Jason Aldean photo courtesy of Broken Bow Records; Ashley Monroe photo courtesy of myspace.com/ashleymonroe.

In the space of four days, “The Truth” provided some rather incredible symmetry for singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe. On Friday, Ashley was invited to sing the song during Miranda Lambert’s set in Knoxville at Thompson-Boling Arena — the same venue where Ashley once sat in the nosebleed seats to watch Shania Twain. On Monday, she was the belle of the ball at a Music Row party as Jason Aldean and others toasted her for the song’s recent ascent to No. 1.

The truth about “The Truth” is that the road from conception to the top of the charts was a four-year run. Now 23, Ashley co-wrote the song at age 19 with songwriter Brett James. The two set up a creative office on the living-room floor while his wife was in the kitchen and his kids were goofing around under the coffee table.

“I was kind of tryin’ to get over somebody,” she said at the offices of BMI, one of three American performing rights organizations. “I was sayin’ that there’s somebody that I really do miss and I still love him. I want him to think I’m fine. I want him to think that I am just doin’ wonderful. Which now I realize that I really didn’t love him, but I got a good song out of it. I’m thankful for that one. And he’ll never, ever know, which is absolutely a good thing.”

Ashley started singing the first line, “Tell ‘em all I’m on vacation,” and the song poured out immediately.

“We just literally wrote that in, I’ll bet, 30 minutes,” she said. “It fell out like it was meant to be. And Brett had the title, ‘The Truth,’ and it just all tied in perfectly — the melody, everything just fell. I knew it was a real special song. But you never know [how it will do], you know. I’d been tryin’ to write singles for myself and couldn’t write hits. It’s just, ‘I love this song, and I hope somebody does it.’ But then — gosh, now I’m 23 and it was cut and it went No. 1!”

Waiting for it to get cut wasn’t the only test of patience Ashley endured. Jason immediately gave the song a thumbs-up when producer Michael Knox played it for him during sessions for the Wide Open album, but “She’s Country” and “Big Green Tractor” were tapped as the first two singles. And Broken Bow Records had designs on making “Crazy Town” — his latest release — the album’s third single. Jason intervened.

“From day one it’s my favorite song on the record,” Jason said of “The Truth.” “I wanted to make sure the song was a single at some point on the album, and so I actually flew out to Las Vegas and met with the head of the label, Benny Brown, and sat down and kind of pleaded my case, and — as Benny is, he’s a really good and reasonable man — so he agreed to let me have this as a single. And I’m glad he did, ‘cause it’s my third No. 1 in a row, and that’s somethin’. Having one was incredible, but having three off one album for us has been even more incredible!”

Ashley and Jason were showered with commemorative goodies — including plaques, cups and a guitar — by BMI, Broken Bow, publisher Wrensong Music, Country Weekly magazine, Country Radio Broadcasters and the Country Music Association. Broken Bow also presented plaques to Jason’s band members who played on the single: guitarist Kurt Allison, drummer Rich Redmond and bass player Tully Kennedy.

In the meantime, Ashley has reason to believe that the symmetry of playing on a big stage in her hometown and being the center of attention at a party in her current city will continue. In between those two events she received an important text message: All the paperwork has been completed so she can sign a new recording deal of her own.

ShareThis