Singer-Songwriter: Morton Native’s Songs Making It Onto Major Country, Gospel Albums

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    Decades of hard work by 1994 Morton High School graduate Brandy Clark are beginning to pay off. Clark, who has been working to break into the country music business for years, had some of her songs picked up by major country and gospel music entertainers this year, including two songs on a new Reba McEntire album.

    Country gospel artist Guy Penrod used one of Clark’s songs, “The Maker of Them All,” on his “Breath Deep” album, released in February. Breathcast.com called the fast-paced song about how God loves everyone regardless of social status, a “barn burner.”

    Country music and multimedia mega-star Reba McEntire recently picked up two of Clark’s songs on her newest studio album, “All the Women I Am.”

    Billboard referred to the Clark songs as “keepers.”

    Not everyone was happy with the album, however. Sally Clark, Brandy Clark’s mother, said that the country music business is “99 percent rejection.” That applies to everyone, even well-established artists. A Washington Post review was less than flattering about McEntire’s newest effort, saying that the album “tries harder, with worse results” than previous releases.

    Clark’s two songs came to McEntire’s rescue.



    The Post’s review went on to say “... when ‘Women’ is good, it’s really good,” and refers to Clark’s two songs, “Cry” and “The Day I Got Divorced,” as two of three redeeming songs on the album.

    Clark also had a song picked up by Grammy Award winning artist LeAnn Rimes, who has been performing it live for some time, according to Sally Clark. The song “Crazy Women” was released to radio on Nov. 8, and is slated to be on Rimes’ forthcoming album, “Lady and Gentleman,” scheduled for release early next year, according to Rimes’s website.

    Clark, who lives in Nashville, has a long history of music that began with her family, according to Sally Clark.

    “Brandy was always quite talented,” Sally Clark said of her daughter. But that’s what one would expect the mother of a hard-working daughter to say. The real proof of talent is professional recognition, and all the signs are demonstrating that the country music community is beginning to recognize the talent that mom has always known was there.

    Videos of Clark singing several of her songs, including “The Day She Got Divorced,” are posted online with this story at www.chronline.com.

(This version CORRECTS the subhead to say that Clark is from Morton, not Mossyrock.)