Brandy Clark’s ‘the bird’ fledges on January 15 – “Take Flight World Tour” follows release.
Brandy Clark announced this morning that her highly-anticipated-Shooter-Jennings-produced album ‘the bird’ is coming out in middle of January on Reprise Records — and everyone here at Folk Alley is psyched!
The song released today, “American Roots,” visits the American Dream to remind its participants that if observing best practices: humanity forms a community (or nation) through equality and unity not divisive rhetoric and exclusion.
Clark possesses one of the sharpest songwriting pencils in modern music. The new record has ingredients that portend a magical musical experience. An early 2027 album we’re likely to celebrate all year.
(PS: “American Roots” begins “Tell me ’bout your family tree…” so I was immediately stirred up and ready to feel feelings. But that’s my problem – not yours … or Brandy Clark’s.)
Official press release & track list:
Grammy, CMA and Americana Music Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Brandy Clark will release her highly anticipated new album, ‘the bird,’ January 15 via Reprise Records.
Ahead of the release, Clark unveils a new song from the project, “American Roots,” today. Written by Clark, Michael Pollack (“Dear Insecurity,” “Flowers”) and Griff Clawson, the song draws inspiration from Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” and celebrates America as a place of unity, reflecting on shared experiences and connections. It has been met with an overwhelming response when performed live, eliciting spontaneous mid-song standing ovations.
Produced by Shooter Jennings and recorded at Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound with her road band—Gabe Burdulia, Amanda McCoy and Erin Nelson—’the bird’ is a deeply human record that examines the search for connection in a world often defined by division. Across the album’s 11 tracks, including collaborations with Rosanne Cash and SistaStrings, Clark
A powerful live performer, Clark will embark on her extensive “Take Flight World Tour” next year, with newly confirmed shows in Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Charleston and Atlanta, among many others. See below for complete tour itinerary. Tickets for the tour go on sale today at 10:00am local time, full details can be found at www.brandyclarkmusic.com.
The new music arrives on the heels of Clark being named one of The New York Times’ “The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters,” further cementing her place as one of the most respected and influential voices in modern music. Clark appears alongside Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, with The New York Times praising the trio as “Music Row pros par excellence, brilliant practitioners of the time-honored tradecraft: crisp hooks, witty wordplay, brisk storytelling, songs that click and whir like little machines” and goes on to call Clark, “a star recording artist in her own right.”
One of her generation’s most esteemed songwriters and musicians, Clark earned Best Americana Performance at the 66th Grammy Awards and Song of the Year at the 2024 Americana Honors & Awards for “Dear Insecurity,” a deeply personal track featuring 11-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile. The song appears on her self-titled album, produced by Carlile and widely hailed as a defining work, with outlets like Forbes, Variety, and Billboard praising her exceptional songwriting and vocal artistry.
Beyond her solo work, Clark’s songwriting credits include standout tracks such as “A Beautiful Noise,” the Grammy-nominated duet performed by Carlile and Alicia Keys, Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow,” and Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart.” She also composed the music for the hit musical comedy, Shucked, alongside her longtime collaborator McAnally. For the show, Clark won Outstanding Music at the 67th Drama Desk Awards and was nominated for Best Original Score at the 76th Tony Awards, where Shucked received nine nominations overall. Most recently, she performed “Trailblazer (Dream Chaser Version)” at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards alongside Reba McEntire and Lukas Nelson—a reimagined take on her Grammy-nominated song “Trailblazer,” originally co-written with Lainey Wilson and Lambert.
‘THE BIRD’ TRACK LIST
1. The Loner And The Lonely
2. Tower
3. Still Found You
4. Goodnight Los Angeles
5. And The Sun Said To The Moon
6. American Roots
7. The Bird
8. Astronaut (feat. SistaStrings)
9. Stranger On A Plane
10. Old Woman (feat. Rosanne Cash)
11. If There’s Someone You Love
Pre-Order ‘the bird.’
