Since appearing on Season 19 of “American Idol” and advancing to the show’s “Hollywood Week” in the spring of 2021, the life of Turlock native Ash Ruder has drastically changed. 

Ruder and husband Dylan moved from Los Angeles, where she had been studying music and business at Azusa Pacific University, to the country capital of the world, Nashville, Tennessee. There, the  couple had their first child. Aside from navigating life as a new mother, Ruder has been finding her footing in the sometimes-hectic music industry, writing songs for artists like Mackenzie Porter and pitching for the likes of Morgan Wallen and Lauren Alaina.

Admittedly, many of the steps Ruder has taken in her life have involved taking risks, whether it was singing in front of her family and friends growing up, applying for the hit TV show, singing an original song telling the story of her father’s life and his battle with addiction in front of the superstar judging panel of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, or traveling across the country to pursue her dreams.

As she prepares for another major milestone of her career, Ruder hopes to encourage others to take similar leaps of faith as it pertains to their own lives and goals.

At midnight on Aug. 2, Ruder will release her first single, titled “The Valley.” She shared with the Turlock Journal that the song, which will also be accompanied by a music video, will serve as the title track of her debut album, slated to come out this spring.

“Obviously there’s some literal connection to the Central Valley, a place that made me who I am today,” Ruder said. “But for me, as someone who wanted to pursue a crazy big career in music and ‘making it,’ I had to leave. I needed to leave my home and chase this thing. It’s not because it’s not accessible here, but also just as a statement of being daring and trying new things.

“I think what’s also super interesting to me about this song and the majority of the project is that the arc of the whole thing is kind of a contradiction of what the world says. Usually people are running to LA or California to chase their dreams. For me, it was leaving California. This title track, and it’s the first track of the entire album, talks about me leaving this place, and the songs to come after that reflect on me missing it. It’s just a big nostalgia bomb of what California is, from the coastal life and living by the water, to being able to go to the mountains and see all these beautiful things, to me growing up in the Valley. I think it’s all encapsulated into this song and into the entire project.”

For Ruder, who attended Turlock Christian and Pitman high schools, after all she has experienced in the past three years, the time simply felt right for her to begin recording and releasing her own songs.

“I think I just finally found my voice,” she said. This song is me. It’s straight up being like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s do this music thing.’”

Ruder and her husband moved to Nashville just a few months after the “American Idol” appearance as a result of them having to fly back-and-forth between there and Los Angeles to meet with producers and songwriters constantly asking to collaborate. 

“It was that August where I really started songwriting and began learning how to hone my craft. Like two years into living in Nashville is when this song came about, and it was the first song that really struck me and had [me] saying, ‘Hey, there’s a whole project that could fall from under this song,’” Ruder explained. “In some ways, the song is what told me that it’s finally the time. It’s finally time to take risks, really chase this dream and do this music thing.”

Though the song starts out slow, describing Ruder filling her coffee cup and preparing to leave California, the vibe quickly shifts to a faster tune as she imagines what’s to come as she embarks on chasing her “American Dream.” She makes mention of the Golden State’s natural beauty, whether it’s the rivers, the mountains or the exceptional weather. 

It’s all encapsulated in the music video, filmed at Middleton Movie Ranch in Los Angeles. In the four-minute video that will be released at a later date, Ruder is shown in one scene at a gas station and inside a convenience store and diner getting set to take off on her road trip out of the state. In others, she is driving a 1994 Porsche 911 through the winding mountain roads. The video shifts again to Ruder becoming happier and more playful as she realizes that, although leaving her home is intimidating and there is very much a fear of the unknown, everything will turn out fine.

Ruder described the music video as an “endless 1970s West Coast road trip: sun kissed skin, top down, a winding canyon, the coastal breeze, sunny and 75 degrees.”

“It’s like a lucid journey,” she said. “I wanted it to be open for interpretation, for it to be whatever people want it to be. I want it to be this big metaphor that people can relate to and find themselves in. But as far as like, logistically speaking, I always knew that I wanted it to feel like some sort of fun, road trip experience.”

“The Valley” is available on all streaming platforms. To pre-save the song, head to unitedmasters.com/m/thevalley. Ruder, who can be found on Instagram at @AshRuder, will provide updates on the album and its release date in the near future. Information on live shows across the Central Valley in 2025 will also be announced at later dates.