The Sit Down with Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark has been a regular visitor to these shores since she first appeared at C2C: Country to Country back in 2015. The Grammy, Americana Honors and CMA award winning singer-songwriter released her self-titled, fourth studio album back in 2023 and over the past two years in addition to touring, writing and working towards the next project of her own, the stage has continued to catch her eye as along with Shane McAnally, she earned a Tony Award nomination for the composition of the score of “Shucked” which recently celebrated a highly successful run at Regent’s Park in London. Later this month Brandy will return to the UK and the Netherlands for The Art of the Storyteller Tour, so we caught up with her over Zoom to look ahead to the trip.
Hey Brandy, thanks for chatting with me today, are you excited to come back to see us? It’s not too long away now.
“You know, there are a few places like, I was just in New York City the other night where I said this there and it's very true. There are few places that feel like hometown shows and anywhere in the UK feels like a hometown show.”
Are any of these new cities that you're going to on this tour?
“I don't think so. I think I've been everywhere in some capacity. It might be the first time I'm doing a proper show, but I've played a writer's round or something.”
I was looking at the venues you are playing because the place up in Sunderland looks a really cool spot, I haven't been there but that looks a lot of fun from everything I've seen on socials. The room in Manchester, I saw Ashley Monroe and Fancy Hagood up there about a month ago which was the first time I had been there at Band on the Wall and that is a super venue plus you have Islington Assembly Hall near me in London along with Melkweg in Amsterdam too, so definitely done well on all those venues. What can people expect from The Art of the Storyteller Tour? I'm guessing it's going to be more of an acoustic songwriter type sort of thing, so is it just going to be you on stage or have you got a guitarist with you?
“I do. I'm taking Amanda McCoy, who typically plays bass for me, but also plays guitar and is a fantastic harmony singer so, she's going to be with me. The great thing about a show like this is there will be a freedom, we'll have a set list, but whether or not we follow it will really depend on the audience and because of it just being the two of us, we can pivot really fast. There'll be a lot more stories of what went into the songs and what they inspire in me than you would get at a full band show.”
Like you said, it gives you the flexibility because when you're playing with a full band, things are a little bit more set, yes, you'll have one or two audibles and things, but here, you can sort of play it by ear. Also, I guess in a way, potentially not do the same show twice through the run.
“Exactly. We really could get away with not doing the same show twice and we might do that. I'm not going to say that, I mean, I'm not going to set that in stone but that's very likely. Plus, I know that I'll have repeat offenders as I like to call it so I try to keep the show interesting and they’ll probably be a little different every night.”
Hey Brandy, thanks for chatting with me today, are you excited to come back to see us? It’s not too long away now.
“You know, there are a few places like, I was just in New York City the other night where I said this there and it's very true. There are few places that feel like hometown shows and anywhere in the UK feels like a hometown show.”
Are any of these new cities that you're going to on this tour?
“I don't think so. I think I've been everywhere in some capacity. It might be the first time I'm doing a proper show, but I've played a writer's round or something.”
I was looking at the venues you are playing because the place up in Sunderland looks a really cool spot, I haven't been there but that looks a lot of fun from everything I've seen on socials. The room in Manchester, I saw Ashley Monroe and Fancy Hagood up there about a month ago which was the first time I had been there at Band on the Wall and that is a super venue plus you have Islington Assembly Hall near me in London along with Melkweg in Amsterdam too, so definitely done well on all those venues. What can people expect from The Art of the Storyteller Tour? I'm guessing it's going to be more of an acoustic songwriter type sort of thing, so is it just going to be you on stage or have you got a guitarist with you?
“I do. I'm taking Amanda McCoy, who typically plays bass for me, but also plays guitar and is a fantastic harmony singer so, she's going to be with me. The great thing about a show like this is there will be a freedom, we'll have a set list, but whether or not we follow it will really depend on the audience and because of it just being the two of us, we can pivot really fast. There'll be a lot more stories of what went into the songs and what they inspire in me than you would get at a full band show.”
