Grab your red markers—Ashley Cooke’s scribbling all over her new era in passionate ink, and ‘the f word’ is no exception. Spoiler alert: the “F” actually stands for forever—yep, that terrifying word we all dodge in relationships. But Ashley’s not flinching. With this gut punch of a track, she’s grabbing our hands and walking us straight through it. We caught up with her to talk about the can’t-help-but-spill-the-beans anthem, her Aussie adventures on tour, and—because we can’t mention “Ashley Cooke” without mentioning him—her collab with Joe Jonas.
Hi Ashley, welcome to the hive! We’re loving the clever play on words in ‘the f word’—it’s such a smart nod to how we were taught not to swear as kids, much like how we often censor our own emotions out of fear of vulnerability. The track, penned by Emily Weisband, Gordie Sampson, and Grammy-winner Lori McKenna (of ‘Girl Crush’ fame), clearly carries a lot of emotional weight. What drew you to this song initially, and how did you know you were the right voice to bring someone else’s story to life in such a personal way?
I think it’s beyond clever, and Nashville songwriting is 10 out of 10. This song is something that immediately caught my attention from the title, and then I also have a story very similar to this song. I was on a date with my now ex-boyfriend – it didn’t work out, but anyway. We’d talked about being together in the future, and he hadn’t really wanted to tell his mom that yet, and I dropped the news at this dinner with her. So, I related to the song big time – sometimes we say the things we don’t realize we shouldn’t say in situations like that, when we feel those heavy emotions, and this song made me feel that off the first jump. But also, I loved how brilliantly it was written and how wonderful it is.
It was also produced by Dan Huff, who has worked with country artists like Keith Urban. Before collaborating with him, did you have a specific style in mind that you wanted his help in achieving? Or was there something about his expertise that you were excited to see him bring to your music?
This is my first time getting to work with Dan Huff. I wouldn’t say it was a specific style in mind. I’m such a massive fan of Dan’s – he’s produced and been a part of some of the most legendary records in country and in all kinds of genres. Going from Michael Jackson to Rascal Flatts to Keith Urban to across the board. To me, entering this new era of music I wanted to try something different, and Dan was somebody that I was excited to try something different with but also trusted so dearly with how much of a history he has with creating incredible music that sounds like a hit even if it’s not a traditional quote on quote country radio song with a tempo. I knew he would know exactly what to do with this song.
Is there a particular lyric from the song that made you feel vulnerable to sing, almost as if you wished you could hit backspace?
Well, the first line of the song is “I try not to swear,” and that line always cracks me up because if you know me, you know I have the mouth of a sailor and I swear quite often using many f-words.
You’ve mentioned using Pinterest to find inspiration for your cover art. Since we’re obsessed with the site too, what does your Pinterest look like? What kind of images do you find yourself pinning the most?
I love Pinterest. I have hundreds of boards at this point, which is crazy. What I love to do is if my brain has an idea of what something is – whether it’s cover art, an idea for an album brand or style that I want to go for a certain event, I will search keywords that I can think of. So, ‘the f word’ for example, it was really cool red style like red photos, red balloons, red aesthetic it kind of creates this world and then you select “see more” after you create a Pinterest board and it shows you a bunch of stuff that fits in that world almost like a playlist. I love that because I think visually it allows me to explore different worlds and create what I want to see visually. That’s what I did for this song.
The color red is everywhere in this new era: from your YouTube display icon to your latest hit with Joe Jonas, ‘All I Forgot’—which we could never forget! What made you want to zero in on this color?
The color red is everywhere in this new era. I think for me, the color red is something that you can’t ignore. It’s something that is loud, and it’s also associated with love and also hate. It has something about it that makes you not want to look away, and I felt like a lot of this music is very raw and honest and a new lane that I haven’t quite stepped into yet lyrically, so red fit it for me. Because it speaks to songs like ‘the f word’ that’s all about love and you can fit romance into that, but it also has ‘all I forgot’ which is more of an angsty red that feels sad – like you’re sitting underneath a red light listening to the song in your car crying because you’re thinking about your ex. There’s so many ways to use red, and it’s such a universal color in so many different ways.
Speaking of Joe, ‘All I Forgot’ was recorded while he was in Los Angeles and you were in Nashville, making for a flurry of FaceTime calls. How does forming that collaborative relationship differ from a one-and-done in the studio versus going back and forth multiple times, where you’re not there in person to instantly bounce off what he’s doing?
‘all I forgot’ was definitely created between LA, Nashville, all of the above. It was really cool because I had actually recorded ‘all I forgot’ without Joe on it first to kind of set the tone, and then Joe laid his vocal on it. After hearing his vocals and his choices on it artistically, I wished that I’d done more harmonies in certain parts, etc. So, I recorded it first, then he recorded it and sent it over, and I went back in and layered over Joe’s voice. Even though we weren’t in person collaborating on it, it was very much a collaborative process, just with our artistic choices and our voices and the way that we decided to interpret the song.
As an Aussie girlie, there’s nothing more iconic than seeing that photo of you taking a shooey out of a country boot. Do you have a favorite memory from touring here last month?
I freaking love Australia, everything about it. The shoey was just the cherry on top of getting to be there. I was honestly shocked that the crowd didn’t chant “shoey” for me. I had to kind of pull it out of them. It was super fun.
I got to hold a baby kangaroo, which was very Australia of me. I also got a tattoo in Melbourne from a really incredible tattoo artist. He’s one of the best in Australia. And I got to do a sauna on the beach and got to swim in the water. I would move to Australia. It is iconic and wonderful, and I love it so much.
Finally, congratulations on being up for ACM (Academy of Country Music Awards) New Female Artist of the Year for the second year in a row! Do you feel like those first-time nerves have settled, or are you still in the excited butterflies phase?
Being nominated for ACM New Female, it’s huge. It’s a massive deal, and I wouldn’t say I have the excited butterflies phase – it’s more like, wow, this is so cool that I’m nominated two years in a row. I know the process that it takes to be on that ballot. It takes a lot of people in an industry that is sometimes hard. So really it’s more of a validation in that sense to know that I’ve gotten to know so many people in the industry, so many ACM voters that believe in me enough to put me on the ballot.
We’re sending all our luck to Ashley with her ACM nomination (and, let’s be real, we’ll be belting ‘the f word’ when she graces our screens on May 8th in whatever stunning frock she’s rocking). What’s your favorite lyric from the song? Drop it on our socials—Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—and let’s gush!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ASHLEY COOKE:
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK
