Someone [recently] told me that I'm really Northwestern, which is funny because normally people think I'm Southern. I think that I've been so involved with country music since I was so young that it's just a part of who I am and it's a part of the way I sing and, I guess, even the way I talk, subconsciously. But I think the Northwest has had a huge influence on me. If anything, just the natural beauty of it. A lot of my songs have reccurring themes that have to do with nature and the kind of nature [that I see] where I live.
Wait, you said Seattle and I thought you meant Northwest, but I think you meant Seattle like the grunge thing?
Well, I think I kind of meant that, but I like your answer. [laughs] I was actually talking about, because this is such a rock and roll focused town, whenever I see another singer/songwriter do well from Seattle, I wonder what kind of influence the local rock scene has had on them.
Because of where I grew up and I was so into country music, I had ... absolutely no idea what was going on, even living like an hour outside of the city. And I didn't understand it until I was in my 20s; I started to understand ... Kurt Cobain and the grunge scene, all that beautiful music. But I'm affected by what that left behind, in a very good way.
I was looking at your tour schedule and it's pretty crazy ... how are you keeping up your voice and energy?
Well I just try to get as much sleep as I can, and take advantage of our days off. I don't drink red wine before I go to bed anymore. You know, I just take good care of myself.
Do you have any specific processes or rituals on the road or in the studio that you go through to get yourself in the mind-frame of making music? Or is it just kind of like you're at work and you're working, and when you're not, you're not?
I know that, like everybody else in the world that sings, I like to close with "Hallelujah" [by Leonard Cohen] at the end of the night. That's something I do for me, for myself. That’s the way I feel like I need to close more often than not these days.
Well that's a beautiful song, you can't really get much better than that.
It is a beautiful song.
What do you think makes a good song?
The lyrics are incredible. The melody is very soaring. You can do a lot with that melody. The melody is beautiful, I mean if someone played "Hallelujah" on the recorder it would still be beautiful.
Totally, but I meant what makes any song a good song?
Oh I thought you meant "Hallelujah" specifically. [laughs] A good song is a good song no matter how many instruments or elements are introduced into it. [Also] I think a good song can stand on its own, without anything. I think you should be able to speak a good song and have it still be a good song.
Brandi Carlile is currently touring the U.S. Check out her tour schedule on her Web site
Page 1: Brandi on The Story and working with her band
Page 2: Brandi Carlile on becoming more popular and touring