Like you said, it gives you the flexibility because when you're playing with a full band, things are a little bit more set, yes, you'll have one or two audibles and things, but here, you can sort of play it by ear. Also, I guess in a way, potentially not do the same show twice through the run.
“Exactly. We really could get away with not doing the same show twice and we might do that. I'm not going to say that, I mean, I'm not going to set that in stone but that's very likely. Plus, I know that I'll have repeat offenders as I like to call it so I try to keep the show interesting and they’ll probably be a little different every night.”
It sounds like it could be in the Taylor Swift's surprise songs type thing where people might get a couple of different rare songs if they come more than once.
“That's a good idea, maybe we'll have a revolving door on on one of the songs.”
You’re becoming a repeat offender yourself now as you’ve been over here a lot so there's something that keeps you wanting to come back and people have really connected with you. You have played a lot of the festivals, you said you've done writers rounds, you have played with a band and played on your own so you've seen everything about this UK audience and you've really seen it grown a lot as well. Everyone's talking about the meteoric rise of country music that’s happening in Europe and the UK but you've been through it there with us for it.
“Yeah, you know, I think about the first time I came over, which was for C2C and I remember talking to, like TSA agents and when they would ask what we were doing, I would say, oh, you know, we're here for a country music festival. I remember being in Ireland and it really struck me that the TSA agent told me that his favourite artist was Johnny Cash, which I think that's incredible. I love Johnny Cash but I could tell that was the most current country reference he had. I've seen that change a lot, just the awareness of country music has really grown.”
Obviously, we're talking heavily about the tour and things over here, but it's been a while since you put a record out. I know you're writing all the time because that is what you do, but what sort of Brandy Clark era are we in? Are we back in the songwriter era? Are we working towards a new project? Are we thinking about another musical, maybe?
“So, it's funny you would say that. On this last break, I went in the studio in July and recorded three songs and it wasn't that I was unhappy with one of them, but I had been doing the song live and when I came back out and started doing the arrangement we had done in the studio, it started to fall flat. It had been really getting a response I'd never had from a new song. I had recorded those songs with Shooter Jennings and I text him and said "Hey, I feel like we need to rerecord this song. I think we should use my road band, because there's just something, there's some magic in this song with them.” He said, "Okay, let's do that on the next break and, you know, we’re spending money on the studio anyway but so it's not as costly, let's do like one or two more songs.” Well, we ended up doing six songs, it just went that well and we'll finish this record in January so I'll probably record, you know, six more and then kind of figure out what the album is but it's starting to take shape. So, I'm working on that, I'm really excited about that, there's an energy, I feel, with this record that is, I would use the word hopeful. There's an element of hope in the songs and you know, I'm a sad songer, so that part's a little different. In fact, I had played some of what I had done for Shane McAnally and he said, "Wow, there's a lightness in some of this that I don't think people have ever heard from you and I think you should lean into that." So, I've just sort of been doing that and then, I'm at the very beginning of a new musical, which we're gonna do our very first table read for in December. I'm working real hard on both those things and then I've also been working on a potential television show for the past probably year where I would be the musical component to that. We're getting ready to start pitching that and hopefully that'll find a home, so I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire.”
Fingers in a lot of pies is the one that we'd use here.
“Oh, I like that even better because pies aren't going to burn you like an iron is.”
Turning to the musicals, Shucked had a really, really successful run over here at Regent's Park, when it was first talked about bringing it over here to an outdoor stage, was there ever a worry from anyone about how it would translate to the UK market?
“It never was or if it was, it was never brought to me. Shane and I had pushed at one point to open it in the UK first, before we went to Broadway, because we felt so strongly about the way that the UK loves country and roots leaning music, and we felt like the humour would translate. When we got the opportunity to go to Regent's Park, the only thing anybody said was how beautiful of a venue it was. So, no, there was never any concern and I feel like it will end up going to the West End at some point.”
“That's a good idea, maybe we'll have a revolving door on on one of the songs.”
