Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Brandi Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American alternative country and folk rock singer-songwriter Her 2007 album The Story was produced by T-Bone Burnett.
Carlile is best known for the eponymous song from the The Story album. "The Story", the song, was used in a General Motors television commercial aired on American and Canadian television showcasing the car company's new line-up of more fuel-efficient cars. Due to the ad airing heavily during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the song increased in downloads. The song was also used in the 2008 commercial for Super Bock, the most popular beer in Portugal, which led to the song reaching number 1 and the album The Story reaching number 4 on the Portuguese charts. "The Story" was also 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, and was also used in a 2010 Tracker television commercial that aired on South African television. "The Story" is currently being used on Connecticut Channel 3 during promotions for the local news. Aside from "The Story" (specifically the cover version by Sara Ramirez), two other Carlile songs (this time from her third album titled Give Up the Ghost) were used for two more episodes of the TV series Grey's Anatomy.
Give Up the Ghost was released in 2009. Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Rick Rubin, it featured a collaboration with Elton John on the song "Caroline" as well as Amy Ray, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench. In 2010, National Geographic Channel in Latin America chose the song "If There Was No You" from the album as a jingle to promote its series "Grandes Migraciones" (Great Migrations). Also that same year, during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards, Carlile was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for the album.
In 2011, Carlile's album Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony reached number 14 on the Top Rock Albums chart. Carlile's next album, Bear Creek, releasing June 5, 2012, was produced by Trina Shoemaker.
Early life
At age eight, Carlile performed the song "Tennessee Flat Top Box" with her mother and began playing the guitar and writing songs at age fifteen. At sixteen, Carlile was a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator. According to Carlile she was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder as a teen and dropped out of school to pursue a music career.
Career
Carlile began her career performing in Seattle music clubs with the twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. Dave Matthews heard her perform at the 2003 Sasquatch! Music Festival and she joined Columbia Records in late 2004 and recorded her album Brandi Carlile the following year.
She was featured on Rolling Stone's list of "10 Artists to Watch in 2005" and in 2006, toured as an opening act for artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Jonny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and Shawn Colvin.
After two year of touring she recorded her album The Story. produced by T Bone Burnett.
In 2007 Carlile performed at the Borderline in London and as guest on Newton Faulkner's on five date UK tour in 2008. She was the opening act for Maroon 5 and OneRepublic during their Australia tour and in April 2008, she performed on the BBC2 show, Later... with Jools Holland.
Carlile's third studio album, Give Up the Ghost, was released in 2009 and debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200 The album was produced by Jason Lader and contains a collaboration with Elton John entitled "Caroline". Carlile will release her fourth studio album, Bear Creek, on June 5th, 2012. The album will consist of 13 tracks and is produced entirely by Trina Shoemaker
She also provided backing vocals on the song "Restless Dream," featured on People and Things, the third studio album by American rock band Jack's Mannequin.
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. She also donates one dollar from every concert ticket sale to the foundation.
In an interview in September 2009, Carlile 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."
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 provided 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 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: More Hope For The Holidays 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.
Personal life
In a November 2002 interview, Carlile identified herself as a lesbian and later told the Los Angeles Times "I don't have to have a lot of formality around it...there were people before me who paved the way."
Carlile owns a pet Doberman Pinscher and a horse and has AURYN tattoos on her shoulders.
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.
