Ashley McBryde is taking listeners on a trip back home with her heartwarming new single, “Light on in the Kitchen.”
The stirring song, which McBryde co-wrote with Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck” co-writers Connie Harrington and Jessi Alexander, highlights the simple joys of returning home to one’s family.
Picture this: You’ve spent far too long away from home, chasing a dream, getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, and perhaps, thrust into an emotional time where you’ve pined for home. After months and years spent away on your own, you make the long-awaited trip back, step foot into the house that you grew up in, see your family’s delighted faces and for a moment, all is right in the world. That’s what “Light on in the Kitchen” evokes.
In her song, McBryde relives and recalls the pearls of wisdom she heard from her mom and other women in her family for years.
“Honey, trust yourself / You better love yourself / ‘Cause ‘til you do you ain’t no good for anybody else / And honey, boy are dumb / But you’re going to find your one / Love him hard, bless your heart, when you need someone to listen / That’s why I leave the light on in the kitchen,” McBryde sings over gently-strummed guitar chords and brushed drums, allowing her delicate delivery to take center stage.
Lyrically, this meaningful song joins the ranks of enduring inspiring country tunes like Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” and “Live Like You Were Dying,” Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink,” the Judds’ “Flies on the Butter” and Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance”
“When I tell someone there’s a ‘Light On In The Kitchen’ for them, to me it means you’re thinking of them, even if they’re not coming home that night,” McBryde shares with the press. “While writing this, we were all able to look back and remember the women in our lives who comforted us, gave us advice and made sure we knew we had a place to go. Writing this song showed me how necessary that simple comfort had been.”
“I sent it to the important women in my life, and they reminded me that they still leave the kitchen light on for me, just like when I was growing up,” she adds. “Knowing someone, somewhere is thinking of you in that way can get you through a lot. And it’s a bonus that now we get to say, ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m thinking of you’ by saying ‘The light’s on for ya.’”
“Light on in the Kitchen” is the lead single from McBryde’s upcoming fifth studio album. The as-yet-untitled project follows 2022’s concept record Lindeville, and 2020’s Never Will, which spawned the radio singles “Martha Divine” and “One Night Standards.”
Most recently, McBryde and Carly Pearce scored their first-ever Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their duet “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”
“Light on in the Kitchen” will impact country radio on March 27.
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