Truth In Lyrics

Brandy Clark returns to George’s

Brandy Clark likes things that live on the fringes. That is to say, the stories and characters that captivate her tend to be edgier, starker or more provocative than the mainstream can sometimes offer. “I used to say that my music was HBO and Showtime — so maybe the themes are a little bit too edgy for CBS and ABC,” Clark muses. Tales of wild women, drug abuse, small town scandals and marital affairs fill her songs. But so do snarky revenge fantasies, broken hearts, getting by on not enough money and rolling a fat one just to get through the day. Clark’s writing is at once raw, witty and poignant and is the reason the six-time Grammy nominee has been called “one of Nashville’s best kept secrets” (Taste of Country) and one of the “most underrated artists in country music” (radio host Bobby Bones). Her songs have been recorded by Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker and Kacey Musgraves, among others and whether she’s writing for another artist or keeping the song for herself, she says she always fights for truth in her music. “I just saw a great quote — I’ve seen it many times in my life — by Harlan Howard that, ‘Country music is three chords and the truth.’ And I think that’s really really true,” Clark shares. “There’s a few more chords in there a lot of times, but I think the truth resonates with people, even when it’s not a pretty truth.” Clark brings her smart and intimate truth-seeking back to George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville on Nov. 16 — a venue she admits is one of her favorites. “Sometimes you’ll play a club and you’re just kind of the background noise but with that place, I felt like it has such a history of being a music venue that people come there to drink a little, to have fun, but to also listen,” she recalls. “It’s what a live music venue should be.” In the process of working toward a new record, Clark says she’ll play a couple new songs during her performance at George’s, but most of the set comprises songs from her two acclaimed albums “12 Stories” and last year’s “Big Day in a Small Town.” “It’s funny how as you start to play those [new] songs live, they start to feel like home to you. And that’s always a good test [of], ‘Do I want to play this song every night?’” she reveals. But even as she carries them with her years down the road, Clark assures there are tunes she can’t imagine doing a show without. “I never tire of ‘Hold My Hand.’ Ever. That’s probably my favorite song I’ve ever written. And I never tire of ‘Get High’ because that song always saves me. When I feel like maybe I don’t have this crowd quite where I want them, ‘Get High’ will get them there.”