Interview by Zoe Hodges

Brandy Clark returns to the UK next month almost two-and-a-half years on from her last pop-up show in London, and promises a night of storytelling, songwriting destined to take you on a journey.

In the summer of 2023, the event held at Blacks Club was an intimate affair, focused very much on the stories behind the songs and Brandy took a relaxed approach to the setlist she had scribbled down. So close was the audience, they could have just whispered their requests and the Stripes singer was more than happy to oblige. At the time, her eponymous record had just hit the shelves and her musical Shucked, which she co-wrote with long-time friend and writing partner Shane McAnally, had opened on Broadway. Since then, both projects have been on a journey and their creator has enjoyed the ride.

After receiving 17 Grammy nominations during her career so far, in 2024 her duet with Brandi Carlile, ‘Dear Insecurity’from that self-titled album became her first win at the 66th Grammy Awards. “That was really incredible,” she reflects. “I had wanted that Grammy for a long time. There was a moment where I thought, oh my gosh, am I going to be 0 for 17? But I’m really glad that I won that Grammy, and it’s like a bit of a monkey off your back.”

She received her first Grammy nomination back in 2013 for a song she co-wrote with Kacey Musgraves and Shane McAnally and made famous by Miranda Lambert, ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’. She lost out on that occasion to her fellow co-writers Shane and Kacey, alongside Josh Osborne who won Best Country Song for ‘Merry Go Round’. “Everybody said this is your year. To be nominated this many times, which I wouldn’t change that, I’d actually rather be nominated many, many times and not win, because it’s so much fun just to be in the mix and be invited to the party! I’ve been invited to the party a lot, and that feels incredible.”

On this occasion, it wasn’t just her solo projects that received nods but the soundtrack to that musical that has been in the works for over a decade. Shucked enjoyed 28 previews and 327 performances on Broadway before it closed in 2024 and embarked on a US tour. Most recently, the show spent five weeks at Regents Park Open Air Theatre in London. Brandy, who has always been vocal about how much she enjoys her time in the UK, was confident that the show would resonate with the British audience.

“Because of my time playing in the UK, I knew the show would do well with a UK audience. I feel like I understand what UK audiences appreciate and I think it’s storytelling songwriting and I knew that we had that part of it in spades. So that felt good to me to be right about that. The hope is, and the plan is, that it’ll open on the West End at some point. I can’t wait for as many people in the world to see it as possible and it is one of those things where that can really happen. Right now it’s in San Francisco! I think this touring cast, and I’ve also heard the same thing about the London cast, they’re on par with what we had on Broadway.”

Brandy and Shane, two prolific storytellers and household names within country music teamed up with Robert Horn to bring this show to life. Despite the long journey up to this point, it is far from over which is something Brandy finds incredibly rewarding. “Shucked was an 11 year journey from the day we started to get to Broadway. It’s the most rewarding thing I think I’ve ever done, it continues to be rewarding, because as the show tours, it just reaches more and more people.”

Some of Brandy’s favourite songs that she and Shane penned during that 11-year period have yet to be heard as the story shifted and changed on the road to Broadway but she hasn’t ruled out sharing them at a later date. “We talked about doing an album called From The Shucking Room Floor because, honestly, there are songs that didn’t make it that I love more than some of the songs in the show! That was one of the things that was really challenging about writing a musical, it’s not always the best song that makes it, it’s the best right song to tell the story. We did a Tony event, and I played a couple of the songs that didn’t make it, and people lost their minds because for as funny and irreverent as that show is, it was more irreverent at times and it made for some good laughs.”

Now the creative trio are exploring ways of making a film adaptation of the show. “We’re working on it right now,” Brandy confirms. “Robert Horn, who wrote the book for the musical, he’s working on the script. It’s early in the process, but it is moving down the track. I do think there will be a time in the next couple years that you’ll see Shucked in theaters.”

In the meantime, Brandy has been touring the US with one of her biggest inspirations, Mary Chapin Carpenter. The five-time Grammy award winner has sold over 16 million records worldwide and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. “She’s one of my big influences, and I got to do some shows with her in 2023 and we decided it’d be fun to do a full tour. It’s great to be out there with someone who’s such a master of their craft in the way that Mary Chapin Carpenter is. You know, I’m inspired every night when I hear her songs old and new. She’s got a new song on her album called ‘The Night We Never Met’ that’s as good as any song I’ve ever heard.”

This week the pair will play at the mother church of country music, the Ryman Auditorium in what is expected to be a sold-out show. Though it’s not Brandy’s first rodeo there, she says it’s a feeling that never gets old, and not an occasion she takes for granted. “Anytime I get to play the Ryman, it’s just so great. I mean, I got to headline it for the very first time in 2023 and so now to come back there and share the bill with Mary Chapin is a really big deal. You’re standing on hallowed ground on that stage, and I never have a hard time getting up for that show.”

As she looks ahead to her trip across the pond, she promises a storytelling masterclass and a lot of fun! “It’s going to be very intimate. I’m just taking one other player with me and one thing I look forward to is with that kind of freedom, the set can change every night, depending on what people are wanting and what they’re resonating towards. It’s a living, breathing thing, I love it when it feels like that – it’s evolving, the audience is half of it. So, depending on what everybody’s resonating towards, is what I’ll try to give people more of. I plan on telling a lot of stories that go along with songs, and maybe even talk about some songs that made me want to write songs – it’s going to be a really fun time.”

Following the run of shows across the UK, Brandy will head to the Netherlands for a couple of festival shows and the timing could not be better. “I love that we’re gonna be in Amsterdam on Halloween. I don’t know if Halloween is as big of a deal over there as it is over here, but the idea of being in Amsterdam on Halloween, for some reason, really feels cool to me and I love it over there.”

When Brandy returns to the States, she is heading back into the studio to work on her fifth studio album which she says is already coming together quite nicely. “I’m starting on a new record that I’m very excited about. I’ve been writing for it and recording a little along the way, and figuring out the direction. In fact, I’m going in this weekend to record a few things, and it’s starting to take shape. That helps inform my songwriting for it and I’m having a good time with it. I’ll probably finish it in January/February, and then I think it’ll probably be out in the spring or summer.”

Brandy Clark’s UK tour kicks off in Birmingham on October 24th. She travels to Manchester, Sunderland, Glasgow and London before she plays two shows in the Netherlands.