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Brandi Carlile - Brandi
Carlile (Columbia/Sony)
Released: July, 2005
Stay with me, here. I enjoy listening to Amy Grant. So I sought out Ms.
Grant's short-lived TV series last fall, titled "Three Wishes." Apparently
I was one of the few. Anyway, at the end of the program, Ms. Grant and her
band put on a show for whatever small town was the recipient of the
producers' largesse that week.
On one of the programs, a young woman named Brandi Carlile opened for Amy
Grant.
I turned the sound up.
The official bio says she's a self-taught singer, who counts among her
experiences singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Well. Out of the pack of
plaintive, "Am I country, am I folk, am I alternative, should I move to
Austin?" sound-alikes - the force is strong with this one. 23 years old,
from Washington State. Her music has been featured on that hit TV series,
"Grey's Anatomy," and in last summer's chick-flick, "The Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants."
So what does she sound like? Quite a range. She claims Patsy Cline as an
inspiration. Perhaps, but I tend to think Dolly Parton without the twang.
She does that little catch-yodel thing, but it's not distracting when you
can do it well. Smart, tight lyrics - most by Ms. Carlile, with some help
from the Hanseroth twins (Tim and Phil) in the band.
The music is liquid, and it flows from the speakers (or ear buds), and
while my commercial ear didn't detect an obvious "good beat and easy to
dance to" hit, the freebie that's available at her website, "Fall Apart
Again" apparently did pretty well, and is a good indication of what she
can do. Backing band is good, and for stuff that she says was recorded at
home - the sound quality is top-notch.
Highly recommended.
 Three microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(05/07/06) |
