>> BOWEN:
For the last two years,
Ashley Jordan has been
the back-to-back winner
of Boston Music Awards'
Country Artist of the Year.
She is a young performer already
living out a lifetime in song.
Right here in our studio,
she performs her latest,
"Love Is Hard."
>> # On this cold
and lonely evening #
# Is when I'm feeling alone #
# And the road
that I've been traveling on #
# Has gotten far from home #
# I filter through my memories #
# And the ones
that I hold dear #
# And the sweetness
of this moment #
# Makes loving you so clear #
# Well, honey, life is grand #
# You laugh all you can #
# Smile at the stars
and play that old guitar #
# You don't forget who you are #
# Love don't come in a shiny box
waiting at your door #
# You can't buy it
from the dime store #
# You can't wish it
from the well #
# Oh, sometimes it really hurts
like hell #
# Even though
you've come so far #
# Well, baby, love is hard #
>> BOWEN: Ashley Jordan, thank
you so much for being here.
>> Thank you,
thanks for having me.
It's an honor.
>> BOWEN: Well, it's our,
our privilege.
I was just watching you perform,
and it seemed to me
that you disappeared somewhere.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> BOWEN: Is that what happens
to you when you perform?
>> I absolutely do,
all the time.
Like, especially,
when it's an emotional song
or even, like, the last one was
a new one,
so I'm just, like,
trying to, to live that song
and express the emotion,
because I think that's the best
part when you see a performer,
is, like, seeing them connecting
with that song
and helping other people
to connect with the song,
so hopefully I can do that.
>> BOWEN:
Well, I was also thinking
as I was listening to it,
that you have big stories
to tell.
You're a young person,
but you have,
you have lifetime stories
that you're telling already.
>> Lots of stories,
yeah, I always say it's, like,
when I'm, when I'm writing,
it's kind of, like, my diary,
that I'm just
putting it out there
and, like, I just really like
country songs
and just songs in general
that tell the truth
and are kind of honest,
you know,
because I think other people
can connect to it that way,
so... yeah.
Lots, lots of songs, lots
of songs in the works, too.
(laughs)
>> BOWEN: Oh, really?
>> Yes!
>> BOWEN: Is that how you make
your way through life,
and manage the ups and downs,
is through music?
>> Absolutely.
Well, yeah,
and sometimes it's, like,
if something bad that happens
or something
that just upsets you,
you know, to be able
to put that into words
and put it into a song,
and then kind of be, like,
"Okay, I can...
I can move on now." (laughs)
But I can share it with other
people, which is really cool.
>> BOWEN:
When did you first start...
forget singing, but songwriting?
>> Yeah, so I guess it started
from a very young age,
like, I really just was drawn
to music.
My grandfather was, like, a
bluegrass, country, folk singer,
and he passed away
when I was younger.
But I feel like
that's where it came from,
because he took it
really seriously
and that was, like, his life.
And I just kind of grew up
listening
to a bunch of different types
of music,
and I just was very...
fond to, like, the whole
storytelling aspect of it.
And I just started to sing,
but I was very shy.
Like, oh, my gosh, God forbid
someone walk in the room.
I'm, like, "Don't look at me!"
(Bowen laughs)
But I think, as I started going,
I would, like, do a talent show
and, like, not tell my family.
And then it would, like...
there was actually one time,
I think I was 13,
and I had signed up
for this talent show,
and my mom and dad were, like,
"What?
What, are you going
to hula-hoop?"
Like, "What do you..."
And then they,
they came to the show,
and I sang
an Avril Lavigne song.
And they're just sitting
in their seats, like,
"What the heck?"
Like, "What's going on?"
# You're no worse off
than anybody else #
>> BOWEN: I knew about your,
your busking in Harvard Square.
And it's always so interesting
to hear
how anxious you were
at the beginning.
>> Yeah, oh, my gosh.
>> BOWEN: But you,
but you were courageous enough
to step out onto the street.
>> Yeah, yeah,
that actually had happened,
because I, I was doing
an open mic,
and there was this guy
that got up onstage,
and he looked really...
I didn't know
what he was going to perform,
but he had, like, tattoos,
like, all over,
like, shaved head, I'm, like,
"Oh, he's gonna get up there
and do, like, hard rock."
And he got up there and
sang, like, these beautiful,
like, soulful,
singer-songwriter,
kind of like Matt Nathanson
kind of songs,
and I'm, like,
"Who is this guy?"
Like, he played the guitar
like a god.
Like, I was, like,
"Oh, my gosh."
So I walked right up to him--
I was, like, 14 years old--
and I was, like, "Hi," like,
"I want to play guitar like you,
will you teach me?"
And he was, like, "Sure."
(both laughing)
So literally started working
with this guy,
his name was John Gerard,
and he just taught me
all of these things
that, like, I never would have
learned
from any kind of traditional,
like, guitar lessons,
'cause I'd tried them,
and I was, like,
"No, I'm not feeling it,"
but he taught me in a way
with, like, not, like,
music notes or anything,
but just like it's...
like, how you feel it.
He would really want you
to show that emotion,
even if you got the words wrong,
or you mess something up.
