Ashland Craft Talks ‘Dive Bar Beauty Queen,’ Getting The Call To Tour With Luke Bryan, And The New Song That’s Stealing The Show

Ashland Craft is as real as it gets. She’s a singer, songwriter, and entertainer who has spent years cutting her teeth in dive bars playing her music for anyone who would listen. Her music was introduced to the masses through her debut album, Travelin’ Kind, arrived in 2021, and now nearly four years later, she’s returned with the follow-up, Dive Bar Beauty Queen. This 11-track collection allows Craft’s songwriting to shine, putting her fearless storytelling on full display. 

Listed as a co-writer on all but one track, Craft poured her heart and soul into the release. Her confident side shines through in songs like “Kick Rocks Cowboy” and “Right Damn Now” while “Momma Don’t Pray Like She Used To” reveals a more tender, introspective side. 

Hot on the heels of the album release, Craft spent time on the road with Luke Bryan, performed at the Grand Ole Opry, and jetted back to Nashville for CMA Fest for a packed-out performance at the Chevy Vibes stage in the heart of downtown Music City. Moments before her set, we caught up with Craft to discuss the just-released project, which she’s already worked into her set list for live shows.   

“I love all of these songs so much. I wrote them to be able to groove and dance. I feel like if people see me on stage, they know I really don’t quit moving. It’s just kind of force of habit. So my music, I wanted that to be a reflection. So all of them are so much fun,” she shared with Country Now. 

While she admits to having a blast performing all the songs, one track from the new record really seems to be raising its hand during her performances. 

“I think right now, far as live music goes, I’m kind of obsessed with ‘Yard Sale.’ It’s so fun. It’s a storytelling song. I wrote it with two of my good friends, Kasey Tyndall, who’s amazing. And then Lee Starr, who’s also one of the producers on the record,” she explained. “We wrote it almost probably two years ago now. And just seeing it come to life on stages, is so much fun.” 

The title track, “Dive Bar Beauty Queen,” is the only solo write on the project and was actually written quite some time ago. The song was penned with a special group of people in mind.  

“That song, first of all, I wrote when I was 18, 19 years old, somewhere around there. I was still working back home in South Carolina at a dive bar called Wendell’s Dippin’ Branch. When I wrote that song, I felt like I really wanted an identifier song, and this was before I even knew that I was going to do music. So in that moment, I think I just wanted to write a song for myself and for all the girls and guys and whoever shows up on a Friday, Saturday night to our beloved dive bar,” she noted. I think it’s just a song for them. They’re blue collar, hardworking. And so I think it’s kind of the opposite of what a beauty queen actually is in my opinion. It’s kind of the real tough, rugged people out there that just love to come together after a long work week, and they love to have a good time.”

“Kick Rocks Cowboy” is quickly emerging as a fan favorite and a highlight of her live set. Craft shares that it’s currently the song she uses to close out her shows.

“We wrote that song four or five years ago now, and it’s still just so much fun as the day we wrote it. It is so funny. I think I’m excited for people to really get to sit with that song because it’s really a song about the good guys rooting for the good guys,” she explained. “I think a lot of days you don’t have a lot of people practicing what they preach, so to speak, or not a lot of cowboy under their hats these days. And I think that just comes down to respect and how you treat people. It’s not anything to do with what you’re wearing at all. I think it’s all in the personality and all in who you are. So I love that song. I love the attitude.”

These new songs will certainly work their way into Ashland Craft’s set list during her time on the road with Luke Bryan this summer, where she’s set to open select dates on his Country Song Came On Tour. 

Getting the call to join the country superstar on tour is something she says she’ll never forget.    

“Oh my goodness. Well, I was awestruck at first because I’ve also grown up on Luke Bryan. One of my first concerts was Luke Bryan, and I think he was opening for somebody else, which is mind blowing to me. And then we actually got to talk to him on tour, and he’s so nice,” she pointed out. “Exactly what you would expect out of him. I felt like I’d known him my whole life. So finding that out was just another one of those pinch me moments, and I still haven’t woken up from that moment yet. So I’m hoping to keep on dreaming throughout this tour and just soak it all in.”

In addition to performing alongside Bryan, Craft will also hit the stage at Born & Raised Festival in Pryor, OK, and the Field & Stream Festival in South Carolina this fall. Additionally, she just revealed plans for her own headlining Dive Bar Beauty Queen Tour, set to launch later this summer and continue through the fall.