| Brandi's side of The Story |
[May. 2nd, 2008|06:02 pm] |
 IF you caught young American singer Brandi Carlile on Jools Holland last week, you’ll have witnessed her powerful, dazzling vocals.
Born in Ravensdale, Washington, a small town close to Seattle, she shunned the nearby grunge scene, instead growing up on singers including Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Elton John and Patsy Cline. When her songs ended up in the hands of Cash producer Rick Rubin, he became her mentor. She was also introduced to another legendary producer, T-Bone Burnett (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss), who produced her second album The Story.
On this angsty country album Brandi bares her soul and tells her life story — with lyrics bearing anguish and emotion — with her band, twins Phil and Tim Hanseroth and Matt Chamberlain.
 Opening track, the rootsy Late Morning Lullaby shows her remarkable voice in full effect while tracks The Story and Turpentine gained fame on TV series Grey’s Anatomy.Josephine is a tender love song and she teams up with folk duo Indigo Girls on Cannonball.
Here the singer tells SFTW her side of The Story, about working with Rick Rubin and being called the new Bonnie Raitt.
HOW did you catch the ear of Rick Rubin?
We made a demo in our practice place. An acoustic recording of our songs and we sent them to some people in LA.
Rick liked it and bought us some plane tickets.
What was it like working with T-Bone Burnett and what sort of advice did he give you?
He gave me all sorts of great advice about recording live and playing guitar.
He told me to start playing electric guitar more and that inspired me to buy a 1964 Chet Atkins Gretsch which I play all the time now.
So why did you call the album The Story and what lyrical themes do you explore on it?
There are all sorts of lyrical themes. It’s very “nature” themed with nature-inspired lyrics.
The songs were written over the better part of a decade.
They really write the story of my life, coming of age and the evolution of my family and my life with the twins.
What do you make of the comparison with Bonnie Raitt?
It’s very flattering. I could only hope one day to be half the artist Bonnie is.
Tell us about your band and their sound.
I met the twins in Seattle. They were in a punk rock band called The Fighting Machinists.
I was playing acoustic music but really wanted to plug in and be in a rock band. They wanted to strip down and play acoustic music. So the two sides were in the middle of a musical contradiction and that sort of sculpted our sound.
What was it like recording with the Indigo Girls on Cannonball?
It was amazing. I’ve always been inspired and influenced by them. Their vocals are very haunting and because of that it’s one of my favourite tracks on the record.
As you’ve called the album The Story. What sort of childhood did you have and who inspired you musically?
A rural childhood with a close family. Our whole family was very involved with music. My grandparents played classic country and western and delta blues and I was really inspired by Patsy Cline.
But later by Elton John and Queen, once I discovered rock and roll.
When did you start writing and performing?
I started performing in theatres when I was eight and starting writing when I was 12 and 13. I was really inspired by Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
Was it ever a struggle as the song The Story suggests? How did you get your first big break?
It never felt like a struggle but looking back on it now I can see that it was.
I don’t really have a “big break” that changed everything but when I met the twins, made a demo and we flew to LA and met Rick Rubin — that was definitely important.
What sort of reception are you getting in the UK?
A very exciting one! The fans have been so great.
Were you thrilled Turpentine and The Story were used for Grey’s Anatomy and what’s Turpentine about?
I was absolutely thrilled. I love that show. I’m always impressed by their ability to find artists that aren’t mainstream and give them mainstream exposure.
Turpentine is a song about my relationship with my brother and sort of the resiliency of youth wearing off and what was once accepted as sibling rivalry when you’re young is scarring when you’re older.A simple warning that we were growing up. |
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