You’re becoming a repeat offender yourself now as you’ve been over here a lot so there's something that keeps you wanting to come back and people have really connected with you. You have played a lot of the festivals, you said you've done writers rounds, you have played with a band and played on your own so you've seen everything about this UK audience and you've really seen it grown a lot as well. Everyone's talking about the meteoric rise of country music that’s happening in Europe and the UK but you've been through it there with us for it.
“Yeah, you know, I think about the first time I came over, which was for C2C and I remember talking to, like TSA agents and when they would ask what we were doing, I would say, oh, you know, we're here for a country music festival. I remember being in Ireland and it really struck me that the TSA agent told me that his favourite artist was Johnny Cash, which I think that's incredible. I love Johnny Cash but I could tell that was the most current country reference he had. I've seen that change a lot, just the awareness of country music has really grown.”
Obviously, we're talking heavily about the tour and things over here, but it's been a while since you put a record out. I know you're writing all the time because that is what you do, but what sort of Brandy Clark era are we in? Are we back in the songwriter era? Are we working towards a new project? Are we thinking about another musical, maybe?
“So, it's funny you would say that. On this last break, I went in the studio in July and recorded three songs and it wasn't that I was unhappy with one of them, but I had been doing the song live and when I came back out and started doing the arrangement we had done in the studio, it started to fall flat. It had been really getting a response I'd never had from a new song. I had recorded those songs with Shooter Jennings and I text him and said "Hey, I feel like we need to rerecord this song. I think we should use my road band, because there's just something, there's some magic in this song with them.” He said, "Okay, let's do that on the next break and, you know, we’re spending money on the studio anyway but so it's not as costly, let's do like one or two more songs.” Well, we ended up doing six songs, it just went that well and we'll finish this record in January so I'll probably record, you know, six more and then kind of figure out what the album is but it's starting to take shape. So, I'm working on that, I'm really excited about that, there's an energy, I feel, with this record that is, I would use the word hopeful. There's an element of hope in the songs and you know, I'm a sad songer, so that part's a little different. In fact, I had played some of what I had done for Shane McAnally and he said, "Wow, there's a lightness in some of this that I don't think people have ever heard from you and I think you should lean into that." So, I've just sort of been doing that and then, I'm at the very beginning of a new musical, which we're gonna do our very first table read for in December. I'm working real hard on both those things and then I've also been working on a potential television show for the past probably year where I would be the musical component to that. We're getting ready to start pitching that and hopefully that'll find a home, so I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire.”
Fingers in a lot of pies is the one that we'd use here.
“Oh, I like that even better because pies aren't going to burn you like an iron is.”
Turning to the musicals, Shucked had a really, really successful run over here at Regent's Park, when it was first talked about bringing it over here to an outdoor stage, was there ever a worry from anyone about how it would translate to the UK market?
“It never was or if it was, it was never brought to me. Shane and I had pushed at one point to open it in the UK first, before we went to Broadway, because we felt so strongly about the way that the UK loves country and roots leaning music, and we felt like the humour would translate. When we got the opportunity to go to Regent's Park, the only thing anybody said was how beautiful of a venue it was. So, no, there was never any concern and I feel like it will end up going to the West End at some point.”
How different is the process in terms of writing for a musical? When you have a write, you might have ideas and stuff that you're bringing in, it kind of depends on the day but with Shucked you were essentially going to meet Shane are being like, right, today we're going to write a song about corn! It's more rigid in terms of your scope so are you almost looking more at more research of facts or having a list of rhyming words to bring in with?
“That's such a great question and actually, the rigidity of it makes it more free in certain ways, if that makes any sense. You know, like, okay, well, we need an opening number about corn. So, yeah, I'm over there on the computer, researching where did corn come from and all that kind of stuff to figure out, how are we going to turn corn into seven minutes? I think the challenge with writing musicals, that I love is that you can't tell the whole story in one song. You can't get ahead of the story so you might have to spend four or five minutes and talk about something but not give away where it's going. That's a challenge, because as commercial songwriters, you're taught to tell a story in three to four minutes so you sort of have to unlearn some of that. But man, there's nothing I've ever done that's been more rewarding than Shucked, for sure. I mean, to see it grow and to see that Broadway was just the beginning of the journey, it's a gift.”
