“Dear Nashville, I don’t even think you know what you do to me.”

Ashley Monroe opens up about the highs and lows of her journey in the music industry in a deeply vulnerable, honest 8-track collection that arrived on Friday (March 27). Monroe, 39, penned a letter to Music City, and dedicated Dear Nashville to “all the dreamers who never stop dreamin,’” she wrote in a caption on Instagram.

Dear Nashville, produced by Monroe and Luke Laird, arrives days after Monroe posted a reflection of her experience as an artist. The powerhouse singer-songwriter shared, “for as long as I can remember, I dreamed of coming to Nashville to live out my dream. A couple years after daddy died, me and mama left Knoxville and headed west… with a fire and unwavering faith inside my broken little heart that would not let up.

“Over the past 23 years, I have met some of the cornerstones of my life in this town (one being Sir Vince),” Monroe wrote. “I have been signed and dropped by several labels, written and released 4 albums with Pistol Annies [a supergroup that also includes Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley], co-written two songs that were number 1 on country radio, nominated for 3 Grammys, released 6 solo albums, and have watched a lot of my dreams come true. I make music because I love it with every fiber of my being. I believe God gave this gift to me, and with it I want to create art that helps heal the places words alone cannot reach. I am forever thankful to everyone who has supported me and unconditionally loved me on this journey.

“Yet, I have also felt underestimated, let down, and taken for granted. Last fall after attending an industry event, it hit me so hard it took my breath away… ‘they’re never gonna see me…’ In that moment, I finally let myself feel how sad that makes me,” she continued. “Nothing has inspired me more, or hurt me more than this place. I feel like I’ve earned the right to say that. yet, every morning there’s this hope of a miracle on that Batman horizon that I’m unable to shake. After years of trying to focus on the bright side and pretending this town doesn’t break my heart, I figured why knot let ‘em know… what do I have to lose? if someone is hurting us, and we don’t let them know, isn’t that on us?

“To my beautiful Nashville, I wish you loved me as much as I love you.”

Monroe opens the heartfelt (yet heart-wrenching) album with “I Hate Nashville,” confessing the frustrations of feeling defeated by the place she loves (with a few nods to the reasons the city and the genre are special to her). She continues the record with “Gettin’ Out of Hand,” “What Are We?,” “Steal,” “Haunted,” “Dreaming,” “Having It Bad,” and “Quittin.’” Dear Nashville (and Monroe’s post earlier this week) quickly earned praise from Monroe’s peers in country music, including Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Brittney Spencer, Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne, Brandy Clark, Martina McBride, Lauren Alaina, Sara Evans and many others. Watch Monroe play “I Hate Nashville” in the music video here:

LeeAnn Sommers