Grammy-winning musical artist and author Ashley Cleveland joins The Echoes Podcast to talk about grit. Through addiction and recovery, heartbreak and healing, Ashley invites us into a story where surrender becomes strength, vulnerability becomes vision, and brokenness gives way to beauty. This is a conversation about faith forged in fire, and the quiet, astonishing power of telling the whole, unvarnished truth.

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Episode Notes:

• Little Black Sheep: A Memoir by Ashley Cleveland.
• Ashley Cleveland’s extensive discography includes three Grammy Award wins for Best Rock Gospel Album: The Daylight’s Shot, You Are There, and Lesson of Love.
• Also referenced:
• Olga Samples Davis (Echoes Podcast previous guest)
• Rust College (Historically Black College)
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
• Madeleine L’Engle (Author, speaker at Laity Lodge, mentioned via archive clip)
• Ignatian spiritual exercises (19th annotation)
• Ashley Cleveland’s sermons at Church of the Redeemer

Production Team:
Written and produced by Marcus Goodyear, Camille Hall-Ortega, and Rob Stennett
Hosted by Camille Hall-Ortega and Marcus Goodyear
Edited by Rob Stennett and Kim Stone
Executive Producers: Patton Dodd and David Rogers
Graphic Design Manager: Hilary Commer
Junior Designer: Lindsay Bruce
Content Creator: Alyson Amestoy
Staff Writer: Beth Avila

Funded by the H. E. Butt Foundation

Special thanks to our guest Ashley Cleveland for being vulnerable about her struggles and for talking with us about grit.