Ashley McBryde’s ‘Light on in the Kitchen’ Has the Sweetest Family Backstory

Since she released it, Ashley McBryde's "Light on in the Kitchen" has become an anthem for women and the moms who taught them everything they know. Part love letter to her mom, part homespun wisdom that she learned as a kid, McBryde's song serves as the tender lead single for her The Devil I Know album.

In real life, "Light on in the Kitchen" inspired a sweet tradition between the singer, her mom Martha and her aunt Gloria, based around the lyric, "When you need someone to listen / That's why I leave the light on in the kitchen."

"When we first wrote the song and I sent it to [my mom], she sent it to her sister who I'm super close to," McBryde explains to Taste of Country Nights. "We started using the phrase 'Leave the light on in the kitchen' in place of 'I love you,' or in place of 'I miss you' or in place of 'I'm thinking of you.'"

That sweet habit is still a part of the family's routine today.

"So I may be getting on stage at night, and I make it to my phone after I get offstage and I have a message from Aunt Gloria saying, 'Headed to bed, the light's on.' What a cool thing to happen," McBryde recounts.

McBryde's mom has long been her music's biggest champion, so when the singer called her and asked if she wanted to be in the "Light on in the Kitchen" music video, the only question she had was, "What do I need to wear?"

The setting, of course, was a cozy family kitchen, so McBryde's stylist asked Martha to just bring her two favorite outfits. "She did, and she looked absolutely lovely," the singer says.

At the end of the video, there's a scene where the mother and daughter sit at a table together, and in real life, McBryde says their conversation was every bit as sweet — and hilarious — as you might expect watching the video.

"When you see us chatting with each other, it's really me going, 'Mom, how are you doing? How are you feeling?'" the singer says. "In one of the takes — it might be the take we kept — you should watch her mouth, because she looks at me and goes, 'I'm actually a little hangry.'"