Grammy-nominated country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark makes her Lawrence debut Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Lied Center, 1600 Stewart Drive, as part of CMT's Next Women of Country Tour. The series, which also features Jennifer Nettles, Lindsay Ell and Tara Thompson, aims to bring attention and airplay to female artists in country.

When country singer-songwriter Brandy Clark emerged from relative obscurity to garner a 2015 Grammy nod for Best New Artist, even people on her own team couldn’t help but poke fun at her “dark horse” status, printing T-shirts that read “Who the (expletive) is Brandy Clark?”

These days, after years of penning hits for the likes of Sheryl Crow and LeAnn Rimes, the Washington state native finds herself fielding versions of that question less and less. With a new album slated to drop this summer and a spot on CMT’s Next Women of Country Tour (alongside Jennifer Nettles, Lindsay Ell and Tara Thompson), Clark is poised for big things — including said tour’s stop Sunday at the Lied Center, 1600 Stewart Drive.

In advance of the Lawrence gig — her first — Clark chatted with the Journal-World about her journey thus far, writing influences (she’s a fan of Stephen King), and “country for people who don’t like country.”

You’ve been working steadily as a songwriter for more than a decade now, yet I know that when you received your Grammy nomination in 2015, there was a lot made about your under-the-radar-ness. Was there ever a feeling of, ‘Well, I’ve been around a while now…”? How did it feel, I guess?

That felt amazing. I think what I’m realizing is that even though in some circles I’m really well known, in other circles nobody knows me at all. But the cool thing about being new in certain circles is people get to discover you again. I remember the way (“Get High,” a track from her 2013 debut album, “12 Stories”) felt when I first started playing it for people years ago and how I loved the twist and turns of it and the surprise of it. And I get to have that all over again. Even though it was 15, 17 years to get there from the time I moved to Nashville, it was still pretty cool, y’know?

You work with Kacey Musgraves quite a bit, and a lot has been written about her music as being sort of “country for people who don’t like country,” which now has also started to creep into talk about your music. How do you feel about that sort of backhanded compliment, or do you even see it as such?

I don’t see it as backhanded at all, because a lot of artists who I strive to be like, I would put in that category. I mean, Mary Chapin Carpenter…a lot of people who’d think they didn’t like country music, liked her. Also, the Dixie Chicks were that way. I think that people have an idea of what country music is, and they’ve made up their minds that they don’t like it, but then they hear an artist like Kacey and they’re like, “Oh, I like that. I don’t like country music, but I like that.” I love being in that same breath, honestly.

Where do think that perception of country comes from?

Well, I think it comes from them hearing something that they don’t like, and maybe hearing a lot of something they don’t like, that they perceive as corny. When you’re not a quote-unquote “country fan,” you just know little bits and pieces of what you hear, and sometimes what becomes really popular and oversaturates the market….maybe you hear it too much. It burns you out.

Right. And a lot has been said lately about the depiction or lack of representation of female artists in country, which might contribute to that perception. The trope of women as one-dimensional figures is something you tackle in your new single, “Girl Next Door.” Do you find there’s more pressure in your genre to be that “cardboard cutout” of a girl, to quote your lyrics?

I don’t think that’s just country. I think that’s our world in general. There’s a certain image of what a woman should be and what’s beautiful and what’s not, and it’s pretty hard to obtain what is stereotypically considered beauty. I think it’s been changed since then, but I remember seeing something years ago about the dimensions of a Barbie and how unrealistic it is. And I had a couple of girls who went through my meet-and-greet the other night who brought me a Barbie doll and a card, and it said, “Thanks for not being the stereotypical Barbie.” Some of the most insecure women I’ve ever met have been some of the most beautiful, because it’s never good enough. So, I think “Girl Next Door” is kind of an anthem for all women, and I also think that all women have a little bit of both in them — the girl next door and the not-so-girl-next-door. It’s just saying, “You know what? I’m perfectly fine with my imperfections. If you don’t like them, go next door.”

Your music is all about authenticity and working-class characters, which really harkens back to that tradition of country music as storytelling. Do you have any literary influences?

Well, I’m always reading, but I don’t know that I have one in particular. I’ve read a lot of Rick Bragg novels, and those are very Southern and very character-driven. This is going to sound crazy because it’s not Southern or country, but Stephen King — I’ve read so many of his books and I love the way he paints a picture and paints it again and again and again. I try to write the music video as I’m writing the song, but more than the music video, like a little mini movie — just so picturesque that the listener can’t help but be there.

I read somewhere that you describe your music as dark comedy. What do you mean by that?

I think life is a dark comedy. It’s funny but it’s sad and tragic all at the same time. Some really great dark comedies, in my opinion, are the Coen brothers’ films. You know, “Raising Arizona” — it’s so funny, but it’s so dark at the same time. And I think life really is a dark comedy, because if you can’t laugh at it, you’re just going to be depressed all the time.