Credit: David McClister
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Brandy Clark several times over the years and have always appreciated her honesty when talking about songwriting and her career.
“Traditionally, country music is a truth-telling, adult format. I want to be a truth-teller. I always want my music to be truthful and a dark comedy. Happy and sad. High and low,” she told me in 2014.
The first time I sat down with the singer-songwriter, it was following the release of her excellent debut album 12 Stories, which she admits she almost never released.
Clark had already penned hits for The Band Perry (“Better Dig Two)”, Miranda Lambert (“Mama’s Broken Heart”) and Kacey Musgraves (“Follow Your Arrow”), and she was content with her career as a songwriter. But that soon all changed when Emilie Marchbanks from management company Fitzgerald Hartley convinced her otherwise and set the ball in motion. Her debut album 12 Stories went on to be nominated for a 2015 GRAMMY Award for Best Country Album.
“It’s been crazy the response it’s getting,” Clark said with a big smile. “There were times in that process of getting passed on and it not working out with labels where I would think, ‘Maybe I’m in a bubble…maybe we’re the only ones that love this. We’re the only ones that “Hold My Hand” moves like that.’ For it to come out and see what [people] say on Twitter and Facebook, and then when I play shows, it’s just so gratifying. And just a testament to not give up on something that moves you. I really think that if it moves you, it will move other people.”
For more of my interview with Brandy Clark and the stories behind “Follow Your Arrow” and “Stripes,” watch the video below and visit Radio.com.