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Nashville's Brandy Clark Keeps A Dozen Songs For Herself [The Hartford Courant]
[October 21, 2014]

Nashville's Brandy Clark Keeps A Dozen Songs For Herself [The Hartford Courant]


(Hartford Courant (CT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 21--Nashville musician Brandy Clark has been writing songs, for herself and for artists like Miranda Lambert, the Band Perry, LeAnn Rimes, Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker, for years. It wasn't until last year's "12 Stories," however, that she had an album with her own name on it.



Other singers were interested in the material, and Clark could have probably made a quick buck by selling them, but she didn't. "Once we got into recording and the process of picking out songs, then I reserved certain songs," Clark said. "In our business we say 'I held them.' ... I felt not only had I put in so much effort, but [producer] Dave [Brainard] had too... I wasn't going to let those songs be cut by other people in the 11th hour." Clark and her band will open for Eric Church when he plays two shows at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18. Dwight Yoakam is also on the bill.

The songs on "12 Stories" don't stray far from established Nashville conventions. There are ballads ("Hold My Hand," "In Some Corner"), where instruments grow in strength toward a climax, and others ("What'll Keep Me Out of Heaven," "Just Like Him") with a definite soft-rock feel; variations on blues-rock ("Pray to Jesus," "Get High"); comically dark revenge-type songs ("Stripes," "Hungover"), and so on. The craftsmanship of the songs isn't surprising, given Clark's Nashville pedigree. (Clark also works well with other songsmiths; 11 of the 12 songs are collaborations, with only "Get High" credited solely to her.) What's remarkable, perhaps, is that none of the "12 Stories" sound like filler, and they gain steam by being part of a strong collection. "12 Stories" comes pretty close to being a country-rock concept album.


"I had two concepts in my head," Clark says. "Either 'A Day in the Life of One Woman' or 'The Length of a Relationship.'... We didn't do either of those concepts, but I think it helped us in our song selection, having those concepts in our minds. It made it more cohesive. This was the first record I've made, but I think with every album I make I'm going to start out with some sort of concept." Once the album was completed, it took two years of searching for a label to put it out. Slate Creek Records, a Texas-based label, eventually stepped in, after nearly every other major or indie label passed. "12 Stories" was released in October 2013, and critics adored it; New York Magazine pop critic Jody Rosen called it his "favorite album of 2013," and it topped NPR critic Ann Powers' year-end list as well.

"It felt amazing, because the two years of rejection from major labels made me feel like, 'Well, maybe it's not as great as Dave and I thought it was,'" Clark said. "There were times in the making of it and when it was finished -- not just Dave and I but also other people involved in it, management and co-writers -- when people would say, 'Man, this is my favorite record ever.' People we met with who ultimately passed on it, even some of them would say, 'This is my favorite record I've heard in years.' But with it not coming out and getting rejected, you do start to feel like, 'Oh, maybe everyone I'm asking is kind of like my mom.'" The latest challenge for Clark will be finding out how her songs play in larger venues.

"That's one of the big challenges," Clark said. "I've done so many shows this year with just myself and a guitar, and I know how it plays there. This is my first tour with a band, so that presents another challenge and another bag of fun, so to speak. There are some songs I can do with a band that just don't go over as well with me and a guitar." BRANDY CLARK opens for Eric Church and Dwight Yoakam at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville on Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40-$75. Information: mohegansun.com.

___ (c)2014 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) Visit The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.) at www.courant.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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