The soulful sound of Brandy Clark filled the air of a whimsical storybook venue accompanied with the scent of sweet peonies. On June 25th, 2025 Grammy, CMA and Americana award-winning singer, Brandy Clark, took the stage at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Even without knowing Clark’s personal discography, her sharp pen and penetrative story-telling abilities elicit visceral emotions in all who hear it. She has written with household names such as Reba McIntre, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker, Billy Currington and the list goes on.
It is a gift to see live music, but it is an extra blessing when surrounded by one of Denver’s most beautiful and bountiful gardens. Not a bad seat in the house and I think the plants would all agree that the music only further enriched the experience.
Unforeseen hiccups in concert-going are inevitable. These often include finding a parking spot, waiting in a long line before showtime or struggling to find a good seat; all of which can impact the experience itself. However, from entering to exiting the venue, attendees were smiling, laughing and making memories. It was as if the only admission prerequisites to the gardens were tickets, good attitudes and even better wine.
The warm summer evening began promptly at 6:30pm with Brandy’s upbeat hit “Big Day in a Small-town.” This tune has a Nashville-inspired sound, one that you would hear at the Bluebird Cafe on Broadway street. A fun, light and playful country beat that felt like we had hopped into her convertible off to a backyard barbecue. Immediately, crowd members were drawn to swing dance in front of the stage. They moved hand in hand without a care in the world. Up next was a topical, yet witty song for an eager and casual Colorado crowd titled “Get High.” She sings, “Sometimes the only way to get by, is to get high.” The audience shared smug smiles and mutual giggles while kids danced blissfully ignorant to her catchy country-twang.
As the sun set, the sky became a watercolor — painted with hues of deep orange and dark blue, textured and layered, serendipitously timed with the change in mood of Clark’s setlist. When the guitarist traded her guitar strings for the cello— we felt the energy shift. Brandy steered the audience to the exit towards her own personal life story from the carefree, mindless freeway she initially drove us on.
The lead single on her most recent self-titled album “Buried” was our first stop. She was inspired to write this song from the famous quote often attributed to the writer Ernest Hemingway, “they say you die twice, your last breath and a second time, when somebody says your name for the last time.” The song’s melodically haunting sentiment recounts an unrequited love with a hopeless yet wistful yearning. She sings, “I’ll meet somebody else/ Probably get married/ I’ll keep it to myself/ but I’ll love you till I’m buried.” These lyrics were painfully beautiful and translated universally to anyone who has experienced heartbreak. It was a bone-chilling and thought-provoking live performance.
As an openly gay woman in the country genre, Clark has previously struggled with sharing her personal life in music for fear of impeding her career’s success. In an LA Times interview, she described, ‘There were no out country artists at the time — quite the opposite.” That was until the critically acclaimed and Grammy award winning, Brandi Carlile, encouraged Clark to share this side of her. Since then, they have composed, collaborated and created magic together.
When introducing the deeply personal ballad, “Dear Insecurity” feat. Brandi Carlile, Clark discussed its writing process. “There have been few moments in my career, or life that is, where I have experienced magic. But when I first demoed this song with Brandi in the studio, this sense of magic washed over me.” The song, formatted as a letter to her deepest insecurities, feels like a passage out of Clark’s diary. She writes, “If I can’t find a way to get you gone/ Can we find a way to get along?/ Because insecurity, this time feels like love/ She’s really sure of me. So please don’t fuck this up.” A painfully true sentiment of the self-perceived shortcomings we ascribe ourselves to avoid love. At its conclusion, couples embraced tightly and individuals wiped their tears. A reflective silence that was thick and heavy yet moving in nature was followed by a resounding applause. You could feel the admiration for the meticulous and beautiful songwriting.
At the end of the road trip we had endured, a rainstorm crept in on the Denver Botanic Gardens. It was as if Clark had conjured it herself, with a thunderous final exit. As the sky darkened with steady raindrops, the air of refreshing lightheartedness remained. In this time, I was able to meet some of the frequent-goers of the Summer Concert Series. They seemed immune to the announcement of a weather delay.
I met Kay and John, a couple that have been concert-series regulars for approximately 10 years straight. Kay had a motherly sweetness in her demeanor, someone that you could immediately trust to watch your purse as you went to the bathroom. As the rain picked up, she took out her raincoat and put her picnic items back into her waterproof cooler. Her first piece of advice was to “always bring rain gear — no matter what the weather channel says” followed by a playful laugh. But her next response has resonated with me since. I asked what her favorite concert has been at this venue and she replied “I’m really not sure. But that’s the beauty of the garden concerts, it’s not all about the music, but rather, this place is for the friends you haven’t met yet.” Struck to my core by the mic drop quote from this audience member, I could not help but agree. Here I was sitting in the rain, listening to Clark’s multifaceted setlist, observing people sharing their picnic baskets, dancing under center stage and enjoying the flower-filled atmosphere. The gardens concert series is a community — one that if you have the opportunity, would gladly welcome you with open arms.
Walking out of the venue, there was a rainbow that led right to the entrance of the gardens. This city’s beloved treasure. A storybook ending to an unforgettable night.