![]() ![]() “I could cry thinking about it,” she continues, almost-tears pooling in bright, farm-country-blue eyes. ![]() “I got to sing these songs about my family,” she says, pushing back a strand of what she describes as “dishwater-brown hair’’ while drawing a long, cool breath. Seger – a 38-pound, brown-with-black-ears “shepherd and some kind of little dog mix” – sleeps soundly as Ashley continues to talk about that pre-COVID Opry performance, during which she was able to reveal in song some of the scars, drunk or sober, plenty of the hurts and a lot of the vulnerable passion and pride she has transported from the prairie and into her life in Nashville. The quilt, sundresses and other items blowing in the breeze pay unconscious homage to the life of the grandmother who flavors her soul. If I’m going to hang ‘em on hangers anyway, might as well be out in the beautiful sun.”ĭrying clothes in the wind and sun is a connection to life learned and lived on her family’s 99 acres of the Great Prairie. “I’m starting to use a clothesline again,” explains Ashley. A well-occupied clothesline is more warm-hearted channeling of grandma, Pauline, and mom, Teri. … I cut my teeth as a performer in dive bars.”Īs the conversation lilts in the 600-square-foot house, Seger settles down after the mowing crew departs.Īshley gazes out the back window to the crisply cut yard, where she has a table and a small firepit. “I love it when my friends call me ‘Dive Bar Darling,’ because I grew up drinking Shirley Temples with my dad in dive bars and the VFWs. “I can hear his voice and be anywhere and be instantly transported back to Kansas.”ĭad Rick played Seger on the pickup radio and on tapes, and surely it was a constant on the jukebox when he and his elder daughter went out for refreshments. ![]() “He’s the voice of my childhood,” she says of Seger, the blue-collar, Midwestern, boomer-era rock star. The dog is named for the singer, Bob Seger, whose “Turn the Page” is the anthem she and her sister Kelsie learned while hanging out with father, Rick, a heavy equipment operator who died at 48 in a fall on the family farm outside Lawrence, Kansas. “He doesn’t like the lawnmower, but the Weed Eater man he really doesn’t like,” Ashley says, stroking her “fur child” while offering soft reassurance: “Hey, boo-boo. On this hot East Nashville afternoon, her dog Seger has climbed over those legs and into her lap, nestling against her flannel shirt, as he seeks refuge from the lawnmowing crew outside. “I happen to like my legs,” she says, looking down and smiling, admitting she’s wearing “my mom’s Levi’s.” “My grandmother, Pauline, and my mom, I got both their legs,” says Ashley, who at 36 finally is riding those legs to what should be long-delayed success. She shares the other women’s spirits while exposing her own on the album, on which she details her life in a steely voice that betrays hints of heartache and injury. “My grandmother was Pauline, and my mother is Pauline, and I’m Pauline,” Ashley explains. Their names may differ, but Ashley (Pauline) Ray and her mom share Pauline’s bloodline, blue-collar spirit and work ethic. Well, Ashley, a 5-foot-4 woman who describes herself as “Kansas-grown,” wasn’t really in underwear and curlers when standing in front of the WSM microphone on country music’s most-hallowed stage.īut the woman who had dressed like that - the grandmother who colored Ashley’s life and lends her name to the title and the proud, raw spirit of Ashley’s new album, Pauline - was there, in the singer-songwriter’s mind’s eye, as she delighted the Opry.Īshley really does wear that empowered and alluring garb – a bra and curlers, like the woman she’s channeling - on the album cover. Jason Jackson wins Chicago Sings karaoke competitionJackson took home the $5,000 prize.Ashley Ray was standing in her bra, pink curlers in her hair, a smoke fired up in her right hand, on center-stage at the Grand Ole Opry. The actor is hosting ‘Bad Money,’ a six-part series that charts the life of Big Spender Jason Wong To Host Gangster Podcast ‘Bad Money’ For Vespucci & Kindling MediaEXCLUSIVE: Jason Wong, who starred in Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentleman,’ is exploring Hong Kong’s most notorious gangster in a new narrative podcast series. Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce launches non-profit and clothing line to benefit childrenPhiladelphia Eagles Center Jason Kelce launched his new non-profit and clothing line Sunday to benefit Philadelphia children. Jason Ritter Gushes Over Melanie Lynskey, Shares Key to Their MarriageJason Ritter details how he and wife Melanie Lynskey help each other with auditions and gushes over her 'Yellowjackets' success - interview Ashley Graham's Unedited Photo of Her Postpartum Tummy Is a Touching Love Letter to Changing Bodies.ashleygraham's unedited Instagram photo reminds everyone to love their bodies in any stage it's in! ![]()
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