When Brandy Clark was in New York City on Saturday (June 27), playing FarmBorough at Randall's Island, she talked with the Village Voice about everything from the Big Apple to the loyalty of country fans to the vibe at festivals.

But then, they had to go there.

They had to ask about the recent "tomato" controversy created by a radio consultant’s analogy that country radio is like a salad. And Clark had the very best response to date.

“I see a lot of people wearing the tomato shirts, which is great,” Clark said of the recent sales of the women’s Tomato T-shirts and men’s Tomato Lover T-shirts, “but I think, ‘Man, I wish they would buy a female’s CD, a female record.’”

How true is that? If you really want to support female country artists, buy their music. Request their songs. Go to their shows. Tell your friends. You can definitely buy the T-shirts, too, but the songs should come first. And by the way, Clark’s Grammy-nominated debut album 12 Stories is less than $10 on iTunes. So if you have to choose, T-shirt or album, the album is the much better buy.

“Maybe I’m naïve," Clark added. "Maybe I’m just hopeful because I’m a female in country, and I know for me that everything would be better if females were playing -- not just if I were playing, but females -- because as a songwriter, it’s been a struggle for me because there just aren’t a lot of places to go with songs. Most females write a lot more female songs than they write male songs."