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“I have a dream, before I die, of making a record of nothing but drinking songs,” says Brandy Clark in the new live video for her song, “When I Get to Drinkin’.” “I have a few on my first two records, but I’m talking a full-on ode to alcoholism.” The Grammy nominee hasn’t made that record yet, but today she’s releasing a live recording of the song, which has never been released in studio form and can be heard exclusively in the video above.
Clark released her first live LP last month, titled Live From Los Angeles, via Warner Bros. Records. That album, recorded during a 2016 performance at L.A.’s Hotel Café, featured a different version of “When I Get to Drinkin’,” which has become a staple of the Washington songwriter’s live performances. The performance in the video was recorded at City Winery in Nashville.
Clark’s deadpan introduction of “When I Get to Drinkin’” betrays the song’s moody, lovelorn message, delivered with the understated accompaniment of upright bass and the singer’s acoustic guitar. “I tend to get to sad when the sun gets to sinkin’, I tend to get lonely when I get to thinkin’,” she sings. “So I tend to get drunk when I get to drinkin’.”
“When I Get to Drinkin’” is a touching contrast to another, more playful drinking ode of Clark’s, “You’re Drunk,” an outtake she released in July from her latest studio LP, Big Day in a Small Town. Her next live performance will be back at City Winery during Americana Fest on September 15th.
