If you're not familiar with Brandi Carlile, then perhaps you haven't been paying attention. Granted, her 2009 release, Give Up The Ghost, is only her third, but in the course of a few short years, the rootsy, sweet-drawlin' Seattle-based artist has enjoyed an amazing start. Building on the success of 2005's The Story and its popular title track, Ghost offers remarkable insight into one of the most extraordinary singer-songwriters to emerge in recent years. Legendary starmaker Rick Rubin produced the exceptional recording, an eclectic collection of songs that draw you in, from the unadorned intimacy of "If There Was No You," to the lush, Beatles-flavored harmonies of "Oh Dear," and right through to the final string crescendo of "Pride and Joy."
Carlile offered some insight into her new album, among other topics, when I spoke with her by phone several weeks back.
Tell me about Give Up The Ghost.
It's our third record, but to us it kind of feels like our second because our first one was supposed to be a demo, and it took a year to record. Some of the songs are massive, huge, like something off Night at the Opera by Queen, but some are so stripped down and so quiet, like a Johnny Cash song from American Recordings, that it makes you almost uncomfortable as a listener because it's such an intimate, voyeuristic thing.
You once said that you felt "like a caged animal" in the studio.
There is a constant search for energy for me. I'm a live artist, you know? Since I was 7 or 8 years old, my whole life has been consumed with being an entertainer. It's not that I can't be introspective on stage in front of a couple of thousand people, because I can, but it's hard for me to be outward and really expressive in the studio because sometimes I need that audience. So I have to find energy from other places and that can be very limiting and stressful.
In spite of the stress, you did get to work with some really amazing people. Is there anyone special you'd like to work with in the future?
Oh yeah, absolutely. In particular, my whole band. My band has been with me for years and years, and we write all our songs together. We have a new drummer, Alison Miller, and she's the greatest, one of my favorite drummers I've ever played with. I think we're going to try to rope her into making our next record with us. Josh Newman, our cellist. Those are people I'd obviously like to work with in the future but I can't lie, I'd love to do another song with Elton John.
Will all these people be on tour with you for the show at the Capitol Theatre?
Everybody, but Elton. (laughing)
I've noticed that you always use the term "we" or "us," like Brandi Carlile is a band, rather than a solo artist.
Our band being called "Brandi Carlile" is kind of an accident. When I met the twins [guitarist and bassist Tim and Phil Hanseroth], I'd been playing all over town as Brandi Carlile. I was already doing shows and making records, but I always loved their harmonies and always felt a connection to them. When I asked them to get together to write songs with me, it was very clearly a Brandi Carlile situation, but I'm a born collaborator and I don't identify with my music as an individual thing. So when we got a record deal, they signed with me and every single thing we do, we split three ways, no questions asked. So, it really is a band that just happens to be called Brandi Carlile, but I have to say if the band was called "Phil Hanseroth," I'd still be in it.
Whatever it's called, you seem to attract extremely loyal and devoted fans.
I look at my position as an entertainer as an interactive experience. Basically, I don't treat the stage and the crowd as two separate entities. When you come see one of our shows, you are as much in the show as you are "at" the show and I am as much in the audience as I am on the stage. I feel like it's a really interactive experience and I think that's different.
So I guess your recent invitation for fans to submit song requests for your live set list feeds right into this interactive concept. Has this resulted in any unusual requests?
(Laughing) Yeah, sometimes I get requests for songs I'm obviously going to play, like "The Story," and that always cracks me up because it's always the most requested song. Duh. But then I get requests for a Kings of Leon song or a Matchbox Twenty song … and it just cracks me up, 'cause there's just no way we'd ever do that.
No requests for "Freebird"?
(Laughing) Every day almost, some drunk asshole in the back of the bar screams "Freebird."
Technically, I don't think you can consider it a real concert until someone yells "Freebird."
You know, my friends, The Indigo Girls, sometimes they'll play the first few bars just as a, 'Hey, we're going to play this song for you,' then fuck you.
I saw that you have Amy Ray [of Indigo Girls] on the road with you.
Yeah, she's going to be out touring with us, then later in the month both of the girls will be with us.
Tell me a little about your charity work through your Looking Out Foundation.
Well, I've always believed that a person's contribution to the world should be in direct correlation with their position in it and their trajectory. So, if you have a captive audience of 10 people, then you have a responsibility. If you have a captive audience of 10,000 people, then you have a much bigger responsibility. And that comes in the same package when you're talking about getting your hands dirty and being a part of a grass-roots organization or when it comes to giving of yourself or giving money, time or energy. That's why we started the foundation, because we realized that we had gotten to a place in life where we were afforded the privilege of being able to help people on a larger scale.
To check out the complete interview, visit cltampa.com/brandicarlile.
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.