Brandy Clark Discusses ‘Pinch Me’ Moments

Brandy Clark has been in a whirlwind since releasing her debut album, '12 Stories,' last fall. 

The singer-songwriter has gained name recognition after helping pen some country favorites including Miranda Lambert's 'Mama's Broken Heart,' 'Better Dig Two' by the Band Perry and Kacey Musgraves' 'Follow Your Arrow.' Clark has had a ton of "pinch me" moments on her journey, but there are a couple that stand out.

“Jake Owen called me and left me a message that made me cry,” she says. “It was about a minute and a half long about what my record meant to him and that was really nice.”

There was also the time that a man came up the aisle at one of her shows and began motioning for everyone to stand up.

"Everyone stood up and started clapping during the song, so that was definitely an ‘Oh my God’ moment and hard for me to keep my composure,” she says.

Despite all of the success Clark has seen with '12 Stories' -- the album made 'Best of 2013' lists from NPR, Rolling Stone and New York Magazine -- she says that she has higher hopes for the album than just commercial success.

"I hope it will hit as many ears as possible," she tells the Boot. "But more than hitting ears, I hope it will hit a lot of hearts. My goal as a writer is always to write songs that people who aren’t songwriters would write, if they were songwriters. So I hope that’s what this record will do. I hope that someone who’s in Middle America taking their kids to school, and going and working at a bank or a grocery store, will say, 'That’s my song.' That’s what I really hope."

Clark is currently on tour opening for Jennifer Nettles. A full list of live performances is available on her website.