Today's feature spotlights an artist who has more than made it in Nashville as an acclaimed, award winning songwriter. An artist who after 10 years in Music City, finally has begun to get the recognition as a performer she deserves, being nominated in 2015 for Best New Artist at the Grammys.

AIMP Nashville Awards
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The list of artists who have recorded songs written by Brandy Clark reads like a who's who of Nashville. Clark's tunes have been recorded by the Band Perry ("Better Dig Two"), Miranda Lambert ("Mama's Broken Heart"), Toby Keith ("Drunk Americans"), Kacey Musgraves ("Follow Your Arrow" and "Biscuits"), David Nail, Reba McEntire, Gretchen Wilson, Craig Campbell, Sheryl Crow, Terri Clark, Darius Rucker and Wade Bowen just to name a few. Her songs have been nominated for the CMA or ACM Song of the Year award 5 times, with Kacey Musgraves' rendition of "Follow Your Heart" winning the award in 2015. She has been a Grammy nominee for Song of the Year twice (2013 & 2016), Album of the Year (2015) and Best New Artist (2015).

Not too bad for an artist that most people haven't heard of.

Jennifer Nettles Concert At House Of Blues Las Vegas
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Born and raised in Morton, WA, a town of a just over 900 people in the shadow of Mount St. Helens, Brandy grew up listening to, and being influenced by artists like Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. Clark began playing guitar at age nine, and began writing songs at her mother's encouragement. She began performing in school musicals, but sports was primary in her life. After high school, she attended Central Washington University on a basketball scholarship. After a short stay at CWU, Clark returned home to attend Junior College where she began to concentrate on her music more, eventually forming a band with her mother and a friend.

Brandy's stay at the local community college earned her an associates degree, and she decided to give university life another go, moving to Nashville and enrolling at Belmont University in 1998. Clark studied commercial music at Belmont, and was eventually chosen to perform in the school's legendary "Best of the Best" showcase. After graduating, she would land a job at Leadership Music publishing, a job that would eventually lead to a publishing contract for Clark.

2013 CMA Songwriters Series Featuring Brett James, Love & Theft, Brandy Clark And Shane McAnally
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After Sheryl Crow recorded Clark's song "Homecoming Queen" in 2012, Brandy would land the slot at Crow's opening act on the Feels Like Home tour, where Clark would meet Marty Stuart. Stuart quickly became a Clark advocate and she was asked to perform at Stuart's Grand Ole Opry anniversary celebration later that year. At the same time she released her self-titled debut EP.

Americana's Cross County Lines
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In 2013 she was chosen as one of CMT's Women of Country. Her debut album 12 Stories was released, featuring another Opry stalwart, Vince Gill on backing vocals. The album featured three singles, none of which made a ripple on the Country singles charts. In 2016, Clark followed her debut effort with Big Day In A Small Town, released June 10th. The first single from the album, "Girl Next Door" became Clark's first top-40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.

Today, our spotlight falls on the second single from Clark's second album. Brandy Clark and "Love Can Go To Hell" are today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

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