Rock and Pop: Coming Up...Country singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile
Published: 1 April 2010
by ROISIN GADELRAB
WE rarely feature country singers on these pages.
But in the interests of the spring we hope is looming round the corner, we thought it was time for a gentle interlude.
So Washington singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile – who counts Elton John and Sheryl Crow amongst her celebrity fans – should be a welcome choice.
She’s gentle in contrast to the usual electro-rock-tinged acts Koko is more used to hosting, but not without the pain and suffering that comes with the country music territory.
Brandi plays Koko on April 26 in support of new album Give Up The Ghost.
For this, her third record, she worked with the likes of Elton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, multi-instrumentalist Benmont Tench, drummer Chad Smith and Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls.
Fans of Grey’s Anatomy may recognise her songs from the show’s soundtrack.
So if all this sounds appealing, and one can forgive her explanation of the album’s title: “To give up the ghost is not just to die, since we do it a handful of times throughout our lives, it’s a sort of leaving yourself behind – or what you knew yourself to be so that you can grow and transcend love or youth. Sometimes both.”
• Tickets are £14 from www.seetickets.com