The Story is the second album by folk rock singer Brandi Carlile, and was released on April 3, 2007. The album peaked at #58 in the Billboard 200 on May 5, 2007.

The Story was produced by T-Bone Burnett and recorded over eleven days on two-inch audio tape in The Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. The album also features the guitarists and songwriters Tim and Phil Hanseroth, drummer Matt Chamberlain, cellist Josh Neumann and backing vocals by the Indigo Girls on "Cannonball".

Television exposure

The song, The Story, was used in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. A video was created, first airing on the season 3 recap episode, Every Moment Counts. The video helped boost sales and downloads of the album increased.

The Story was also used in ads promoting the Australian drama series, McLeod's Daughters.

On 25 April 2008 Carlile performed The Story and Turpentine on the BBC2 show Later...with Jools Holland. The song The Story was also used in the 2008 Super Bock commercial, the most popular beer in Portugal, which has made the album The Story reach number 4 on the Portuguese Album chart. The song is currently used in a General Motors television commercial aired on American and Canadian television showcasing their new line-up of more fuel efficient cars.http Due to the ad airing heavily during the 2008 Beijing Olympics,http the song increased in downloads.

The song The Story was used in a montage of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno during the opening and closing of the Ohio State-Penn State football game on ABC on October 25, 2008.

The song is currently used in a Tracker television commercial aired on South African televisions Network.

The Story is currently being used on Connecticut Channel 3 during promotions for the local news.

Chart performance

In response to the increase in album downloads caused by the adverts in the U.S. (mentioned above), the album saw a 368% increase in sales from 1,323 to 6,198, causing it to return to the Billboard 200 at #88. To date the album has currently sold 257,776 copies in the United States. The lead single, The Story saw an increase in downloads of 28,091 digital copies, causing it to the chart at #48 on the Billboard Hot Digital songs chart.

Covers

*English singer Adele covered Carlile's hidden track "Hiding My Heart" on a bonus edition of her 2011 album 21.

References

Artist/Band Information

Brandi Carlile (born June 1, 1981 in Ravensdale, Washington) is an American singer and songwriter. Carlile's music has been categorized in several genres, including pop, rock, alternative country, indie and folk.

Biography

Early life

At age eight, Carlile performed a rendition of the country music song "Tennessee Flat Top Box" with her mother.. She began to play the guitar and write songs at fifteen.. At sixteen, she began to perform as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator..

Career

Before signing to a major record label, Carlile performed in local Seattle establishments like The Crocodile, Tractor Tavern, and Paragon with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth.. Carlile sold her self-released recordings during local performances. Carlile began to attract the attention of the music industry after Dave Matthews heard her band perform at the 2003 Sasquatch! Music Festival.

brandi-carlile2.jpgthumbleft200pxBrandi Carlile performing in Birmingham, Alabama in 2006.

Columbia Records signed Carlile in late 2004 on the strength of her home recordings. Her 2005 major label debut, Brandi Carlile included some of those songs as well as newly recorded tracks. After the release of Brandi Carlile, she went on tour with the Hanseroth brothers for almost two years, where they worked on songs that became part of her album The Story.

In 2005, she was featured on Rolling Stones "10 Artists to Watch in 2005" list. By the end of 2006, Carlile had toured as a headliner and supported other artists including Ray LaMontagne, Jonny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and Shawn Colvin.

Her second Columbia album, The Story, was released in April 2007. It was produced by T Bone Burnett and includes a collaboration with the Indigo Girls on "Cannonball". The album was recorded in an 11-day long session with Carlile, the Hanseroth twins, cellist Josh Neumann and drummer Matt Chamberlain to capture the sound of her live performances. The crack in Carlile's vocals during the title track, "The Story", came out by accident and was a direct result of the way the album was recorded. Carlile describes the vocals as "technically wrong but emotionally right". She would also contribute vocals to "Last Tears" from Indigo Girls' Despite Our Differences.

ABC's Grey's Anatomy featured three of her songs: "Tragedy", "What Can I Say", and "Throw it All Away". In April 2007, Grey's Anatomy debuted a version of the video for the single "The Story" interspersed with footage from the show. On 3 May 2007, a special two-hour episode of the show featured Carlile's song "Turpentine" during footage of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. Carlile's song "The Story" has been featured in a General Motors commercial aired during the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as in a Super Bock commercial.

