Brandy Clark was engaged most of her life writing songs, playing music and belting out her vocal chords.
Fifteen
years ago, the Washington native followed the path of countless
aspiring musicians before her, packing her bags and moving to Nashville.
Through the years, she’s found some degree of success, but in the last
two years, her career has begun really taking off.
While she had
pretty much decided to focus her efforts on penning new songs rather
than performing them, executives at The Fitzgerald Hartley Company took
notice of Clark’s potential and asked her to start recording some tracks
of her own.
Clark
recorded 12 tracks for a debut album that is currently in the works. At
the same time, songs she had written were cut by top country artists,
including Miranda Lambert, Rodney Carrington, Darius Rucker and LeAnn
Rhymes.
Clark said that A lot of things happened for me all at once after a long time of waiting.The
rising starlet describes her style as being a very raw look at life,
swaying more toward a traditional country style than the country-pop
amalgamation that has dominated the genre in recent years.
Among
the tracks on her forthcoming debut album are “The Day She Got
Divorced,” “Get High,” “Hung Over” and “Will It Keep Me out of Heaven.”
As the titles reflect, the songs aim to appeal to the everyman and
every woman fighting to get through the struggles of day-to-day of life.“I wouldn’t say it’s pretty in any way,” Clark said. “It’s life as it happens. It’s the other side of real life.”
Southern
Illinoisans may remember Clark from her concert performance at Walker’s
Bluff last summer, opening for Tracy Lawrence. Now, she’s poised to
return to the venue next week, as she will open for country icon Sheryl
Crow at 6 p.m. Friday, June 22. Tickets for the concert are $60 and can
be purchased online at SouthernTicketsOnline.com or by calling 618-453-6000.
But
not only is she excited to be joining an icon on stage, she’s also
thrilled to be coming back to Southern Illinois, and Walker’s Bluff in
particular. She said the environment and the fans last year were
amazing, and she’s hoping to have a similar experience again.
“I just hope to keep making great music,” she said. “I hope that this record gets out to the masses and that people enjoy it.”