Ashley McBryde Sticks to 'One Night Standards' at 2020 CMA Awards

Ashley McBryde offered a crisp, masterful delivery of her single "One Night Standards" from the stage of the 2020 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 11).

With a simplistic setup and a five-piece band, McBryde was pitch-perfect while delivering the critically acclaimed single. McBryde also let the impressive full-color, sailor-style eagle tattoo on her chest show during the performance — a relative rarity, considering she's known for typically performing in jeans and t-shirts, a tribute to her hard-working path to country stardom.

McBryde's performance felt especially intimate on the CMAs stage, as the awards show was broadcast this year from Nashville's Music City Center, a ballroom-style venue that sits across the street from the show's usual home, Bridgestone Arena. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the show's venue switch-up, also preventing the CMAs from hosting a live audience in 2020.

But if there's one thing country fans have learned about McBryde this year, it's her ability to pivot under unexpected circumstances. The singer has upped the creativity factor in her performances in a big way: In recent months, she's performed at a re-imagined CMT Music Awards in September (a show she also co-hosted), taped a live rendition of "Amazing Grace" in front of an empty Ryman Auditorium and participated in a variety of charity-focused livestream concerts — sometimes even wearing a dinosaur onesie.

"One Night Standards" is the first single from McBryde's sophomore project, Never Will, which dropped in April. It became her most commercially successful single to date, earning RIAA gold certification in the U.S. and Canada and peaking at No. 11 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart in September.

Despite being released at the very beginning of the COVID-19 coronavirus shutdown, Never Will has seen major success as a full project, too. It notched a mention in the 2020 CMA Awards' Album of the Year Category, and McBryde also walked into Wednesday night's show with nominations for Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year (for her participation in "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," with Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and others).