Big Day in a Small Town is the second studio album by American country music artist Brandy Clark. It was released on June 10, 2016, through Warner Bros. Records. The album was nominated for Best Country Album and the album's second single, "Love Can Go To Hell", was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
Background Two of the album's tracks were previously recorded by other artists: "Homecoming Queen" previously appeared on Feels Like Home, the 2013 studio album by Sheryl Crow, and "Three Kids No Husband" previously appeared on the 2014 album Numbered Doors, by its co-writer Lori McKenna.
The track "Daughter" features Clark's close friend and collaborator Kacey Musgraves on harmony vocals.
Critical reception
Big Day in a Small Town received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 84 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 5 reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic states: "Songs rarely come much better than these." Rolling Stones Will Hermes calls it "music tooled alternately for stadiums and songwriting circles, commercial and public radio, line-dance bars and coffee shops." Additionally, it was the Spin "album of the week" and called "fantastic; often a superb piece of recorded music" by reviewer Alfred Soto. The Boston Globes Stuart Munro wrote: "If you're looking for alternatives to mainstream country, Clark is still providing one... you just have to keep listening beyond the first two tracks to find it."
+Award nominations for Big Day in a Small Town Year Association Category Result 2017 Grammy Awards Best Country Album
+Accolades for Big Day in a Small Town Publication Rank List AllMusic N/A Best Albums of 2016 American Songwriter 21 Top 50 Albums of 2016 Entertainment Weekly 8 The Best Country Albums of 2016 Rolling Stone 6 40 Best Country Albums of 2016 27 50 Best Albums of 2016 Stereogum 4 The 20 Best Country Albums of 2016 Uproxx 7 The 20 Best Country Albums of 2016
Track listing Writing credits source: BMIBMI Repertoire Search for CLARK BRANDY LYNN
Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.
Musicians Brandy Clark – acoustic guitar, lead vocals, background vocals John Deaderick – keyboards Fred Eltringham – drums Keith Gattis – guitar Jason Hall – background vocals Jay Joyce – banjo, guitar, organ, background vocals Shane McAnally – background vocals Pat McGrath – resonator guitar Rob McNelley – guitar Kacey Musgraves – background vocals Josh Osborne – background vocals Dave Roe – bass guitar Morgane Stapleton – background vocals Forest Glen Whitehead – guitar, background vocals
Technical personnel Paul Cossette – assistant engineer Jason Hall – engineer, mixing Chris Johnson – photography Jay Joyce – engineer, mixing, producer Pamela Littky – portrait photography Dan McCarroll – A&R Melissa Spillman – production assistant Caleb VanBuskirk – assistant engineer Stephen Walker – art direction, design, illustrations Cate Wright – A&R
Commercial performance Big Day in a Small Town debuted at number eighty-two on the US Billboard 200 chart with 8,100 equivalent album units; it sold 7,400 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's streaming activity and track sales. As of August 2016 the album has sold 15,500 copies in the US.
Chart performance +Chart performance for Big Day in a Small Town Chart (2016) Peak position
Release history +Release history of Big Day in a Small Town Region Date Format(s) Label United States June 10, 2016 Warner Bros.
References