Photo: Submitted | Busch Light
Ashley Cooke played an unreleased ballad when she took the stage during a surprise pop-up show at Tequila Cowboy on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
The reigning CMT Breakthrough Female Video of the Year winner took an impromptu vote from the audience during her set on Monday evening (July 8). Cooke asked fans whether they wanted to hear an unreleased song, “it’s been a year” or “never til now” a duet with Brett Young. The latter two options appeared on Cooke’s 24-track debut album, shot in the dark, which released last year. The Nashville crowd, however, overwhelmingly cheered for Cooke’s unreleased song, “twenty six.” Cooke posted a sneak peek of the heartfelt ballad last month as she approached her 27th birthday.
“We were talking about what it feels like to be 26, and just what getting older kind of feels like,” Cooke said as she reminisced on writing the song. “Whatever age you are, I feel like this song honestly just kind of represents what it feels like to get older and to see your parents get older and all of that. And normally, I would never play this song on Broadway, but in the spirit of music, and Nashville, and being in town for the night and getting to hang out with Busch Light [which organized the pop-up show] and you guys, let’s try a brand new one. This is called ‘twenty six.’”
Cooke’s pop-up set also included “getting into,” “i almost do,” and “your place,” her first No. 1 song and the music video that earned the singer-songwriter her first award. Cooke told iHeartCountry on the 2024 CMT Music Awards red carpet earlier this year that “your place” is “so much about understanding and regaining your power in a relationship sense and knowing your worth. I think it’s a really important message to have, and also kind of like an ‘F you’ song to my ex, so it kind of is Inspirational and also a very good revenge song. So, I’m very happy people are loving it.”
Cooke is gearing up for her headlining tour titled after her No. 1 song. The tour will also include special guest Greylan James. See the dates below:
your place Tour Dates
Oct. 23, 2024 – Seattle, Wash. at Tractor Tavern
Oct. 24, 2024 – Boise, Idaho at Knitting Factory
Oct. 25, 2024 – Salt Lake City, Utah at The Depot
Oct. 26, 2024 – Denver, Colo. at Bluebird Theater
Nov. 2, 2024 – Tuscaloosa, Ala. at Druid City Music Hall
Nov. 3, 2024 – Dothan, Ala. at National Peanut Festival
Nov. 7, 2024 – Kansas City, Mo. at PBR Big Sky Bar
Nov. 9, 2024 – Minneapolis, Minn. at Fine Line Music Café
Nov. 16, 2024 – Cincinnati, Ohio at Bogarts
Jan. 30, 2025 – Tallahassee, Fla. at The Moon
Jan. 31, 2025 – Fort Myers, Fla. at The Ranch Concert Hall & Saloon
Feb. 1, 2025 – Sanford, Fla. at Tuffy's Music Box
Feb. 6, 2025 – Oklahoma City, Okla. at Beer City Music Hall
Feb. 13, 2025 – Columbus, Ohio at The Bluestone
Feb. 14, 2025 – Chicago, Ill. at Joe's Bar on Weed St.
Feb. 19, 2025 – Nashville, Tenn. at Brooklyn Bowl
Feb. 26, 2025 – New York, N.Y. at Gramercy Theatre