Ashley McBryde added a touch of revenge rock to the 2020 CMT Music Awards, pairing her co-hosting duties with a performance of “Martha Devine.”
Introduced by the great Tanya Tucker — who praised McBryde for having “the kind of year musicians dream of” — the emerging country star took a fitting shovel-lined stage at The Barn at Sycamore Farms, just south of Nashville in Arlington, Tennessee. Fitting because this track is a modern play on the bluegrassy murder ballads of country tradition, but in this case, it’s a daughter doing away with the woman her father is seeing on the side.
Bathed in red light and matching her soaring vocals to roaring rock guitars, McBryde offered a sly smile all throughout the track, with is included on her acclaimed Never Will album.
On top of her hosting duties, McBryde was also a nominee, earning a nod for Female Video of the Year with “One Night Standards.”
The 2020 CMT Music Awards air Wednesday, October 21st at 8:00PM ET/7:00PM CT on CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land.