In November 2007, Carlile visited England for her first UK gig at the Borderline in London. In February 2008, Carlile performed as special guest to Newton Faulkner on five of his UK tour dates. During March and April 2008 Carlile toured through Australia with Maroon 5 and OneRepublic. In April 2008 she played four dates in the UK and was a guest performer on the BBC2 show, Later... with Jools Holland. Carlile's album The Story was released in the UK on April 21, with lead single "Turpentine" released on April 14.

Her third studio album Give Up the Ghost was released on October 6, 2009. The album debuted at #26 on theBillboard 200http The album was produced by Grammy Award winner Rick Rubin and contains a collaboration with Elton John titled "Caroline".

English singer Adele covered The Story's hidden track "Hiding My Heart" on a bonus edition of her 2011 album 21.

Charity activities

Carlile worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for her 2007 fall tour, as well as her 2009 Give Up the Ghost tour.

She also performed with Ben Taylor in the Eden Presents…Alive in the World concert series for the benefit of Eden Florida, an organization that assists autistic children and adults.

In 2008, Carlile created The Looking Out Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, in order to provide financial support to various causes that she believes in. The Looking Out Foundation has provided grants to Reverb, the American Diabetes Association, and Honor The Earth, as well as numerous other organizations. Brandi also donates one dollar from every concert ticket sale to the foundation.http

In an interview in September 2009, Brandi said, "We really work on a community basis and we do everything from helping people pay for funerals to environmental projects. The Looking Out Foundation is a helping hand to any cause we believe in."http

In January 2010, Carlile's Looking Out Foundation partnered with the Seattle Police Department, the Indigo Girls and two local Seattle self-defense studios to fund and support the Fight the Fear Campaign. The campaign was inspired by the assault on a local Seattle woman and her partner in their South Park home and will provide free self-defense lessons to women in at-risk communities throughout 2010.

Also in 2010, Carlile contributed the track "The Heartache Can Wait" to the album alongside many other names such as Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Weezer, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Proceeds from this album go to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.http

Personal life

brandi-carlile1.jpgthumb200pxrightCarlile performing in April 2009 in Maine

In an April 2008 interview with The Independent, Carlile revealed that, as a teenager, she was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder and struggled in high school. She eventually dropped out to focus on a music career. She said,

"They wanted to medicate me so I could concentrate in math class...I decided to pretty much stop going. I went out busking instead."

Carlile is the owner of a Doberman Pinscher named "Bailey" and a horse named "Sovereign", whom she named after her first guitar.

During a November 14, 2002 interview with The Western Front, the official newspaper of Western Washington University, Carlile identified herself as a lesbian, and stated that she did not think it would affect her record deal. She was quoted as saying, "I think that since it's not a big deal for me, that people subscribe to that." In an October 17, 2009 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Carlile was quoted as saying,

"I hope that somewhere in Small Town, USA, a 15-year-old kid looks to me as a role model the way I looked at the Indigo Girls and Elton John as role models...and I hope they also recognize that the reason why I don't have to have a lot of formality around it, the reason why I don't have to wear it on my sleeve and make a spectacle of it, is because there were people before me who paved the way so I wouldn't have to."

Carlile has identical AURYN tattoos on each shoulder and has often said that The Neverending Story is one of her favorite 1980's films.

Discography

Albums

* Brandi Carlile (2005)

* The Story (2007)

* Give Up the Ghost (2009)

EP and demo

* Room for Me (2000)

* Open Doors (2002)

* We're Growing Up (2003)

* Acoustic (2004)

* Live from Neumo's (2005)

* Live at Easy Street Records (2007)

* Rhapsody Originals (2007) – exclusive acoustic versions recorded for Rhapsody.com

* Ghost Demos (2009) – limited edition EP, distributed with the first 2000 pre-orders of Give Up the Ghost

* XOBC (2010)

* Live At Benaroya Hall (2011)

Singles

Awards

In 2010, Brandi Carlile was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for her album Give Up the Ghost during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

Carlile was the winner of Seattle's City of Music Breakthrough Award for 2010.Seattle Times staff, , Seattle Times, 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2010-09-30.

References