The singer-songwriter “side job”

Ashley Monroe went to Nashville to sing songs that she loved, and she thought that meant being an artist. The students in the Entertainment in LA class met with Ashley while she was in town to co-write with Michelle Branch and Tyler Hilton.

Monroe used songwriting to cope with the loss of her father when she was a teenager, and after a year of knocking on doors in Nashville she landed a publishing deal. A record deal with Colombia Records soon followed, but Ashley parted ways with the label before a record was released after the challenges of working singles at country radio and being turned into a glossy dolled-up brand. She went back to her “side job” of writing songs, not sure where it would take her.

Monroe has since had cuts by Norah Jones and Carrie Underwood, and as she met with the class, her co-write with Brett James, “The Truth,” is the Billboard number 1 single for Jason Aldean. Recently she collaborated with The Raconteurs’ Brendan Benson and Ricky Skaggs on the single “Old Enough.”

Ashley reminded the students that songwriting is like any project work requiring patience and persistence – you have to plant a lot of seeds before you can see any fruit from your labor. “Everyday I write and everyday I probably write a crappy song,” admitted Monroe, “but I don’t do it to be famous, I do it to sing songs I love.”

She hinted that she is close to a deal with an LA label that will let her “do her own thing” allowing her to experiment across genres.

Belmont West students with singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe (back, center) and Entertainment in LA instructor Chad Greer.