Two days before the official release of her critically-acclaimed new album, The Blade, singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe launched her third solo LP with a glittering performance at an East Nashville club. Throughout the evening, the Tennessee-born chanteuse invited several of her Music City friends and collaborators to share the stage. Among them were Jessi Alexander, Striking Matches, and Vince Gill. But what quickly had the room, and the Internet, buzzing was the presence of Monroe’s longtime pal Miranda Lambert, making her first stage appearance since announcing her divorce from Blake Shelton just days earlier. The collaboration was the most poignant example of just how powerful and cathartic both friendship and music can be.
