NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As a child, Ashley Monroe says she'd often start crying as she was listening to the radio because she was overwhelmed by the emotion coming from country singers like Vince Gill and Dolly Parton. These days, those roles are reversed as those very same stars are just as enthralled with her singing and songwriting. Gill, who co-produced Monroe's latest album, "The Blade," met her when she was just 15 years old. "I said, 'How does a kid this young have that depth to write songs?'" said Gill. "It was like she was born to write novels. It was captivating from note one, from the first songs I heard." Even Parton, to whom Monroe often gets compared, wrote her a letter in 2004 to say that the two of them had a lot in common. After all, they are both blond singer-songwriters from East Tennessee who grew up on gospel and mountain music. "(Parton) had gotten a hold of some of my demos," Monroe said. "It was even before I had a record deal. She was saying, 'You remind me a lot of myself in the way that you phrase everything.'" She also got support from exes Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. Just days after they announced their divorce, the two were playfully tweeting at each other about Monroe's album release. Monroe said having Gill, arguably one of the finest country singers, help produce her last two albums has pushed her to live up to all those expectations from big stars. — AP
