A Sip of Brandi

Have meant to write about Brandi Carlile, my favorite musician who is still alive, since the inception of this blog.

Before anyone writes her off by the spelling of the first name, rest assured that Ms. Carlile is nothing like a teenage fad singer. She has made a name for herself through authenticity --- something that fully 93 percent of all musical acts these days lack. There are no dance moves. No bling. No sultry, oversexed music videos. No stutter-like drawing out of lyrics ala Whitney Houston that only draws attention away from the lyrics and to the singer. (E.g. One of the most egregious times to do this is the National anthem, which, if you're singing it properly, should take about 45 seconds. Instead, these days we get, "♪ O'er the laaa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-AAA-n-d of the free-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-aaaa----eeeee and the Hoo-oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-me of the braaa-a-a-a-a-a-a--aa-a-a-aaaaaaaeeeeeaaaaaveeeeee ♪♫"). They record live-to-tape; no digital splicing and dicing. Beyond fabulous hair and some make-up, there is little frill from Ms. Carlile. All the frill required is contained in the words and the voice.

The link directly below leads to a YouTube video of a song from the upcoming album "Give Up the Ghost" titled, "Before It Breaks."

Brandi is helped along by the songwriting, guitar and background vocals of the Hanseroth twins, Tim and Phil, and Josh Neumann on the cello. Some of the strongest songs to this point have been written by one or other of the twins, including the breakout hit "The Story." A few of her solo-written tracks on the first two albums regularly make me push the fast-forward button, most notably, "Happy." But Brandi herself is becoming a stronger writer, especially on "Again Today" and road titles "How These Days Grow Long / Dying Day" and "Love Songs."

I hate to pigeonhole any artist by saying, "their songs are ___" because there is eclecticism even on records where every song produces more or less the same vibe. To me, acts like Nickelback and Dave Matthews Band sound the same, song in and song out --- the words do change, but you get basically the same feeling and an album is 45 minutes of the same moan. Brandi's music has been described as trending toward the somewhat dark with a hint of rebellion. But mixed in along the way are some spiritual tracks like "Have You Ever," some anthem songs like "The Story" and "My Song," some great covers (both on CD albums and in live performance repertoire) including Elton John's "Madman Across the Water," and a few great on-the-road songs. Even the major categories provide a little difficulty. Is it Rock? Pop? Folk? Country? In truth, it's a pure blend that shouldn't be categorized.

Two years ago, a paperwork jaunt up to Maine was timed to coincide with a free outdoor concert where the Brandi Carlile band was an opening act/co-headliner, sponsored by L.L. Bean and held just outside their flagship store in Freeport. Of several photos I tried to take with my then-new digital camera, only one had a clear image of the stage --- and even then, there were hands and heads in the way and the lighting at that dusk hour was terrible for photography. The set mostly consisted of tracks from "The Story" album. The audio is included at the LL Bean site (click on the 'Listen to our Concert Series' link and from there, click on the Brandi Carlile entry for audio of the full shows. Very cool of LL Bean to do all of this). I thoroughly enjoyed that trip and am looking forward to her band's new album.