Congratulations to Ashley McBryde, who is celebrating three years of sobriety. McBryde shares the milestone on social media, revealing more details of what finally led her to quit drinking, this time for good.
“Today marks three years. Since my last drink,” McBryde writes. “My last time being ‘that guy’ in my social and professional circles. The last panicked phone call for help. The final slip up that caused the intervention from those that love me and the shift in me allowing me to say ‘that’s enough.’ The details are known by those who are deserving of such painful information. Gratitude is the guiding light today. Grief is okay. A version of me had to die off so I could become myself. I have love for her and every other version of me that had to exist so I could stand by this waterfall today.
“Thank you for the ability to stand here,” she continues. “Celebrating by connecting to Mother Earth was just the kind of party I needed. If you’re struggling , reach out. You aren’t alone and don’t have to be. You’re gonna be delighted at how many of us there are. I love you, keep going.”
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In 2023, McBryde announced that she had quietly quit drinking a little over a year ago, waiting until the time was right to share her decision with the world.
“I didn’t really want to talk to anybody about it even lightly until a year had passed because I was like, ‘What if I screw it up?’” McBryde said on Apple Music Country’s Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen.
When McBryde was ready to share the news, she revealed that drinking for her had gotten way out of hand.
“Turns out it was just really detrimental,” McBryde acknowledged. “And then when you’re finding out the reasons that you’re going so overboard all the time was because of your inability to feel something that your brain was like, ‘I can’t do it. I can’t do it.’ I’m like, ‘Well, that’s weak. I’m not going to accept that. I’d rather just hurt.’ This morning I was at the boxing gym working out with my coach. We were doing something that was hard, and he said, ‘Are you okay? Do you need a break?’ And I said, ‘I know how to hurt.’”
In March, McBryde celebrated her 1000th day of sobriety.
“I’d lost so much self-trust without even realizing that it had completely gone extinct,” McBryde told People. “My favorite thing … is that when I say something to you, you can trust it because I can trust it. I had no idea, which is one of the most cowboy lessons I’ve ever learned, that the reason you can trust that guy or that girl is because they trust themselves.”
With alcohol no longer a guiding force in her life, McBryde admits that drinking sometimes had devastating consequences for her.
“I’ve said stupid things to Patty Loveless. I’ve said stupid things to Morgane Stapleton. I almost said stupid things to [World Champion roper] Jackie Crawford,” McBryde admitted. “When I look at her, I’m looking at the best on the planet, and no matter what line of work you’re looking at or what event or what sport, it makes you feel so tiny and so seen at the same time. I am looking to and speaking to the best on the planet at what she does and what they do.
“Now that I’m sober, I know that it’s okay to feel awkward about that in real time,” she added.
McBryde was just announced as the co-host of the CMA Fest TV special, working alongside Cody Johnson. Find all of McBryde’s music and upcoming shows at AshleyMcBryde.com.