Spotlight On: BRANDY CLARK
ABOUT this week’s podcast guest + radio hour featured interview:
Raised in a tiny logging town in Washington State, Brandy Clark grew up surrounded by music, especially country music. Her mom was a musician who played several instruments and was a big music fan, with tastes ranging from the stars of country radio to show tunes, to Patsy Cline, Alison Krauss, and kd lang. And right next door, country music of an older generation filled her grandmother’s house, with artists like Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn. Brandy had a guitar in her hands before she was 10 and started writing songs, but while music was part of the fabric of her life, so was sports, and it wasn’t until she went to college in Nashville that Brandy decided to pursue music as a career. It didn't take long before she joined the ranks of Music Row's finest songwriters, penning songs for the likes of Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Toby Keith, and many others. But unlike many who chose that path, she also began her career as an artist, self-releasing a self-titled EP in 2012, which led to her full length debut 12 Stories in 2013. Now, in a year that marks the tenth anniversary of that album, the eleven-time Grammy nominee has just released her fourth full length album, a gorgeous self-titled collection produced by fellow Washington State native, Brandi Carlile, and the original score that she penned with her longtime collaborator Shane McAnally for the Broadway musical Shucked was just nominated for Best Musical Score at the Tony Awards, one of 9 overall nominations it received, becoming one of the most-nominated shows this year. It is a thrilling time to welcome Brandy Clark as this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.
ALSO on the SHEROES Radio Hour:
SHERO BIRTHDAYS:
Kacey Musgraves 35th (8/21)
Tori Amos 60th (8/22)
Dua Lipa (8/22)
Radio SHERO: Our guest Radio SHERO this week is Laura Shine of WFPK in Louisville, Kentucky, spinning a track by newcomer Zaniah.
Listen to the syndicated public radio SHEROES Radio hour: