Eric Church ended his massive Gather Again tour this past weekend in New York City at the world famous Madison Square Garden.

Fans know that along with Eric, singer Joanna Cotten, has been a major part of Eric’s music and tour, so when Joanna was under the weather, you can’t just hand those duties off to anyone.

That’s why Eric called Ashley McBryde to fill in.

Back in 2017, Eric Church brought a relatively unknown Ashley McBryde out on stage with the introduction, “I mentioned I had a guest and there’s a young lady here who I have become a massive fan of, and you guys are gonna be a massive fan of her real soon. She’s just starting this journey of her career and she’s unquestionably my favorite artist out right now that’s not out yet, but she will be real soon. So I invited her to come out and just her and I are gonna do an acoustic song that she wrote… please make welcome Ashley McBryde.”

Ashley recalls her reaction when Eric called her about performing at MSG this past weekend, “When Eric asked, ‘Hey, can you come fill in?’ I said yes without even knowing how I’d get there. Talk about respect… any time Eric’s asked me to do something it has caused me to level up. I got to take a master class in entertaining while on stage.” 

Talking about Ashley Eric said, “When Joanna had to sit this one out, we immediately knew who to ask. Ashley is meant for arena stages, and she’ll be headlining her own show at MSG soon.”

McByrde added, “Stepping into Joanna Cotten’s boots… I don’t take it lightly,” 

Of course Eric knew Ashley was up to speed with his music as she also joined him on stage at the ACM Awards earlier this year.

Photo Credit: Anthony D’Angio