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.