BRANDI CARLILE: Writing the Subconscious

Growing up in small, rural Ravensdale, Wash., Brandi Carlile was unaware of the songwriter’s role in the whole singer/songwriter paradigm. She and her family would regularly participate in music gatherings at a tiny community hall called the Northwest Grand Ole Opry (which had no affiliation whatsoever with the Nashville institution). There, locals would sing popular country songs while others made up a band to play behind them. “I grew up isolated,” she says. “That was music to us. That’s what we sang, and that’s what we listened to as a family.”Growing up in small, rural Ravensdale, Wash., Brandi Carlile was unaware of the songwriter’s role in the whole singer/songwriter paradigm. She and her family would regularly participate in music gatherings at a tiny community hall called the Northwest Grand Ole Opry (which had no affiliation whatsoever with the Nashville institution). There, locals would sing popular country songs while others made up a band to play behind them. “I grew up isolated,” she says. “That was music to us. That’s what we sang, and that’s what we listened to as a family.”

But most of the time those songs weren’t written by the stars who made them famous, and as far as the young Carlile was concerned, it didn’t really matter much. “When you sing classic country songs, you’re not only covering songs, you’re covering songs by singers who cover songs,” she says. “Songwriting didn’t become a focal point until I finally got into someone who wrote the words and music.”

When she was 12, a Northwest Grand Ole Opry performer sang a couple of Elton John songs. Carlile was hooked. She immediately went to the local library and checked out Tumbleweed Connection,  John’s 1971 concept album about America’s West. “It’s about Civil War rebels written by two guys who grew up and lived in England,” she says. “The songs are so story-oriented. Anyone can relate to them. The reason I write is because of that album…I became totally engrossed with Elton John after that. It was my own scene away from my parents. I was going to learn to play piano and write songs. I was going to make my own music.”

It’s fitting that whenever Carlile talks about Elton John (which is often), she never forgets to mention Bernie Taupin, John’s longtime lyricist. These days, Carlile is not only mindful of each role in the writing process; she approaches her own songs with a similar craftsman-like skill-which she picked up by listening to certain records over and over again. She’s like an apprentice, and as such, she finds inspiration in the same subjects that have motivated songwriters for thousands of years.

On her second album, The Story, the 25-year-old Seattle resident taps insightfully into her own life. Its 14 songs are by turns celebratory, heartbreaking and raging. They’re all powered by Carlile’s massive voice-which simultaneously conveys country ache and folksy joy-while cello, piano and plenty of electric guitar swells around it. “These stories have so much relevance to me,” says Carlile. “The album really couldn’t be called anything else. Even if the song ‘The Story’ wasn’t on the record, it still would be called The Story.”

Recorded mostly live in 11 days by producer T Bone Burnett in a Vancouver studio last year, The Story doesn’t so much pick up where Carlile’s self-titled 2005 debut left off, as it sends the singer in a more defined direction. The first album gathered songs that were part of Carlile’s live shows for years. It was put together whenever she got time and cash to finish it. The Story-even though many of its songs, too, were often performed onstage before Carlile recorded them-is a comprehensive work made by an artist who has something specific to say. “Everything traumatic and dramatic that’s happened to me in the past 10 years is the story of this record,” she says.

Still, some of the new songs aren’t that new. A few have been around since Carlile was 16, when she first started getting serious about her career. “My songwriting evolved; it didn’t grow,” she says. “I feel like every song is a picture of a moment in time.” Her first composition-written when she was 13-was about “my uncle who died,” she says. “It was a sad, depressing little song.” Things haven’t changed much. Carlile still writes somber tunes. “I’m a hopeful person because I’m such a bleak songwriter. It’s a way to express my inhibitions and problems. By doing that, I can lead a normal life and be a happy person. I express all my negative emotions through music.”

The Story is a bit tougher-sounding than its predecessor. Carlile once again collaborated with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, whom she considers partners, not sidemen. “They’re a huge part of the project,” she says. “My songs wouldn’t be the same without them.” Indeed, they receive co-writing credit on several songs. Steady touring over the past few years has removed any apprehension from the trio’s playing. Their collective work on The Story‘stitle tune is a slow-build triumph that rattles amps and tears at Carlile’s voice. “It’s been my favorite song for a long time,” she says.

The delicate drifts and ethereal turns of Carlile’s work contain loads of emotional pull. It’s no surprise that she’s such a fave among the folks in charge of securing songs for “very special TV moments.” Grey’s Anatomyalone featured three songs from the debut album during pivotal scenes: “Tragedy,” “What Can I Say” and “Throw It All Away.” “That was our saving grace last year,” Carlile says. “People sometimes need visual aid to understand music. They wouldn’t normally hear the songs on the radio and think that they’re great songs….but if they hear them in a situation where they can understand them, they’ll be more inclined to like the songs.

“As an artist, I love this,” she continues. “I know that somebody’s listening to the lyrics and dissecting them. That’s more than most people will do when they listen to your record. All of my songs are open to interpretation anyway. I want people to apply it to their own experiences.”

Carlile says she isn’t necessarily a disciplined or even a focused songwriter, and she’s not really sure she wants to be one. There’s no set mood or method to her writing. Sometimes a complete song comes out in 20 minutes; other times it takes weeks before a lyric or melodic fragment even looks workable, she says. “When I sit down and write, my subconscious writes the song for me,” she says. “It’s not until I read it that I know what it’s about. I don’t sit there and go over it line by line when I’m writing. I hold on to songs for a long time. Having them out there is so intimidating.”

Yet, The Story isn’t meant to be the whole story. It’s merely a chapter. “There’s much more to come,” Carlile says. And once again, Elton John (and Bernie Taupin, of course) guides the way. “He sets an unsurpassable goal for me and other songwriters,” she says. “I just want to make better records and really, really push the boundaries of what I’m comfortable with as an artist.”