He's, like, "People are going
to remember the emotion,
what they felt when you sang."
And I'm, like,
"That's an interesting point."
So he had a lot of really
interesting points,
and I'm, like,
I would never have learned this
from just any traditional kind
of music lesson.
>> BOWEN:
You mentioned country music,
in particular,
about storytelling.
What is it about the genre
that is,
that it just works so well?
>> The more country music
I started listening to,
I just felt that the
storytelling was much more real
and honest and just kind of
off the cuff, um...
And just the sounds
of country music, too,
just everything
that it stands for,
I'm just, like,
I really love it.
And, um, I thought my voice
kind of fit that in a way.
Um, people would say
that I would do sort of, um,
a little...
Not really a yodel, but
kind of something like that?
Um, so I just felt
that I, I fit into that.
And since my grandfather
did that,
I would go back
and listen to his, his songs.
Just really real honest topics,
and I thought it was beautiful.
>> BOWEN: I keep thinking about
what you give us in song.
Is there anything
that you hold back?
Do you, do you put everything
out there?
>> (chuckling):
Um, hmm.
There's been a couple of songs,
like, ones
for the newest record,
where it's, like, about, like,
an ex-boyfriend or something,
and I'm trying not to be
too specific.
'Cause, like,
to my poor boyfriend now,
I'm, like, I put it out there,
and I'm, like, "I feel so bad!"
You know, like...
But... you want to talk
about things that,
that you feel like other people
can relate to in a way, too.
And I'm, like,
telling these details
sometimes are really a big part
of the song.
Like, I know you guys had
Lori McKenna on the show.
Such a big fan of her,
by the way.
And she'll write a song,
and she'll be, like,
"I'm standing
in the kitchen,"
and, you know, the, the color
of the shirt pocket, that...
Like, you know what I mean?
Like, the details like that.
I'm, like, that's what makes me
love some of her music.
So I'm, like,
there are certain things
where I want to put it in,
but I'm, like, I don't want
to offend anyone
by talking about a certain
person or anything like that.
So it's, like, a...
it's a, you know,
a vulnerable, vulnerable place
to be sometimes.
>> BOWEN: And you've already
been doing this for so long.
Have you noticed a change
in yourself,
either, either
how you're singing
or how you're writing?
>> Definitely.
I'll have people
who come to shows,
and they'll be, like,
"Oh," you know,
"Play this song
off of your first album,"
and I'm, like, "Uh-oh."
(both laughing)
Because there are so many songs,
I'm, like,
I couldn't even tell you
the first beginning of that,
because there's... you know,
I'll, I'll go back
and listen to my first album
that I did
when I was, like 15, or 16,
and my voice is a lot higher.
Um, I think, obviously,
the guitar playing is different.
So I'll, like,
almost get offended
that someone will be, like,
"Oh, I bought your first album
on iTunes."
I'm, like,
"Why did you do that?"
I'm not, like, embarrassed,
but I'm just, like,
"Oh, my gosh, like, that's not
what I sound like right now."
So I'm very critical of myself,
like, I'm such a perfectionist,
so I'll go back and look
at things, I'm, like...
(gasps):
"Oh," you know, so...
>> BOWEN: You're going to play
us out with your song "Angels."
Tell me a little bit
about that song.
>> Yeah, so, um,
the cool thing about this song
was, it was my first way
into the Grammy organization.
So it happened
in a really strange way,
and, um, I had been with a label
at the time, in 2015, um...
And they do this process
of submitting their artists, um,
to the Grammy organization.
So they had done that
with my song "Angels,"
and I'm, like,
"Cool, yeah, whatever."
Like, I just... I didn't think
anything of it,
'cause I'm, like,
"That's big league,
and I'm not there yet,
I'm not ready."
Three or four months later,
I got a call from the label,
and they're, like,
"Look, they,
they took your song,
"they're listening to it.
It's going to go through the
first-round Grammy nominations."
And we're just, like, "What?"
It's funny, because it's talking
about kind of
a dysfunctional relationship,
and I'm, like, "This song!"
I root for those
in country music all the time,
because, you know, a lot...
Some of country music talking
about beers
and trucks and drink...
day-drinking, and I'm, like,
"Sometimes there's other topics
that we can talk about, too."
So, um, I was very honored that
they, that they did that, so...
>> BOWEN: Well, congratulations
on all of your success so far.
>> Thank you, thank you so much.
>> BOWEN: It's such a pleasure
to have you here
to speak with you
and to perform for us.
Ashley Jordan, thank you.
>> Thank you,
thank you so much,
it's an honor.
# Oh, you've gone
and changed all the rules #
# We run in circles like fools #
# I want to push away #
# Why do you beg me to stay? #
# Your love is thin,
the danger sets in #
# And I don't know why #
# I don't know why
I'm terrified #
# These angels, angels,
they tell me, tell me #
# To forgive you, to forgive you
for another night #
# These angels, angels
in my head tell me #
# To forgive you, to forgive you
for another night #
# You love me, you hate me #
# You tell me
that you're waiting a while #
# You come on over,
come on over tonight #
# #
