Ashley McBryde Feeling Pressure Ahead of CMA Awards Performance

Ashley McBryde will be one of the many performers to take the 2024 CMA Awards stage Wednesday night (Nov. 20), but she’s keeping details of her performance close to her chest.

Ahead of the show (ABC, 8PM ET), Taste of Country caught up with McBryde, who gave a little more insight to what fans can expect from her appearance.

It’s only going to be her and a guitar, for one — stripped back and bare-bones.

“It’s to honor a song and a someone that needs to be honored,” she shares. “It should be done with just one person and their guitar.”

Note how she doesn’t drop any names. We already know, however, that George Strait is set to receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award that night, and a special performance has been teased to coincide with it.

So, we pressed McBryde further, hoping she would open the floodgates: Is she honoring the King of Country?

“It could be,” she says, playing coy. “We are honoring George that night.”

Odds are high that her performance will be part of that tribute. We do know that she won’t be performing one of her own songs, which she admits brings an added pressure.

“Sometimes when you are performing at these award shows, it’s about how good can this performer perform,” McBryde explains. “In this case, it’s how reverent can we be at a time we need to be reverent. It’s about the song.”

It’s not just those watching the nationally broadcast television program that she’s concerned about — it’s her colleagues, too.

“Especially in a room full of people who do what you do for a living,” she continues. “They are going to know if you did it wrong … or if you make a choice that they’re like, ‘That was self indulgent.'”

Though she’s a well-seasoned performer, McBryde admits she feels the pressure of finding the line between adding her voice to the song without stripping away the integrity.

“Plus, I like to overthink things,” she quips. “So I’ll just be inconsolably anxious the whole time.”

In addition to performing, the singer joins Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, Megan Moroney, and Lainey Wilson as a Female Vocalist of the Year nominee.

The 2024 CMA Awards will take place at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and air live on ABC. Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning are booked to co-host the show.