Brandi Carlile
Carlile on stage in Seattle during 2010.
Background information
Born	(1981-06-01) June 1, 1981 (age 31) Ravensdale, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Alternative country, Folk rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, banjo
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Columbia
Website	BrandiCarlile.com

Brandi Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American alternative country and folk rock singer-songwriter.^[1] She has released several albums including The Story , Give Up the Ghost and Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony which reached number 14 on the Top Rock Albums chart.^[2]

  Early life

At age eight, Carlile performed the song "Tennessee Flat Top Box" with her mother, Teresa Carlile^[3] and began playing the guitar and writing songs at age fifteen.^[4] At sixteen, Carlile became a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator.^[5] According to Carlile she was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder as a teen and dropped out of school to pursue a career in music.^[6]

  Career

  Brandi Carlile performing in Birmingham, Alabama in 2006.

Carlile began her career performing in Seattle music clubs with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth.^[7] She joined Columbia Records in late 2004 and recorded her album Brandi Carlile the following year.

Her album The Story^[8] was produced by T Bone Burnett.^[9] The album's title track was used in a General Motors television commercial.^[10] The song was also used in the 2008 commercial for Super Bock and helped the song reach number 1 and the album reach number 4 on the Portuguese charts.^{[citation needed]}

She was featured on Rolling Stone's list of "10 Artists to Watch in 2005"^[11] and in 2006, toured as an opening act for Ray LaMontagne, Jonny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and Shawn Colvin.^[12]

In 2007 Carlile performed at the Borderline in London and as guest on Newton Faulkner's UK tour. She was the opening act for Maroon 5 and OneRepublic during their Australia tour and^[13] in April 2008, she performed on the BBC2 show, Later... with Jools Holland.

Give Up the Ghost was released in 2009 and debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard 200.^[14][15][16] Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Rick Rubin, it featured a collaboration with Elton John on the song "Caroline" as well as Amy Ray, drummer Chad Smith and keyboardist Benmont Tench. In 2010, National Geographic Channel in Latin America chose the song "If There Was No You" from the album as a jingle to promote its series "Grandes Migraciones" (Great Migrations). Also that same year, during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards, Carlile was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for the album.^[17]

In 2011, Carlile's album Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony reached number 14 on the Top Rock Albums chart. Carlile's next album, Bear Creek, released June 5, 2012, was produced by Trina Shoemaker.^[2] The album is a collaboration between her and the Hanseroth twins. In an interview with American Songwriter she says, "We decided a decade ago to split everything in our band evenly amongst the three of us. So nobody has any vested interest in getting involved with someone else’s song or their story. But nobody has a vested interest in keeping someone out of the story either. It always comes down to what’s best for the song."^[18]

  Personal life

  Carlile on stage in 2010.

In a November 2002 interview, Carlile identified herself as a lesbian^[19] and later told the Los Angeles Times "I don't have to have a lot of formality around it...there were people before me who paved the way."^[20] In June 2012 she announced she was engaged to Catherine Shepherd.^[21]

She performed with Ben Taylor in the Eden Presents…Alive in the World concert series for the benefit of Eden Florida, an organization that assists children and adults with autism.^[22]

In 2008, she 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.^[23] She also donates one dollar from every concert ticket sale to the foundation.^[24][25] In January 2010, Carlile's Looking Out Foundation partnered with the Seattle Police Department, the Indigo Girls, and two local Seattle self-defense studios to fund and support the Fight the Fear Campaign.^[26] Also in 2010, Carlile contributed the track "The Heartache Can Wait" to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: More Hope For The Holidays to benefit their foundation.^[27] album alongside many other names such as Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Weezer, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

Carlile owns a Doberman Pinscher ^[28] and a horse^[29] and wears AURYN tattoos on her shoulders.^[30]

  Discography

  Albums

  EP and demo

• Room for Me (2000)
• Open Doors (2002)
• We're Growing Up (2003)
• Acoustic (2004)
• Live from Neumo's (2005)
• Live at Easy Street Records (2007)
• Rhapsody Originals (2007) – exclusive acoustic versions recorded for Rhapsody.com
• Ghost Demos (2009) – limited edition EP, distributed with the first 2000 pre-orders of Give Up the Ghost^[34]
• XOBC (2010)
• Bear Creek EP (2012)

  Singles

  Awards

In 2010, Brandi Carlile was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for her album Give Up the Ghost during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.^[35] Carlile was the winner of Seattle's City of Music Breakthrough Award for 2010.^[36]

  References

  Further reading

• Seabrook, John (11 October 2010). "The Talk of the Town: Dept. of Visitations: Peekers". The New Yorker 86 (31): 38. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/10/11/101011ta_talk_seabrook. 

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brandi Carlile

• Brandi Carlile official website
• Brandi Carlile official UK website
• Brandi Carlile on Myspace