Nearly a year after the release of her major-label debut album, Carlile's authentic approach to pop music has seemed to pay off - she played to a crowded Metro on June 2, proving that if you go back to the basics of rock and roll, you can still establish a solid fan base.
Before Carlile began her set, Ohio native and L.A. transplant Gran Bel Fisher played to a scattered crowd. Fisher has a poignant baritone voice for his 24 years, and he prefers to write stripped down songs with only a guitar and a piano, cutting to the root of his voice. “We're just a couple of boys from Ohio,” he said.
His laid back approach suited the night well, as Carlile walked on stage casually in jeans, a red top and red Converse shoes. Unlike a lot of female pop acts, Carlile doesn't rely on glamour - she wore her brown hair cropped, and she seemed nearly makeup-free. She opened the set with a cover of Bob Dylan's “The Times They Are A-Changin'.” Although it's always risky for a new artist to cover such an established song without seeming pretentious, Carlile sounded generally sincere when her crisp voice enunciated Dylan's message.
She mixed the set with originals on her album, including the popular, “Fall Apart Again,” cover songs as well as some new, unrecorded songs. Carlile's songs are a study in contradictions - they are poppy with frivolous lyrics like “Follow your heart and see where it might take you.” But at the same time, there's an underlying sophistication to the way the 25-year-old can sing and wrap her honest lyrics around a keen melody.
The rousing “Fall Apart Again,” which Carlile played as her third song, is one example of Carlile's budding talent. The melody and lyrics are familiar without being intrusive, but there are moments in the song when you can hear Carlile coming into her own, and maturing to a more sophisticated writer. Listen to her alluring voice as she sings, “I just smile, once in a while/because I don't want the lines on my face/I sit right here, holding the years/And I count all the stars in space.”
Although her songs can sometimes sound childish because her lyrics can be too precious, there were moments Friday night when Carlile seemed confident and amused as she strummed her guitar and let her daring voice - a cross between a bluesy country singer and a Kelly Clarkson-esque pop star - carry her songs away. She even joked with her bass and guitar players - the twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth, who also co-wrote some of the songs on her album -about their sibling fights over the same girl. Her band also included a drummer and cello player, who added a nice string section to Carlile's songs.
Carlile wasn't afraid to try some new sounds, also. For the last song in her encore, she brought out pop star Gavin DeGraw to sing a version of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah” with her. But Carlile doesn't need special guests or cover songs to rouse an audience. She can charm a crowd with just an acoustic guitar and her voice. She doesn't really need anything else.
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you didn't do your research
Written by Guest on 2006-09-23 12:28:16
If you would have done your research, before writing this piece... you would have realized that "fall apart again" was not written my brandi at all. It is Tim's song. And they are not just co writers -- quite a few songs are theirs and brandi is just the singer. |
Lyrics
Written by Guest on 2007-04-16 18:26:07
Her lyrics are never "too precious" as you put it, her lyrics are real and blunt and true life experiences. I think that this is something that pop artists lack today they sing songs written to sell MULTI MILLION COPIES and all that crap, Brandi has always been and will always be about the music and her love for it and that is what her lyrics portray...get a clue |
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