Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile
Brandi M. Carlileis an American alternative country and folk rock singer-songwriter. Born in Ravensdale, Washington, she dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music, teaching herself piano and guitar. Her first commercial album, Brandi Carlile, was released to critical acclaim but to limited commercial success. Carlile garnered wider recognition for her 2007 single The Story, from the album of the same name, was a greater commercial success, and was used by General Motors for commercials...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCountry Singer
Date of Birth1 June 1981
CityRavansdale, WA
CountryUnited States of America
I tend to feel really protective of songs, and if they aren't sitting well in a record, I'll pull them tight to my chest until I feel it's a better time.
I hope that somewhere in Small Town, U.S.A., 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.
There is a creator and a redeemer, and the purpose of it all is love.
Singing is a form of meditation... apparently the only one that I have command over.
Every city has a town outside with a lake. I pull out my fishing pole and fish. I've been doing that for a long time.
But now, with the last two years of touring and being on the road, I've learned that a live show should never sound like a record; a record should sound like a live show.
I'm not so arrogant to consider mine the only legitimate art form. I can't in one breath make a fuss about someone compartmentalizing music into genre and then in the next accuse advertising and short film of not being art.
My advice to new artists is to embrace a broader concept of timelessness than vintage or retro.
I stand firm behind the belief that, for me, songwriting isn't something that I do or command, it happens to me. I can either choose to stop and acknowledge it, or put it off and hope that it won't fade away. 'That Wasn't Me' is no exception - it came together more quickly than any other song I have ever constructed on my own.
My songwriting is so influenced by orchestrated music, dramatic, super glam rock-y stuff. Two of my biggest influences in songwriting were Elton John and Freddie Mercury.
I believe that writing for me is in a way like wisdom; in that as soon as you feel like you've got it figured out you stop growing and maybe even lose something.
People that could yodel always fascinated me. People that could sing loud always fascinated me. So I started trying to mimic at a really young age: 6, 7 years old.
So much of the way a singer physically damages their voice could be caused by stress or nerves. I would never be so brazen as to assume that it's the only problem but there's got to be a reason that a martial artist can harness enough peace to smash his head through a cinder block without leaving a scratch.
I have vocal trouble from time to time associated with sleep or wine! Or from sleeping in a bunk the size of a coffin and breathing in bus air conditioning all day.