Brandy Clark is Happily Settling into Americana

metroweekly.com:

Shucked, the Broadway musical she co-wrote with longtime collaborator Shane McNally.“[It] was really, honestly incredible to be nominated across three genres, with country, Americana, and musical theater,” she says.These days, Clark feels pretty well embraced by the country music industry.

She’s part of an unprecedented wave of LGBTQ performing artists in Nashville, a lineup that includes TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne, Orville Peck, Lily Rose, Brooke Eden, Allison Russell, and, of course, Carlile.Clark had established herself as a top-notch songwriter for hire in Nashville long before she launched a recording career.“When Kenny Rogers recorded a song of mine called ‘She’ll Believe You,’ that was a massive pinch-me moment,” Clark says.

Two years later, in 2010, Reba McEntire followed suit with a pair of Clark-penned songs, and then came a parade of hits for Miranda Lambert (“Mama’s Broken Heart”), LeAnn Rimes (“Crazy Women”), The Band Perry (“Better Dig Two”), and Kacey Musgraves (“Follow Your Arrow”).In 2017, the Oak Ridge Boys covered “Pray to Jesus,” one of the standout tracks from Clark’s superb 2013 debut album 12 Stories. “I don’t really remember life without their music, so to have them record my song was pretty big,” Clark says about the Boys.“What I find is, the more personal [a song] is to me, the more people relate to it,” says Clark, noting the incredible responses she’s been getting to “Dear Insecurity,” “Buried,” and “She Smoked in the House” among her newest collection of songs.Enlisting Carlile to produce Brandy Clark was a savvy decision not only because it helped Clark snag her first Grammy and establish her in the Americana realm.