Ashley Cooke: Behind the Mic and Behind the Music

When Ashley Cooke took over co-hosting Backstage Country with Elaina Smith, she didn’t just bring her songs; she brought the stories behind them. Turns out, behind every track is a piece of her and personal experiences: love, heartbreak, and calling someone on their BS.

Cooke recently released a single, “The Hell You Are.” Smith asked her why she thought it was the perfect time to release the song. The Florida native admitted, “This is like a different chapter for me. It's a different era. It's kind of like my song, ‘Your Place.’ If ‘Your Place’ had a cousin that's a little sassier and a little more sure of herself, this is ‘The Hell You Are.’"

She added, “It's a compilation of all the different situations that I've been in, in different relationships in my 20s, and just kind of learning my worth and learning what I want in a relationship. I had encountered quite a few people that would say something, and their actions would just say something completely different. This song is really kind of the realization of calling somebody out on their stuff.”

She chuckled, “I don't wanna say the actual word that I'm thinking because I'm on the radio, but it's calling somebody out for their BS, if you will. It's the country phrase of ‘The Hell You Are,’ but there's a cool twist at the end of the song. It's a special song for me.” 

Cooke shared how her first number-one hit, “Your Place,” changed her life. “This song really changed my life in a lot of different ways. I mean, obviously, as an artist getting your first number-one song, it changes the rooms that you're in and the opportunities that you're given. It changes a lot career-wise, like just the amount of things that you have access to after that first number-one.” 

She added that the song also changed her personal life: “It changed a lot about how I thought about decision-making. I don't know if you know the backstory to this, but ‘Your Place’ was a song that I loved and believed in, but my team wasn't super, super passionate about off the beginning, off the jump.” 

She chuckled, “And I just remember, I'm a very indecisive person. I've always been very indecisive and have a hard time making decisions. I love to survey people. I love to ask a lot of questions and get opinions. And this song was one that I didn't care what the opinion was. I just was like, ‘This is a smash.’ This song, I believe in and I love it and I feel it. And the crowds that came to my headline shows, they believed it, and they sang it.” 

Ashley Cooke doesn’t just write songs. She writes the soundtrack to our breakups, glow-ups, and late-night epiphanies. So, don’t miss this week’s Backstage Country to discover more of her catalog.