See Jennifer Nettles’ Sassy ‘Drunk in Heels’ on ‘Front and Center’
Jennifer Nettles and Brandy Clark co-wrote a string of songs for Nettles’ Playing With Fire LP. One of the most sassy is “Drunk in Heels,” which plays off the old adage that Ginger Rogers did everything dance partner Fred Astaire did, but managed it all backwards – and in high heels. The song is included in Nettles’ live performance on a new episode of the PBS concert series Front and Center, a special edition of the CMA Songwriter Series. (Watch the “Drunk in Heels” performance above.)
For Nettles, Playing With Fire, released last May, was a transformative musical endeavor and one that involved taking risks, even if that meant addressing real-life situations in ways that might have made others uncomfortable, such as the challenges of caring for her infant son while traveling cross-country. The trek ultimately inspired Nettles and
“One day on the tour bus when we were out for the That Girl Tour, I had been feeding my son,” Nettles tells Rolling Stone Country. “This was when I was still breastfeeding him and I was exhausted and tired as a new mother, and exhausted and tired from touring, and I was just like, ‘I’m tired! I’m doing all of this!’ And the first verse just descended on me: ‘Tired, tired, dog ass tired / Tired down to the bone.’ We as women, as working mothers, are balancing working out of the home and in the home, both of which are enough even on their own. You put them together and, boy, isn’t that interesting.”
Joining the three-time Grammy winner on Front and Center are Clark and singer-songwriter Amos Lee. Other artists participating in the new season include the Cadillac Three, Dawes, Cheap Trick and Shawn Mendes. Check local listings for airdates and times.