Brandy Clark grew up in Morton, Washington, where the population is just a nudge above 1,000. She would sit in her room plunking around on her guitar and scribbling down lyrics to songs.
After moving to Nashville in 1998 to follow her country music dreams, when her family and friends wanted to visit her, they would drive the 2,386 miles to Music City, making it there - with some hard and consistent time behind the steering wheel - in one day and 11 hours.
Nowadays, Clark's family and friends can visit her in mere micro-seconds, not days and hours, when they connect with her by hearing one of her songs on the radio. She's penned chart-topping songs for Miranda Lambert ("Mama's Broken Heart") and The Band Perry ("Better Dig Two") plus Toby Keith's current smash, "Drunk Americans." Her songs have also been recorded by Kacey Musgrave, Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, Craig Morgan, Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, Craig Campbell, Gretchen Wilson and more.
And on the night of Nov. 5, Clark's family and friends will also be able to see the singer-songwriter instantaneously on their TV sets when they tune in to the CMA Awards show where Clark is up for New Artist of The Year and Song of The Year.
In addition to the CMA show this year and last year, the Washington songstress has already had some great on-air experiences, performing on both "Late Night With David Letterman" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Her song "Stripes" was featured in Beats Music's Super Bowl commercial, starring DeGeneres.
The mega-talented Clark - in an exclusive HNGN interview - shares her thoughts on her pair of CMA Awards nominations, the reason she loves to perform, why her songs make such a strong connection to listeners, the best thing about her debut album as an artist and what she learned from touring with Jennifer Nettles and Eric Church that she can use on her upcoming tour with Alan Jackson.
In discussing her CMA Award nomination for New Artist of the Year, Clark told HNGN, "That was a big shocker to me. It still hasn't fully hit me, but it is pretty dang exciting. Pretty dang cool."
"You know, I remember watching the CMA Awards show growing up. I've never missed watching the show. And I dreamed of being there, but I really never thought I would be there. So, this is definitely a little girl's dream come true."
Clark is nominated for Song of the Year at this year's CMAs for co-writing Kacey Musgrave's hit "Follow Your Arrow." She wrote the song with Musgraves and Shane McAnally. Clark was also up for Song Of The Year at last year's CMA show for co-writing Miranda Lambert's No. 1 "Mama's Broken Heart," also with Musgraves and McAnally. Clark confesses her reaction to this year's nomination is different from last year's experience.
"Last year I was nominated for 'Mama's Broken Heart.' That was just crazy and overwhelming," she said. "This year, 'Follow Your Arrow' is even more shocking to me, because it wasn't the chart success that 'Mama's Broken Heart' was. So, it's really awesome to me, because it feels like the industry is saying that even though this song didn't necessarily scream up the charts, it's important and important for the country music format. That's what I read into it. Now, I might be reading into it way wrong, but that's what I'll take away from the nomination."
So, how does it feel for Clark when she sits in a room, either by herself, or with other top Nashville songwriters, and starts with an idea that blossoms into a full-fledge song? A song that has the chance to make someone cry, laugh or feel some other kind of emotion and, perhaps, make their life a little better.
"Songwriting is the best job in the world. I can't imagine a better job. That's what I love to do," she explained. "I live for somebody to tell me a song I wrote is their favorite song."
Clark released "12 Stories," her debut album as an artist, last year. The album features the singles "Stripes," "Get High" and "Hungover." The album was named the Top Album of 2013 by New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Boston Globe, New York Post and NPR's Ann Powers, among others.
Now that "12 Stories" is out for her audiences to hear, Clark acknowledges that creating songs that touch people has an even deeper meaning for her now than before.
"One of the huge blessings of me putting out my own record is that I do get to see how a song touches people, in a way that most co-writers on songs don't get to see, because they are not out there right with the country music fans. People will come up to me and cry and say my dad died and your record really got me through that tough time. Or I'm in a bad marriage and listening to 'Stripes' makes it better."
She paused. "I did have a woman tell me that very thing about 'Stripes.' She said I really want to do what's in that 'Stripes' song, but I just listen to it. When people share with you how songs have an impact on their lives, you know, as a songwriter, that you've hit the mark."
See Clark's powerful "Stripes" video here:
Clark revealed that she didn't always hit the mark as a songwriter until she had an epiphany.
"I decided several years back that I was going to quit writing songs with other songwriters. 'Cause sometimes you get in the mode of trying to 'out do' each other, to impress other songwriters," she explained. "And that's when I started to think, 'Ok, if the tellers at the bank wanted to write a song, what would they write?' I realized that they would talk about their lives."
"So, I started taking from friends of mine who weren't songwriters, good people who were working 9 to 5 and raising their kids. I started trying to tell their story - and that's when things really started to pop for me. That's who's gonna buy the music. And I think sometimes in the business part of it we forget that."
Clark, currently out on tour as part of Eric Church's The Outsiders World Tour, said that the experience she's had touring with Jennifer Nettles and Church will help her with her upcoming Alan Jackson tour.
"I feel so fortunate that I've had the touring experience that I have had. This is only my second week on Eric's tour. He plays huge arenas."
"When I stepped out on the stage that first night for sound check on Eric's tour, I thought back to my touring with Jennifer. I played about 40 or 50 gigs with her. They were all in theaters, outdoor sheds and fairs and stuff. That was just me and my guitar."
"At that sound check on Eric's tour, I thought, 'Thank God, I had that time performing with Jennifer under my belt, because Eric's show is so massive and I have a band for this."
Clark kicks off 2015 performing with Alan Jackson's 25th Anniversary Keepin' It Country tour. The tour commences in Fort Myers, Florida, on Jan. 8. She says she is prepared and ready for the Jackson tour.
"Now that I've done the Jennifer tours and when the Eric tour is done, I think Alan's tour will fall somewhere in the middle of that. Jennifer's tour was smaller venues and Eric's tour is definitely more of a rock and roll show. It's a very big show."
So, how does Clark compete with Church's big show in the big arenas?
"I did wonder how I would fit into the scheme of a huge tour. But I quickly found out that Eric's fans really like music, so I just go and be myself."
"I'm not rock and roll," she said, laughing, "so I try to take what I do and make it a little louder."
