Ashland Craft will never forget the first time she played Lori’s Roadhouse. “I want to say it was about two years ago when I was opening for (country music artist) Tyler Farr,” she says in a recent interview. “I was so excited to see they had a true honky-tonk-style bar in Cincinnati. I feel like you don’t see that much any more. I’m obsessed with the fans there. I think they genuinely love country music, and they’ve always shown up.”
Lori’s Roadhouse (also known as LRH Cincinnati) hosts Craft for a return visit on April 11, when she and fellow up-and-comer Meghan Patrick bring their co-headlining and much-anticipated The Rollin’ Stoned Tour to West Chester.
“I can’t even tell you when we first met,” Craft says of Patrick, who happens to be married to country music hitmaker Mitchell Tenpenny. “I guess I’ve known her for the past six years now, with us just being in Nashville and such. And it was earlier this year that we were just sitting around and talking about headlining shows, and I mentioned how I really hadn’t gotten to dip my toes into that side of things yet because I’ve mainly been a support act for a lot of amazing artists.”
Those headliners included music powerhouses Cody Johnson, Brothers Osborne, and Zac Brown Band. But the chance of co-headlining a tour alongside Patrick was enticing. “We just knew that we were going to be able to bring a fun, unique show that might encourage more people to check out some female artists,” says Craft. “We just wanted to make sure we didn’t do the ‘Meghan and Ashland’ tour, you know? We wanted to do something that would maybe set the mood for what’s to come.”
What’s to come for Craft is a busy summer that will eventually see her on select dates on superstar Luke Bryan’s Country Song Came On tour. “I’m blessed to have been out with the people I’ve toured with,” the South Carolina native says. “They were all bucket list artists for me before anything else. This year, specifically, I feel like I’ve gotten some amazing people in my corner to really push this whole thing along. I’m very grateful, and I’m praying that we can just keep this train rolling.”
The career train has gained a bit of extra steam courtesy of Craft’s latest single, “Lie a Little,” written by Kelly Archer, Bryan Simpson, and Mark Irwin. “I just love its attitude,” says Craft. “I feel like it just kind of rides this line of being sassy but also showing that you’re not completely heartless. There’s just something about it that stuck with me so much, and I wanted to jam to it on stage. So it’s going to be phenomenal live.”
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