Brandi Carlile preview

Brandi Carlile
Schubas, Chicago
May 11 to 13, 2007

Something must be in the water out in the Pacific Northwest because, in the wake of Neko Case, another beguiling songstress with aching vocals and a keen sense of melancholy arrives with a compelling sophomore effort.

Brandi Carlile has definitely lived up to the hype thrust upon her by Rolling Stone when the music mag named her among 10 others as the “Artists To Watch In 2005.” The Story finds Carlile and her ever-present bandmates and songwriting collaborators, twins Tim and Phil Hanseroth, toeing a fine line between rockabilly, confessional singer-songwriter-esque material, and straight-up rock. Carlile manages to sound like a cross between a less kooky Martha Wainwright and a less haunted Case, with a few Sarah McLachlan-like falsetto flourishes thrown in.

The end result found a home on the hit medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” where at least four of Carlile’s songs have played in the background during some intense “McDreamy” moments. The folks over at “Grey’s” boosted Carlile’s profile when it aired the entire video for the album’s title track spliced with scenes from the show after an episode of ABC’s highest-rated program.

Since releasing her self-titled debut album in 2005 on Columbia and slowly crawling her way into the psyche of female Thursday-night TV fans, Carlile also made acclaimed producer T Bone Burnett sit up and take notice. The Grammy winner behind hits for Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, sat in the control booth for the 11-day recording session that resulted in The Story. Burnett’s fingerprints are evident throughout the album’s 13 tracks.

Cary Brothers opens each night.

— Janine Schaults

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly