Go Behind the Scenes with Ashley Cooke as She Makes Her Grand Ole Opry Debut: See the Photos

Walking in the artist entrance! When I first pulled up, there was a parking spot sign that read "Grand Ole Opry debut," the date, and my name on it. I immediately felt so special and welcomed.

The sweetest guard, Jim Schermerhorn, who's been a part of the Opry family for decades, greeted me with a poster with the night's lineup (and my name on it!), a ticket from the box office, and the pamphlet that everyone in the audience got. I will keep these forever!

I went almost immediately to soundcheck with the world-renowned Opry band. I purposely didn't step in the circle yet — I really wanted to save it for my debut moment. We ran through each song and when we ran through my current radio single, "Never Til Now," it felt a little too drum-heavy or just "busy." I asked if we could strip it back to really just acoustic and a few slide parts and I'm really glad I did because it felt so much more intimate.

We got to the dressing room - Room #4, also known as "Into the Circle," which is where they put every artist that makes their debut. It's a beautiful room with tons of pictures and quotes from other artists' debuts. You can just feel the legacy — it's as if the torch is being passed down to you.

Gary LeVox stopped in to say hey before the craziness happened. Gary is one of the main reasons I got into country music. I didn't grow up on country music, but when I first heard artists like Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan, I was hooked. I learned how to sing and figure out harmony by listening to Gary's famous riffs through my mom's car speakers. I found myself in the lyrics and dreamed of getting to do what they do. This was such a full-circle night because of him.

My hair and makeup artist, Isabella Hanks, and my stylist, Molly Free, absolutely crushed this look. I'm not usually a big dress girl. In fact, I'm usually always living in ripped jeans and a tank top but it's the freaking Opry so I wanted to do something elegant and classy but that still felt like "me." We ended up doing a pantsuit by Nasty Gal. This color and fit was everything I could've dreamed of.

Gary came in to ask me to sing "What Hurts the Most" with him during his set — we ran it down with his piano player in my dressing room.

I got to bring two of my very best friends with me to the Opry, which was even more special because it was also both of their first times playing. On the right is my guitar player, Chauncey Arner and on the left my producer/co-writer, Jimmy Robbins.

Right before I walked on stage for my debut, Gary surprised me by introducing me into the circle. I almost cried before I even stepped foot on the stage. One of my childhood heroes is introducing me into the Opry family... what?! Then before I knew it, I was walking out and into the legendary circle. I started out with my song "getting into," then grabbed my guitar and told my story before playing "Never Til Now." I changed the last line to be "never thought I'd be up on stage at the Grand Ole Opry… Never Til Now." When I hit the last note, the whole house stood up. I couldn't believe I got a standing ovation and the tears started flowing.

A moment I will never forget. Standing in the circle with Gary LeVox singing a song that I had to have listened to, sang to, and dreamed about hundreds of times growing up. This night will forever be sacred to me. Thank you, Gary LeVox and The Grand Ole Opry for welcoming me into this family with open arms. I truly cannot wait to (hopefully) be back on this stage.