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, and Rascal Flatts. Upon her high school graduation, she decided to pursue a musical career, enrolling in Nashville's Belmont University. There, she won the school's Country Showcase -- previous winners included Brad Paisley and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line --which helped catapult her into Nashville's country music industry after her 2019 college graduation.

Cooke first began building an audience through her social media video account in 2020, concentrating on her online following during the COVID-19 quarantine. Part of her efforts were focused on building the 615 House collective with such fellow Music City denizens as Chris Ruediger, but she also concentrated on her own recorded work. That year, she self-released the digital singles "Strangers" -- which was a duet with Daniel Kim Ethridge -- and "Chasin' You." Cooke then teamed with Back Blocks Music, which put out "Jealous of the Sky" in 2020, before releasing "Sunday Morning Kinda Saturday Night," the Roman Alexander duet "Between You & Me," "Under," and "Already Drank That Beer," all leading up to the August 2021 release of the Jimmy Robbins-produced Already Drank That Beer Side A.

All this activity, along with the Jimmie Allen duet "Good Goodbye," earned the attention of Big Loud, which signed Ashley Cooke to a record contract and publishing deal in April 2022; both were co-ventures with Back Blocks Music. Shortly afterward, she released a new version of "Never Til Now" showcasing Brett Young as her duet partner which was then included on the full version of Already Drank That Beer. An array of singles followed throughout the rest of that year including "It's Been a Year" and "Back in the Saddle." Those songs, along with the Colbie Caillat collaboration "Mean Girl," were included on her 2023 album Shot in the Dark. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine