Brandi Carlile Biography

Brandi Carlile
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Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile performing in April 2009 in Maine.
Background information
Born June 1, 1981 (1981-06-01) (age 28)
Ravensdale, Washington, US
Genres Pop rock, alternative country, folk rock
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 2004–present
Labels Columbia
Website www.BrandiCarlile.com

Brandi Carlile (born June 1, 1981 in Ravensdale, Washington) is an American singer and songwriter.1 Carlile's music has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, indie and folk.

Contents

Biography

Early life

At age eight, Carlile performed a rendition of the country music song "Tennessee Flat Top Box" with her mother.2 She began to play the guitar and write songs at fifteen.3 At sixteen, she began to perform as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator.4

Career

Before signing to a major record label, Carlile with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, performed in local Seattle establishments like The Crocodile, Tractor Tavern, and Paragon.5 Carlile sold their self-released recordings during their local performances. Carlile began to attract the attention of the music industry after Dave Matthews heard her band perform at the 2003 Sasquatch! Music Festival.

Brandi Carlile performing in Birmingham, Alabama in 2006.

Columbia Records signed Carlile in late 2004 on the strength of her home recordings. Her 2005 major label debut, Brandi Carlile included some of those songs as well as newly recorded tracks. After the release of Brandi Carlile, she went on tour with the Hanseroth brothers for almost two years, where they worked on songs that became part of her album The Story.6

In 2005, she was featured on Rolling Stone's "10 Artists to Watch in 2005" list.7 By the end of 2006, Carlile had toured as a headliner and supported other artists including Ray LaMontagne, Johnny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and Shawn Colvin.citation needed

Her second Columbia album, The Story, was released in April 2007. It was produced by T Bone Burnett and includes a collaboration with the Indigo Girls on "Cannonball". The album was recorded in an 11-day long session with Carlile, the Hanseroth twins, cellist Josh Neumann and drummer Matt Chamberlain to capture the sound of her live performances. The crack in Carlile's vocals during the title track, "The Story", came out by accident and was a direct result of the way the album was recorded. Carlile describes the vocals as "technically wrong but emotionally right".8 She would also contribute vocals to "Last Tears" from Indigo Girls' Despite Our Differences.

ABC's Grey's Anatomy featured three of her songs: "Tragedy", "What Can I Say", and "Throw it All Away". In April 2007, Grey's Anatomy debuted a version of the video for the single "The Story" interspersed with footage from the show. On 3 May 2007, a special two-hour episode of the show featured Carlile's song "Turpentine" during footage of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. Carlile's song "The Story" has been featured in a General Motors commercial aired during the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as in a Super Bock commercial.

In November 2007, Carlile visited England for her first UK gig at the Borderline in London. In February 2008, Carlile performed as special guest to Newton Faulkner on five of his UK tour dates. During March and April 2008 Carlile toured through Australia with Maroon 5 and OneRepublic.9 In April 2008 she played four dates in the UK and was a guest performer on the BBC2 show, Later... with Jools Holland. Carlile's album The Story was released in the UK on April 21, with lead single "Turpentine" released on April 14.

Her third studio album Give Up the Ghost was released on October 6, 2009. The album debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200101112 The album was produced by Grammy Award winner Rick Rubin and contains a collaboration with Elton John titled "Caroline".11

Charity activities

Carlile worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for her 2007 fall tour, as well as her 2009 Give Up the Ghost tour.13 She also performed with Ben Taylor in the Eden Presents…Alive in the World concert series for the benefit of Eden Florida, an organization that assists autistic children and adults.14

In 2008, Carlile created The Looking Out Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, in order to provide financial support to various causes that she believes in. The Looking Out Foundation has provided grants to Reverb, the American Diabetes Association, and Honor The Earth, as well as numerous other organizations.15 Brandi also donates one dollar from every concert ticket sale to the foundation.16 In an interview in September 2009, Brandi said, "We really work on a community basis and we do everything from helping people pay for funerals to environmental projects. The Looking Out Foundation is a helping hand to any cause we believe in."17

Personal life

In an April 2008 interview with The Independent, Carlile revealed that, as a teenager, she was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder and struggled in high school. She eventually dropped out to focus on a music career. She said,

"They wanted to medicate me so I could concentrate in math class...I decided to pretty much stop going. I went out busking instead." 18

Carlile is the owner of a Doberman Pinscher named "Bailey"19 and a horse named "Sovereign", which she named after her first guitar.20

During a November 14, 2002 interview with The Western Front, the official newspaper of Western Washington University, Carlile identified herself as a lesbian, and stated that she didn't think it would affect her record deal. She was quoted as saying, "I think that since it's not a big deal for me, that people subscribe to that."21 In a October 17, 2009 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Carlile was quoted as saying,

"I hope that somewhere in Small Town, USA, a 15-year-old kid looks to me as a role model the way I looked at the Indigo Girls and Elton John as role models...and I hope they also recognize that the reason why I don't have to have a lot of formality around it, the reason why I don't have to wear it on my sleeve and make a spectacle of it, is because there were people before me who paved the way so I wouldn't have to."22

Carlile has identical Auryn tattoos on each shoulder and has often said that The Neverending Story is one of her favorite 1980's films.23

Discography

Albums

EP and demo

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 US Pop 100 AUS NOR Portugal
2007/2008 "The Story" 75 92 44 4 1 The Story

References

  1. ^ Medleyville: Q&A: BRANDI CARLILE
  2. ^ Aaron, Kace (June), "Brandi Carlile", Harp Magazine, http://harpmagazine.com/reviews/cd_reviews/detail.cfm?article_id=5741 .
  3. ^ Cackett, Alan (March), "Brandi Carlile", Maverick: 11 .
  4. ^ Telling, Gillian (March 24), "10 Artists to Watch: Brandi Carlile", Rolling Stone: 30 .
  5. ^ Scanlon, Tom (April 1), "Rising stars Jesse Sykes and Brandi Carlile thrill hometown", Knight Ridder Tribune Business News.: 1 .
  6. ^ About.com: Interview With Brandi Carlile
  7. ^ Rolling Stone: 10 Artists to Watch: Brandi Carlile
  8. ^ News-Register.com
  9. ^ Frontier Touring Co.: Maroon 5
  10. ^ "Brandi Carlile to Give Up New Album Oct. 6". Paste. August 18, 2009. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/08/carlile-announces-official-date-for-give-up-the-gh.html. Retrieved 20 August 2009. 
  11. ^ a b Abney, Andrea (May 31, 2009). "Young singer works with her idol". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/29/PK2Q179V9A.DTL&type=music. Retrieved July 7, 2009. 
  12. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/album/brandi-carlile/give-up-the-ghost/1281323
  13. ^ Reverb
  14. ^ "Trust for the Advancement of Responsible Artists". http://gigforgood.org/pages/store.html. Retrieved 2008-05-26. 
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2009/10/03/entertainment/doc4ac390cfa23bd949192863.txt
  17. ^ http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_13309242
  18. ^ Close-up: Singer Brandi Carlile. How a country singer with attention-deficit disorder is conquering America.
  19. ^ Naked snow angels, smiling dogs and Brandi Carlile's rad new album
  20. ^ Q&A: BRANDI CARLILE
  21. ^ Teasing The Crowd
  22. ^ With 'Give Up the Ghost,' Brandi Carlile just may gain the cross-over fans she covets
  23. ^ Brandi Carlile The Neverending Story

External links