GAC Specials

Episode GCTDS-101SP

Holidays at Home with Ashton Shepherd

Country newcomer Ashton Shepherd says fancy catered dishes on the road are good but there's nothing more tasty than a homegrown meal. This holiday season, Shepherd will take a break from her busy tour and head back to Leroy, Ala. so she can eat all the local delicacies she wants, and most importantly, spend time with the people she loves. Meanwhile, she's taking GAC cameras along to preserve all the memories on the special, Holidays at Home with Ashton Shepherd.

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This Thanksgiving, Shepherd and her mother-in-law work together in the kitchen to make a homemade casserole with broccoli from their garden while Shepherd's husband, brother, and other family members head out to the fields to sharpen their shooting and archery skills.

Multiple oven timer alarms and used dishpans later, dinner is finally ready, and each family member arrives with a homemade dish in their hands, ranging from chicken and dumplings to her mother's homemade pecan pie.  However, before the evening and the food consumption begins, Shepherd closes her eyes and leads everyone in a humble prayer of thanks for their endless blessings. One thing she especially expresses particular gratitude for is her family, people whom she states she's learned over the years to never take them for granted, especially after the loss of her brother.

"I've always really liked spending time with my family. But looking back, I would tell myself to try to really take in and enjoy the moments I have with them more because you don't realize how quickly things change (in your life)," Shepherd reflects. "When you're ten years old, you don't realize how much things are really going to change. You think they will always be the same.  I lost my brother when I was thirteen years old in a tragic car accident. I know he'd be here with bells on if he were still alive today to celebrate what we're doing. So, I would tell myself to spend more time with my family for that reason."

Shepherd's family gathers on a picnic-style table on the front porch to have their meal, while those who have been on the road with her warm-heartedly joke about the living conditions on her tour bus. Later, they round up their instruments and head off to play music—the one thing they all agree has tied them together over the years. 

"During the holidays it's always meant a lot just to get everybody together and be able to play music together," she says. "There's just something about it that's real amazing."

The family gathers at the pickin' shed, an old wooden barn on the farm that's always been their nostalgic place of comfort. Shepherd has a long history with this particular shed.  It's filled with memorabilia from the long summer nights when she'd gather there with friends to sing and play instruments, shoot a few rounds of pool, throw darts or simply relax. 

The shed is also the place where her dreams of becoming a country singer planted its roots, and ironically where she and her husband first met. Shepherd and her family share with GAC viewers the underlying stories about the special place, which also earned its place on Ashton's album, Sounds So Good, with the fittingly-titled song, "Pickin' Shed."

The GAC special features acoustic performances of "Sounds So Good," "Pickin' Shed," and "I Ain't Dead Yet," as well as Shepherd's debut video, "Takin' Off This Pain."