Brandi Carlile

A gifted singer/songwriter whose rich voice and literate storytelling contradict her youth as only at 23 she released her major-label debut, Brandi Carlile was born in June 1, 1981 in the small town of Ravensdale, WA, an isolated community 50 miles away from Seattle. Carlile's music has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, and folk.

Carlile grew up listening to the classic country music her parents doted on, she made her stage debut at the age of eight after she was taken to a local country radio show by her mother. At 17, Carlile picked up the guitar, having developed a taste for rock & roll through Elton John's classic albums of the 1970s, Tumbleweed Connection as a particular favorite, and she began hitting the Seattle bar scene, playing anywhere she could get a gig. While playing clubs, she encountered a band called the Fighting Machinists, featuring twin brothers Tim Hanseroth on guitar and Phil Hanseroth. Impressed by their instrumental skills and spot-on harmonies, Carlile became an instant fan of the Fighting Machinists, and after their break up, persuaded the Hanseroth twins to form a group with her.

In 2000, Carlile recorded the first of several self-released recordings that sold briskly at shows, and in 2005 Carlile was signed to Columbia Records, releasing a self-titled album later that same year. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and Carlile was named one of 2005's "Artists to Watch" by Rolling Stone. In 2006, Carlile and her band began work on her second Columbia album, with T-Bone Burnett titled The Story, it was released in spring 2007. She supported a variety of artists including Ray LaMontagne, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and Shawn Colvin.

Columbia Records signed Carlile in late 2004 as she'd been periodically recording songs at home. Released in 2005, Brandi Carlile showcased those early songs along with several newly recorded tracks. Shortly after that, she left her home in Seattle and set out with the Hanseroth brothers, with whom she'd worked on her earliest recordings and independent regional tours. The tightly knit trio, forming the core of her band today, spent the better part of two years honing the songs that later became part of her album "The Story".

Her second album, The Story, was released in April 2007. It was produced by T Bone Burnett and included collaboration with the Indigo Girls on "Cannonball." The album was recorded in an eleven-day-long session with Carlile, the twins (Tim and Phil Hanseroth) and drummer Matt Chamberlain to capture the raw intensity of Carlile's 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 described the vocals as "technically wrong but emotionally right."

Carlile was exposed to a wider audience when ABC's Grey's Anatomy showcased 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 May 3, 2007, a special two-hour episode of "Grey's Anatomy" featured Carlile's song "Turpentine" during footage of the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off, Private Practice. During 2007 fall tour, she will work with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization.

The sound and songs of The Story first formed during the rigors of touring as Brandi began working the new songs into the band's repertoire, road-testing and refining the material under the spotlights, giving each performance its own character. The intensity and authenticity of her music brought her to the attention of the Grammy Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett who came on-board to produce The Story.

Dedicating her life to music, Carlile became a disciplined musician playing constantly and performing whenever possible as way to learn her craft and develop her art. She expanded her sound with the addition of twin brothers, Tim and Phil Hanseroth.With The Story, Brandi Carlile takes you into the deepest most poetic moments of her own experiences, creating the kind of artist-audience bond that makes you feel you're living inside those moments yourself.