Ashley Monroe - "The Blade"

[sabre14]

Artist: Ashley Monroe
Single: "The Blade"
Writers: Marc Beeson, Jamie Floyd, Allen Shamblin
Album: The Blade
Label: Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville
Add Date: July 27th, 2015
Source: Play Mpe



Play Mpe technically has the entire album hitting radio but I'm pretty positive that the title track is in fact the next radio single.

[Deleted]

Hauntingly beautiful and simple. Might not be a hit on radio but Ashley doesn't need a hit. But I do want her to be a little successful.

[.indulgecountry]

This sadly won't do anything at radio (not that any of her other singles have, either), but man, this is a stunningly beautiful song. I love that they're releasing another single, especially if they can get it to at least manage to chart like "On to Something Good" did.

[matty005]

This song is phenomenal. Might be my favorite song released this year. If not, it's right up there.

Sometimes you hear a song that fits your life perfectly at the exact point you hear the song. This is that song for me.

Like others have said, this won't be a hit, but if she keeps releasing amazing music like this, people will (and have) start taking notice.

[Dustin J.]

I've ALWAYS been a fan of Marc Beeson...both as a songwriter and a singer.

[Deleted]

You know, it's interesting. I remember when Love & Theft were still on a major label and when "Night That You'll Never Forget" was still climbing the chart. They were talking about songs that they had recorded for their next album (obviously went un-released), and they talked about a song called "The Blade". They were saying that they even wanted to name the album that. The hook of this song is the exact same as the lyrics that they had mentioned in the article. I wonder if it's the same song?

tasteofcountry.com/love-and-theft-interview-heartbreak/

[jesster]

I wonder if it's the same song?

It seems to be, or at least both Love and Theft and Ashley are listed as performers for the song at ASCAP. (Work ID: 886276158)

This is a stunning song, really a standout for her album.

[.indulgecountry]

If it's true that Love and Theft had this first, boy am I ever glad it ended up in the hands of Ashley Monroe. Listening to her version, I just can't imagine L&T doing it the same justice, even though I think they've put out some good stuff themselves.

[bigfan101]

Wow, this is beautiful. I really hope radio gives this a chance.

[rsmatto]

Jul 24, 2015 10:10:21 GMT -5 zack97 said:

You know, it's interesting. I remember when Love & Theft were still on a major label and when "Night That You'll Never Forget" was still climbing the chart. They were talking about songs that they had recorded for their next album (obviously went un-released), and they talked about a song called "The Blade". They were saying that they even wanted to name the album that. The hook of this song is the exact same as the lyrics that they had mentioned in the article. I wonder if it's the same song?

tasteofcountry.com/love-and-theft-interview-heartbreak/

It is. They lost the song when the album was shelved.

[annie]

Wow, would've been fascinating to compare to a L&R recording. I hope she does well, but her branding is so all over the place I think that if it were going to click, it would have by now. Hoping quality leads

[Deleted]

This is insanely beautiful -- instantly my favorite track of the year.

[.indulgecountry]

So did this actually go for adds today or no? Because I saw in the predictions thread that "On to Something Good" is still on the chart and not completely done yet, so I found that interesting.

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2015 16:13:56 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

So did this actually go for adds today or no? Because I saw in the predictions thread that "On to Something Good" is still on the chart and not completely done yet, so I found that interesting.

I don't think so. The label basically delivered the entire album to radio via Play MPE, not just this song.

As for "On To Something Good", it's been done for a long time now. The only reason it's still charting is because of a couple of stations, notably KSCS in Dallas, which accounts for more than 70% of its total audience and more than half of its total spins (OTSG only got 90 spins on Billboard for the July 13-19 tracking week). It's the same situation with Casey James' "Fall Apart" (which did finally go recurrent), Aaron Watson's "That Look", and Granger Smith's "Backroad Song".

KSCS is one of only 3 stations that are still playing "On To Something Good". The other 2 stations are smaller markets--WGTY in York, Pennsylvania, and WXBQ in Johnson City, Tennessee.

[kanimal]

For what it's worth, she says she's playing Winning Streak on Jimmy Fallon tonight

[sabre14]

Jul 27, 2015 16:20:34 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Jul 27, 2015 16:13:56 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

So did this actually go for adds today or no? Because I saw in the predictions thread that "On to Something Good" is still on the chart and not completely done yet, so I found that interesting.

I don't think so. The label basically delivered the entire album to radio via Play MPE, not just this song.

Right. Windmills tweeted this would be the single but I don't know if she knew the whole album had also been sent. This still could be the single but I'm starting to have my doubts. The title track has clearly been getting the most love from the album but perhaps Warner does ultimately decide on another track. If we don't get further confirmation soon, then it would be probably best to move the thread to the Non-Singles forum until we do.

Jul 27, 2015 16:26:18 GMT -5 kanimal said:

For what it's worth, she says she's playing Winning Streak on Jimmy Fallon tonight

As far as I know "Winning Streak" is not being released to radio, at least not yet. Who knows though.

For the record, after giving this album a few more listens this weekend, "The Blade" would definitely be my choice. There's really nothing else from the album I see being a slam dunk radio friendly choice, so why not release the best song on the album and IMO, this is the best song. In fact, it's probably my favorite song released in 2015 -- it's that good.

[.indulgecountry]

I definitely think this would be a great choice because there's probably nothing on the album that will be a hit in today's country radio environment, so I agree that sending a truly incredible song to radio for someone like Ashley Monroe who no doubt gets plenty of critical fanfare would work out just fine. If they did want to try for something a little more likely to be accessible to radio, "If Love Was Fair" seems like a good choice to fulfill that desire though.

[trebor]

Wasn't too eager on this... obviously. Way wrong! 
This song is absolutely gorgeous!
What a delight, the instrumentation is so subtle and yet powerful and just so perfect. The production and mixing is wonderful. 
This song fits Ashley perfectly and she does a magnificent job; gave me chills and reminded me of a young Dolly Parton.
Kudos for proving the rock guy wrong!  ;)
Really interested to hear what Love And Theft made of this song originally, though.

[Zeebz]

Wow, this is incredible. It's quite easily one of the best country songs I've heard all year. Everything about it is wonderful. Her vocals are stellar and the songwriting is equally so (same thing could be said for the entire album tbh). This might not do anything, but kudos to her for releasing it. I'm officially a fan.

[.indulgecountry]

Grande Ole Opry performance:

[Deleted]

This is a fantastic song. So many of the females have put out quality singles lately, in my opinion. This could be among my favorites from this past year.

[sabre14]

Ashley will be performing "The Blade" on ABC's, The View on Thursday at 11:00 a.m ET.

[LBTrocks]

This is gorgeous and I love that it's getting released. It won't do much, but it's still such a quality song. The whole album is absolutely stellar. Love those beautiful country melodies.

[defying gravity]

I heard this on my radio 5 times in the past 3 days... Maybe this won't flop at radio after all.

[14887fan]

Pure magic.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

i hope I'm wrong but sadly I think this won't be seeing the success it deserves... there's something almost haunting about it that really captivates me! Just love it.