Ashley Monroe is one strong lady.
A couple months ago, she was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer and has pretty much stayed off of social media since then in terms of posting and updating fans on her personal life, and understandably so.
But, she recently sat down with Rolling Stone and gave an update on how she’s doing health-wise. Thankfully, it sounds like she’s doing pretty well all things considered:
“I’ve gotten through two cycles now of chemo. Each cycle is back to back, once a month. It’s hard, I’ll be honest.
It doesn’t feel good the day of and the week after, but I feel like I’ve bounced back a little quicker this time than my first time.
I’ve got a lot of support. I definitely feel people praying.”
She noted that the effects of chemotherapy have taken their toll on her at times, but she’s continued to work out as much as she can and has also been working on some music-related stuff in the midst of it, too.
Oh, and on top of all of that, Ashley’s a wife, and mom to a 4 year old. She’s a complete badass.
How she’s juggling everything that’s going on in her life right now is beyond me, but tomorrow, she’ll put out a new project called Covers, which is exactly what it sounds like… an EP of covers of some of her favorite songs.
Brittney Spencer and Ruston Kelly lend their vocals on a few tracks, too, and the whole thing was produced by Tyler Cain, who shares equal billing with Ashley on the album cover.
Ashley just wanted to record a few songs that mean a lot to her, and she actually started working on this project before her diagnosis:
“I want to record some of my favorite songs that if we were having a bonfire back in the day, if we were having a party, this is the song I would pull out my guitar and sing.”
The common theme of songs included on the tracklist isn’t beholden to any certain genre, but rather, the way they make her feel and the emotions they drum up:
“They have a feeling… I have two playlists that are called ‘That Feeling.’ And I don’t know it’s a change of chords, if it’s the words, I don’t know, but it’s a certain feeling. Restless Heart songs have that feeling a lot.
Lot of Bryan Adams have it. Lot of Crowded House songs have it. But all of these have that feeling, where it’s almost like a surge of emotion.”
The entire thing comes out tomorrow, but right after her cancer diagnosis, Ashley posted a video of her singing Bryan Adams’ song “Everything I Do” with Brittney, which is one of the tracks that will be on the EP.
Other songs featured on the project include the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry Baby,” the Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” Extreme’s “More Than Words” and Boudleaux Bryant’s (popularized by Nazareth) “Love Hurts” with Ruston Kelly.
Of course, this whole time in Ashley’s life trying to spend time with her family and maintain a career as much as she can, all while dealing with a major health battle, has taught her a lot of lessons already.
Most notably, so far, it’s this:
“It’s weird, but I’m stronger than I thought, and most of us are for sure.”