Brandy Clark has had a reputation as one of Nashville's best songwriters since she broke through with ‘Mama's Broken Heart', a song she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves and which Miranda Lambert took to number two back in 2013. Since then her songs have been cut by artists including Reba McEntire, Sherly Crow and The Band Perry, and she also has three solo albums under her belt – most recently 2020's ‘Your Life Is A Record'. Now she's back in the UK for the first time since 2019 on her The Art of the Storyteller Tour, which kicked off last night with a show at Indigo at the O2 in London.
Clark stepped on stage with her acoustic guitar to cheers and applause from the enthusiastic crowd, before telling us that this tour would be a little different as she wanted to ‘tell more stories'. She began by telling the crowd about her grandmother, who kickstarted Clark's love of music by playing tapes to her and her brother in her convertible, and introduced us to some of her key influences through a medley combining ‘The Gambler', ‘Top Of The World' and ‘King Of The Road' – as well as encouraging the audience to sing along! It was a great start that really showed where Clark's mix of sounds comes from and she made each of the three songs her own.
Throughout the rest of the set, Clark took us on a tour through her career as a songwriter and an artist. Accompanied by her band – bassist Vanessa and guitarist Cy, who also got their own moment to shine later on as the Tattletale Saints, performing a cover of ABBA's classic ‘Dancing Queen' and their hilarious original ‘DINK' – she played a selection of tracks from across her three albums, as well as tracks she's written which have been milestones in her musical life. Even in those early songs you can really see her skill as a storyteller and her ability to tap into tiny details, such as on ‘That's Why I Hate Pontiacs' which brings to life the story of a teenage romance cut short. It's so vivid you almost feel like you're there with the characters and she draws you into their world completely.
One thing I love about Clark's music is how versatile she is. She can switch from the likes of ‘Three Kids No Husband' and ‘The Day She Got Divorced', which show off her lush, rich vocals despite their sombre stories of women struggling to get by, to the stomping ‘Girl Next Door' with its biting, defiant chorus. She even paused to sing ‘Happy Birthday' to audience member Nikki, which I felt was a lovely touch and shows just how much she loves her fans here in the UK (and judging from the audience response the feeling was definitely mutual!). I also felt she came across as incredibly warm and personal on stage, cracking jokes about her love of British chocolate and telling stories about her songwriting inspirations, which ranged from a quip from John Prine for the jangly yet bittersweet ‘Who You Thought I Was' to a line in a Stephen King novel that led to ‘Pawn Shop', with its stories of people giving up on their dreams before taking a turn at the end.
One of the standout songs of the night was ‘Same Devil', which features on the deluxe edition of ‘Your Life Is A Record' which Clark released last year. It's a spine-tinglingly atmospheric track with a level of darkness that lingers long after the last note, and is full of haunting imagery of people trying and failing to outrun their problems. I also loved the new tracks ‘Blue Sky', with its optimistic message that put me in mind of Kacey Musgraves' ‘Rainbow', and ‘Tell Her You Don't Love Her', which sees Clark begging a man to put her friend out of her misery by breaking it off and for all. They both really encapsulated her style and sound whilst also feeling like a progression away from her previous work, and I'm so excited for her new record – she mentioned it's planned for next spring so keep an eye out for that!
After what she jokingly referred to as ‘the substance abuse portion of the show' – featuring ‘Get High', ‘Take A Little Pill' and the rollicking ‘You're Drunk' – Clark closed her main set with arguably two of her biggest hits, ‘Stripes' and ‘Hold My Hand'. The former – preceded by a story about the time she and Shane McAnally jumped a fence on a writer's retreat – showed off her humorous side and had the crowd singing and clapping along, whilst the latter is a gorgeous, moving ballad that taps perfectly into the sense of insecurity one feels meeting a partner's ex. These two tracks really capture her as an artist and were the ideal ending to a night of great music. The crowd rose as one to give her a standing ovation at the end, which feels like a real testament to just how much she is loved by audiences over here.
After a few moments, Clark happily obliged the crowd's request for an encore, starting with ‘Pray To Jesus'. The song's balance of a jaunty melody with lyrics telling the tale of desperate people trying to escape their problems through religion and gambling is a great encapsulation of Clark's style, and it's a very difficult thing to pull off – but she does it with aplomb. She followed that with ‘Better Dig Two', originally recorded by The Band Perry, before finishing with a delicate version of the Shirelles' ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow'. It really brought the whole show full circle and felt like a fitting tribute to where Clark has come from musically, as well as leaving us excited about where she might go next.
Overall Brandy Clark produced a fantastic evening that showed just how skilful she is as a storyteller. Her lyrics create such vibrant worlds and characters that you feel completely immersed in them, and she delivers them in a voice like a glass of good whiskey – rich, smooth, warm and with just enough of a kick. It really felt like a masterclass in songwriting and showed her love for her craft. Now bring on that new album!
Set list: 1. The Gambler/Top Of The World/King Of The Road (Kenny Rogers/The Carpenters/Roger Miller cover) 2. That's Why I Hate Pontiacs (made famous by Rebecca Lynn Howard) 3. Three Kids No Husband 4. The Day She Got Divorced 5. Same Devil 6. Girl Next Door 7. Happy Birthday (sung to audience member Nikki) 8. Who You Thought I Was 9. Pawn Shop 10. Blue Sky 11. Tell Her You Don't Love Her 12. Dancing Queen (ABBA cover) (performed by Tattletale Saints) 13. DINK (performed by Tattletale Saints) 14. Get High 15. Take A Little Pill 16. You're Drunk 17. Stripes 18. Hold My Hand Encore: 19. Pray To Jesus 20. Better Dig Two (made famous by The Band Perry) 21. Will You Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles cover) Performance date: 31st August 2022
See Brandy Clark on tour in the UK this September:
September 1 – RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester (with Alex Hall and Seaforth)
September 3 – Whelan's, Dublin (with Alex Hall)
September 4 – Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow (with Alex Hall)
September 6 – The Fire Station, Sunderland (with Alex Hall)
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