Photo Credit: Pamela Littky
Clark’s performance on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers Airs Tonight, Thursday, July 7
***
“…simultaneously harrowing, cynical, uplifting and just plain funny.”
Erik Nelson, SALON Magazine
“…rooted in craft and character.”
Chris Herrington, The Commercial Appeal
“[Clark] has become country music’s most reliable character witness.”
Chris Richards, The Washington Post
***
“…simultaneously harrowing, cynical, uplifting and just plain funny.”
Erik Nelson, SALON Magazine
“…rooted in craft and character.”
Chris Herrington, The Commercial Appeal
“[Clark] has become country music’s most reliable character witness.”
Chris Richards, The Washington Post
When acclaimed singer/songwriter, CMA Award winner and four-time GRAMMY nominee Brandy Clark went into the studio with Jay Joyce last year to record what would become her June 10-released Big Day In A Small Town, she can now admit she did so with a self-imposed pressure.
“There was definitely pressure – even just in the idea of recording a follow-up to 12 Stories—but that was honestly a good thing as we channeled it into more of a driving force; for me, it helped me focus, and really take what we had nurtured on the road, and funnel those miles and experiences into these recordings,” reveals Clark now after having her new music out from underneath cloak and dagger for nearly one month’s time.
Before Big Day even hit shelves, Garden & Gun's Matt Hendrickson had already dubbed her “the best songwriter in Nashville,” but Clark had personal ambitions to obtain acclaim as a singer and an artist in her own right for her sophomore album. With Big Day landing on numerous critic lists including Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Country & Americana Albums of 2016 So Far who lauded, “it's music tooled alternately for stadiums and songwriting circles, commercial and public radio, line-dance bars and coffee shops…Clark is good at bending country boilerplate,” she now feels one step closer toward that acceptance.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m a sucker for a good story,” Clark says, grinning. “It’s the challenge of depicting an entire scene in a 3-minute song that I really love. However, the one thing I’ve recently realized is that performing those songs for an audience has become a favorite part. The anticipation and wonder, questioning each night if they’re going to respond to the lyrics… wondering what their reaction will be … it’s just magical.” NPR’s Jacob Gantz remarked at Clark’s ability to transcend the strictly-songwriter stigma noting, “Clark's gift as a performer is making any room — even a newsroom on a cold, rainy spring afternoon — feel as warmly human.”
It’s a balance Clark has worked hard to achieve, and with a rich vault of material on her new album, critics are noticing more than just her writing this time around.
“Brandy Clark digs deeper in the dirt with this rave-up, which takes its titular metaphor and a persistent guitar line and twists them into a sharp parry against societal expectations,” writes Maura Johnston of TIME Magazine, where Clark’s feisty single “Girl Next Door” landed on the Best Songs of 2016 So Far list.
“…as usual, Clark's words are worth a thousand pictures,” claims Otis Hart of NPR, where she landed acknowledgement on their Songs We Love list for the poignant track she penned about her father’s death, “Since You’ve Gone To Heaven,” which has quickly become a favorite of fans and critics alike.
“If 12 Stories established Clark as a storyteller, Big Day in a Small Town makes for poetic (and at times brutally honest) evidence of the empathy that comes with that territory,” acclaims Dacey Orr of Noisey/VICE.
Big Day also appears on Rolling Stone magazine’s 45 Best Albums of 2016 So Far and garnered the “Critic’s Pick” from Taste of Country. Chris Herrington of Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal boasts Clarks’ is “the best album by any woman across the country continuum over the past decade.”
Seeing is believing, fans can see the artist Brandy Clark on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight at 12:35a ET/11:35p CT or on tour:
“There was definitely pressure – even just in the idea of recording a follow-up to 12 Stories—but that was honestly a good thing as we channeled it into more of a driving force; for me, it helped me focus, and really take what we had nurtured on the road, and funnel those miles and experiences into these recordings,” reveals Clark now after having her new music out from underneath cloak and dagger for nearly one month’s time.
Before Big Day even hit shelves, Garden & Gun's Matt Hendrickson had already dubbed her “the best songwriter in Nashville,” but Clark had personal ambitions to obtain acclaim as a singer and an artist in her own right for her sophomore album. With Big Day landing on numerous critic lists including Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Country & Americana Albums of 2016 So Far who lauded, “it's music tooled alternately for stadiums and songwriting circles, commercial and public radio, line-dance bars and coffee shops…Clark is good at bending country boilerplate,” she now feels one step closer toward that acceptance.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m a sucker for a good story,” Clark says, grinning. “It’s the challenge of depicting an entire scene in a 3-minute song that I really love. However, the one thing I’ve recently realized is that performing those songs for an audience has become a favorite part. The anticipation and wonder, questioning each night if they’re going to respond to the lyrics… wondering what their reaction will be … it’s just magical.” NPR’s Jacob Gantz remarked at Clark’s ability to transcend the strictly-songwriter stigma noting, “Clark's gift as a performer is making any room — even a newsroom on a cold, rainy spring afternoon — feel as warmly human.”
It’s a balance Clark has worked hard to achieve, and with a rich vault of material on her new album, critics are noticing more than just her writing this time around.
“Brandy Clark digs deeper in the dirt with this rave-up, which takes its titular metaphor and a persistent guitar line and twists them into a sharp parry against societal expectations,” writes Maura Johnston of TIME Magazine, where Clark’s feisty single “Girl Next Door” landed on the Best Songs of 2016 So Far list.
“…as usual, Clark's words are worth a thousand pictures,” claims Otis Hart of NPR, where she landed acknowledgement on their Songs We Love list for the poignant track she penned about her father’s death, “Since You’ve Gone To Heaven,” which has quickly become a favorite of fans and critics alike.
“If 12 Stories established Clark as a storyteller, Big Day in a Small Town makes for poetic (and at times brutally honest) evidence of the empathy that comes with that territory,” acclaims Dacey Orr of Noisey/VICE.
Big Day also appears on Rolling Stone magazine’s 45 Best Albums of 2016 So Far and garnered the “Critic’s Pick” from Taste of Country. Chris Herrington of Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal boasts Clarks’ is “the best album by any woman across the country continuum over the past decade.”
Seeing is believing, fans can see the artist Brandy Clark on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight at 12:35a ET/11:35p CT or on tour:
July 7 Halloran Centre Memphis, Tenn.
July 8 George’s Majestic Lounge Fayetteville, Ark.
July 14 Pennysaver Amphitheater at Bald Hill Selden, N.Y.
July 21 Constellation Brands – Marvin Performing Artst Center Canandaigua, N.Y
July 22 Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion Gilford, N.H.
July 23 Forest Hills Stadium Forest Hills, N.Y.
July 29 Battery Park at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City, Iowa
July 30 City Winery Chicago, Ill.
Aug. 4 Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Bethel, N.Y.
Aug. 5 Blossom Music Center Cleveland, Ohio
Aug. 12 The Camp House Chattanooga, Tenn.
Aug. 18 Goldfield Trading Post Sacramento, Calif.
Aug. 19 Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Lancaster, Calif.
For more information, visit brandyclarkmusic.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/TheBrandyClark and on Twitter @TheBrandyClark.
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