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music that matters: Brandi Carlile brings it home

By on February 9, 2014
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By Natalie Hughes, Editor in Chief.

Almost everywhere we go now, music is setting the scene … we carry our iPods when we run, we get in the car for a drive and turn on the stereo, we go into malls and grocery stores to buy things we need (and mostly things we don’t) and we dine in restaurants accompanied by a soundtrack. We barely notice what is playing but it is setting the tone for how we feel about what we’re experiencing. I had a tune in moment in a store one day where I actually noticed the song on the sound system. I stood still, I heard the song and I fell in love with it, not knowing what it was or who sang it.

Twenty years ago, I would have no way to find the song title, songwriter or singer but now we have ourselves the Google. Oh, how I love the Google. And now I don’t even have to type anything, I just say into my phone’s voice control, “Look up song lyric, ….” and that tiny lady living inside my phone finds the answer for me. (Sidenote: I know there’s no lady in there, but I used to believe there were little people inside my TV when I was wee, and I still enjoy the thought of it.)

Enter Brandi Carlile into my life. The song that caught me mid-spending-spree was “Looking Out” from the record, “Give Up The Ghost,” released in 2009. And the line that made me stop everything was, “Some people get religion. Some people get the truth.” I just thought… we understand each other, even if just for a moment, for one line in a song in the middle of a discount store.

So I plunked my money down for the cd at the last remaining music store in the mall ( old lady confession: I often still buy the cd instead of getting a download. I like the booklet and the package) and I never looked back. The cd made me want to write again. It made me want to take risks and get a band and expand my work. Although it’s not a country record, it made me admit that my real roots are in country music, sprouting from the campfires and guitars that were my fondest childhood moments. Such a pretty voice she has, but with an edge like Bonnie Raitt and a passion like Melissa Etheridge. She lays it on the line, my friends.

So if you ever loved the sound of girl and a guitar, unplugged in the moonlight, and the next moment belting out a pop-rock-country crazy catchy number, this is the album for you.

Give Up The Ghost

Brandi Carlile, 2009

 

Track listing:

“Looking Out”

“Dying Day”

“Pride and Joy”

“Dreams”

“That Year”

“Caroline”

“Before it Breaks”

“I Will”

“If There Was No You”

“Touching the Ground”

“Oh Dear”

Available on iTunes

 

nataliecalmNatalie Hughes, editor, writer, performer and songwriter, is a gifted interpreter of the human experience, expressing passion, humor, heartbreak, healing and freedom to a depth that few writers reach. Natalie is also the Musical Director for Crystal Andrus Productions, providing music for short films, international speaking engagements, and powerful meditations. Hear her in music and conversation weekly as the co-host on The Crystal Andrus Show. Natalie lives along the picturesque waterways of Peterborough, Canada with her husband – photographer Michael Hurcomb – and her two children. For more, visit nataliehughes.com and find Natalie on iTunes,  Twitter and Facebook.

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