I see you've been out on the road with Mary Chapin Carpenter as well, how has that run been going?
“It's been great, Mary Chapin is one of my favourite artists of all time so, to get to be around her level of craftsmanship with song is always a good reminder reminder of where the bar needs to be on songwriting. It's been fun because for this tour, I ended up with a brand new band and that's been inspiring. Like I said, we went in the studio and so to have that was another gift, like, oh, wow, maybe this next chapter of recording music is going to be a little freer for me. It’s like, okay, well, we've we've got the players for three days and that's typically how record making has been for me. So, to be in a situation where I feel comfortable pulling somebody in that I'm working with every night, there's a freedom in that and there's a language that we speak which is different than anything else, it's our own and that's really important. That's been an amazing discovery and I think the shows that have been great, Mary Chapin likes to tour very concentrated, we had fifteen shows in seventeen days. That's a lot of shows and not a lot of break, but I like it because then the breaks are real breaks. Some tours, you'll go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and you'll be in Sunday through Wednesday and you don't ever truly get your foot in either place fully so, this has been really nice.”
One thing I'd noticed through the magic of the internet and this might be the song you mentioned before about how you cut it and then you recut it, but “American Roots” seems to be the new song that you've kind of been playing and hopefully that's going to be something we're going to get to hear at some capacity when you do come over.
“Okay, I’m glad that you said that because I've been on the fence about whether or not I should play that over there.”
No, I think people will appreciate it and that it's a great time to be doing it as well.
“Okay, well, then you have just made that decision for me because I had thought that I hate that one of the real tentpoles of this next record and the only thing we've been doing live so far was something I'm not going to be able to do because it's American Roots, but you saying that makes it good.”
I think people here are always wanting to hear new music, but it's obviously a song that people have really connected with, because if people weren't connecting with it, you would take it out after the first show. Not having heard it yet myself but from how your fans have gravitated to it on socials, I’m guessing the themes are very relevant to the world as a whole right now and is something that people will appreciate over here as well.
“I didn't realise how relevant it was until we played it the very first night. My manager said, "You know, you should play that American Roots song if you want to play something new" and so I did. The first night, it got a standing ovation, and it's mid set too so I just thought, wow, this is so powerful. It was the reason I went in in the studio in July, because my thought was, let's record it and put it out but we just didn't nail the recording, it’s my fault, went down an artsier road than I should have. That’s the great thing about being on the road and that's the great thing about the audience, I feel like they'll tell you. They told me very quickly, like if I just kind of got a golf clap versus on their feet so I thought okay, I’ve gotta go back in and that’s what we did but you’ve just made me know that I need to play it over there.”
Well, I’m very pleased to have made a useful contribution to the British country music fans today but anyway, thank you so much for hanging out again, I’m really looking forward to you coming back and I'll hopefully see you in London.
“I'd love to see you again, thank you so much.”
Brandy Clark - Dear Insecurity (2024 GRAMMY Performance)
October 24—Birmingham - O2 Institute2
October 25—Manchester - Band on the Wall
October 26—Sunderland - Fire Station
October 27—Glasgow - The Old Fruitmarket
October 29—London - Islington Assembly Hall
November 1—Groningen, Netherlands - Take Root Festival
November 2—Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
Brandy Clark returns to the UK later this month for her “The Art of the Storyteller Tour” with full dates shown above and is out now and ticket information is available on her WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with Brandy socially through INSTAGRAM TWITTER or FACEBOOK.
“That's such a great question and actually, the rigidity of it makes it more free in certain ways, if that makes any sense. You know, like, okay, well, we need an opening number about corn. So, yeah, I'm over there on the computer, researching where did corn come from and all that kind of stuff to figure out, how are we going to turn corn into seven minutes? I think the challenge with writing musicals, that I love is that you can't tell the whole story in one song. You can't get ahead of the story so you might have to spend four or five minutes and talk about something but not give away where it's going. That's a challenge, because as commercial songwriters, you're taught to tell a story in three to four minutes so you sort of have to unlearn some of that. But man, there's nothing I've ever done that's been more rewarding than Shucked, for sure. I mean, to see it grow and to see that Broadway was just the beginning of the journey, it's a gift.”
I see you've been out on the road with Mary Chapin Carpenter as well, how has that run been going?
“It's been great, Mary Chapin is one of my favourite artists of all time so, to get to be around her level of craftsmanship with song is always a good reminder reminder of where the bar needs to be on songwriting. It's been fun because for this tour, I ended up with a brand new band and that's been inspiring. Like I said, we went in the studio and so to have that was another gift, like, oh, wow, maybe this next chapter of recording music is going to be a little freer for me. It’s like, okay, well, we've we've got the players for three days and that's typically how record making has been for me. So, to be in a situation where I feel comfortable pulling somebody in that I'm working with every night, there's a freedom in that and there's a language that we speak which is different than anything else, it's our own and that's really important. That's been an amazing discovery and I think the shows that have been great, Mary Chapin likes to tour very concentrated, we had fifteen shows in seventeen days. That's a lot of shows and not a lot of break, but I like it because then the breaks are real breaks. Some tours, you'll go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and you'll be in Sunday through Wednesday and you don't ever truly get your foot in either place fully so, this has been really nice.”
One thing I'd noticed through the magic of the internet and this might be the song you mentioned before about how you cut it and then you recut it, but “American Roots” seems to be the new song that you've kind of been playing and hopefully that's going to be something we're going to get to hear at some capacity when you do come over.
“Okay, I’m glad that you said that because I've been on the fence about whether or not I should play that over there.”
No, I think people will appreciate it and that it's a great time to be doing it as well.
“Okay, well, then you have just made that decision for me because I had thought that I hate that one of the real tentpoles of this next record and the only thing we've been doing live so far was something I'm not going to be able to do because it's American Roots, but you saying that makes it good.”
I think people here are always wanting to hear new music, but it's obviously a song that people have really connected with, because if people weren't connecting with it, you would take it out after the first show. Not having heard it yet myself but from how your fans have gravitated to it on socials, I’m guessing the themes are very relevant to the world as a whole right now and is something that people will appreciate over here as well.
“I didn't realise how relevant it was until we played it the very first night. My manager said, "You know, you should play that American Roots song if you want to play something new" and so I did. The first night, it got a standing ovation, and it's mid set too so I just thought, wow, this is so powerful. It was the reason I went in in the studio in July, because my thought was, let's record it and put it out but we just didn't nail the recording, it’s my fault, went down an artsier road than I should have. That’s the great thing about being on the road and that's the great thing about the audience, I feel like they'll tell you. They told me very quickly, like if I just kind of got a golf clap versus on their feet so I thought okay, I’ve gotta go back in and that’s what we did but you’ve just made me know that I need to play it over there.”
Well, I’m very pleased to have made a useful contribution to the British country music fans today but anyway, thank you so much for hanging out again, I’m really looking forward to you coming back and I'll hopefully see you in London.
“I'd love to see you again, thank you so much.”
Brandy Clark - Dear Insecurity (2024 GRAMMY Performance)
October 24—Birmingham - O2 Institute2
October 25—Manchester - Band on the Wall
October 26—Sunderland - Fire Station
October 27—Glasgow - The Old Fruitmarket
October 29—London - Islington Assembly Hall
November 1—Groningen, Netherlands - Take Root Festival
November 2—Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
Brandy Clark returns to the UK later this month for her “The Art of the Storyteller Tour” with full dates shown above and is out now and ticket information is available on her WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with Brandy socially through INSTAGRAM TWITTER or FACEBOOK.
