Brandy Clark on Conceiving New Song ‘American Roots’ as a Modern-Day ‘This Land Is Your Land’ — Polarizing Pro-Immigrant Sentiment and All (EXCLUSIVE)

Brandy Clark has ended a musical silence lasting over three years with the arrival of "American Roots," a track that lands just after The New York Times placed her on its 2025 roster of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. At first pass, the tune may register as the most straightforwardly country recording she has ever put out, framed as a patriotic anthem. Yet its patriotic sentiment is aimed squarely at listeners who resist nationalist rhetoric. The song leans heavily on Woody Guthrie, himself one of the 30 greatest deceased American songwriters, and his "This Land Is Your Land" serves as an unmistakable template. Guthrie, the folk icon whose 1940 original verses took aim at private property and economic inequality, proves an apt reference point for a track that subtly questions who is allowed to lay claim to America.

Clark penned "American Roots" with Michael Pollack and Griff Clawson soon after the trio had watched "A Complete Unknown," the Bob Dylan biopic. She recalled her astonishment at learning that Guthrie's celebrated song had actually been written by a living, breathing person, since generations of American schoolchildren had sung it without ever considering its author. Conversation then turned to how seldom today's songwriters even attempt that sort of material, which spurred the three of them to try their own hand at it. Much as Guthrie's original carried more provocation than its public image lets on, Clark's song quietly unsettles modern assumptions about any track that praises America. From its opening lines about family trees and ancestral digging to the bridge's golden door reference and the assertion that the shore belongs no more to one person than another, the song aligns itself with immigrants in a gentle, non-confrontational manner. Clark concedes the song won't earn her an invitation to a Turning Point convention, but she believes it might shift hearts and minds when it surfaces on a Spotify playlist during a family road trip. As Tom Corson, her label colleague, put it, the track isn't polarizing in the slightest — it's simply patriotic, a distinction that changed how Clark heard her own work.

A comment from Corson reshaped Clark's perception of the song. She had regarded it as somewhat divisive, but Corson countered that it wasn't polarizing at all, merely patriotic. That reaction resonated, because it captured the precise spirit in which the song had been written. Clark noted that people frequently mistake being on a different side from others for polarization, adding that the MAGA movement does not own the flag — something she sometimes forgets herself. A personal incident also left its mark on the writing: her guitar player was stopped on the street in Ventura by ICE and, lacking his driver's license, had to return to the bus to retrieve it after agents suspected he was undocumented. That moment lingered in the conversation and awareness of the writing session. Ultimately, Clark builds the song around the idea that people share more than they differ, even with those they believe they hate. She hopes listeners will tap their feet long enough to absorb the message that this is a great country worth fighting to keep. Live performances had already proven the song's impact: throughout her tour with Mary Chapin Carpenter, spanning 42 or 43 dates, crowds routinely applauded at the bridge and rose to their feet when the song ended, more often than not.

"American Roots" serves as the lead single from "The Bird," Clark's forthcoming album produced by Shooter Jennings. The record was announced Friday and is scheduled to arrive through Reprise on January 15, 2027. The song also reshaped the album's entire recording approach. Clark had first tracked it early on with studio musicians, but the arrangement fell flat in the studio. Recognizing that something from the live shows needed to carry over, she asked Jennings to bring in her road band to re-record it. He agreed while suggesting they cut two or three songs to keep the budget justified. The sessions went so well that they wound up recording six more, and Clark's touring band ended up playing on the whole album. Jennings, the son of country legend Waylon Jennings and a producer known for his work with Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker, brought a relaxed atmosphere that Clark credits with letting her band feel free enough to make the mistakes that, in her view, create the magic. Clark also points out that nearly every American has immigrants in their family tree, no matter how much some nationalists prefer to imagine a nation that began with certain groups already in place. As she puts it, country music did not begin with Garth Brooks, and someone had to arrive here first.

Clark enjoys strong backing from the west coast offices of Warner and Reprise, having followed her longtime supporter Jeff Sosnow after his promotion to president of Reprise. She has collaborated with Sosnow since "Your Life Is a Record," working alongside fellow A&R representative Lenny Waronker, and she praises his willingness to let her create art without constraints. Teaming with Jennings fulfills a plan that had been delayed, since there had been discussions about him co-producing her previous album, the 2023 self-titled "Brandy Clark," which was led by Brandi Carlile. Jennings texted her about 18 months ago asking for a second chance to work together, and Clark replied that there was no second chance because they had never had a first. Carlile had also been approached about a three-way collaboration this time, but she was occupied promoting her own record "Returning to Myself," so the partnership with Jennings came together naturally. Clark has admired Jennings' musicianship for years, frequently picking out his piano work on records she loves, and she gives him credit for fostering a low-pressure setting where her band felt at ease enough to make the errors that, to her mind, generate the magic.