The gods must’ve smiled upon me when my body was transported to chick folk/rock heaven on Saturday afternoon, where I found myself backstage at the Brandi Carlile concert. I’ve probably seen her perform about six times, but not since she has released her third album, “Give Up The Ghost,” risen to top 40 artist status on the Billboard charts, and teamed up with an all-star full band. She was joined by the usual duo of twins, Phil and Tim Hanseroth on bass and guitar, Josh Neumann on cello, a new electric guitarist (who was super cute, but whose name I didn’t catch), and renowned drummer in the badass-lady-musicians-category, Allison Miller.
The audience was immediately satisfied with the usual crowd pleasers and past singles, such as, “The Story,” “Closer To You,” and, “What Can I Say.” The energy and good times were maintained with up-beat, yet lesser known songs that will probably be promoted as singles at some point, including, “Looking Out,” and “Dreams.” (You can watch a low-quality, iPhone video of “Dreams,” here, which I took from backstage). I was thrilled, yet unsurprised, by the amazing vocal capabilities of Miss Carlile, which have been known to make a listener tear up with tenderness, and then shatter that listener’s grip of reality with her monstrously powerful belt, and raw, chilling voice cracks.
With all of that being said, I expected to hear all of the popular songs and the screamers, since the audience was compiled of thousands of drunken festival-goers, but there were a few tricks up ol’ Brandi’s sleeve. A raucous rendition of the Johnny Cash classic, “Folsom Prison Blues,” took the audience from pumped, to downright hysterical, especially when Brandi took the melody up the octave. (The WOW FACTOR equaled 100!) The most memorable moment was when Brandi, the twins, and the cellist sang “Oh Dear,” acapella with four-part harmony, which was absolutely gorgeous. (It is a rare and impressive feat to give such a compelling performance that the audience shuts up for a full 3 ½ minutes, so a firm pat on the back to Brandi and her band).
As if one set wasn’t enough, Brandi offered some words of wisdom at a panel discussion with the lead singer of Weezer and some other industry dudes, and then actually performed a second acoustic set later on that day. (Naturally, I attended all of these events with extreme enthusiasm). It also seems as if she has delved into her folk-country sound with a little more vigor and intention on this go-‘round, and it suits her well, so everyone should look forward to what will come of Brandi Carlile’s future material and performances. She is on tour for the rest of the month, and is actually playing a show in Nashville this evening at the Loveless Barn. It’s probably sold out, but maybe you can sneak your way in. (That’s what I’ll be attempting).—Erin Manning

I popped my Bonnaroo cherry by arriving a day and a half late, being crammed into Camp Katinka—the campsite furthest from all Bonnaroo festivities—and completely missed The Gossip, She and Him, and Tori Amos. My struggles were rewarded, however, with the ultimate consolation prize: Steve Martin and his fabulous four-piece bluegrass band, the Steep Canyon Rangers. I must admit that I didn’t go to hear him perform for the music; I went to feed my obsession. He was actually quite capable for someone who has been primarily recognized as an actor/comedian since the early 1970’s, so I was pleasantly surprised to listen to some truly entertaining bluegrass.
The majority of the songs performed came from Martin’s Grammy-winning album, “The Crow,” including, “Wally On The Run,” “Pitkin County Turnaround,” and, “Hoedown At Alice’s.” Martin plucked the banjo, an upright bassist served as the rhythm section, and two others played acoustic guitar and mandolin. It was a relief to see that Martin’s supporting instrumentalists equally contributed to the band’s success, and they even performed without Steve Martin a few times, wooing audience members with an acapella, barbershop quartet-style number. With my limited interest in dosie-do’ing music, my observations of these “standard” bluegrass tunes were mainly that there was lots of clapping on 1 and 3, rapid banjo picking from Steve, and frequent fiddle solos. The standouts were less bluegrassy in nature, and hinted at some varied, but (unfortunately) unknown folk, blues, and old soul/RnB influences. The standouts also included some “novelty songs,” from Martin’s SNL days, including, “King Tut,” (the audience fav), which was originally performed by Steve Martin & The Toot Uncommons. (I liked this song especially, because it reminded me of the singer from the B52’s—you know, the way the guy speaks all of his lyrics as if he’s talking right in your face).
Audience members expecting some comedic relief in addition to an upbeat, cheerful set of bluegrass songs were certainly not disappointed, and as if the performance wasn’t already enough of a giggle fest, Jack Black showed up backstage after finishing his Tenacious D set, sweating profusely, but with an admiring and determined gleam in his eye. Apparently he and Steve Martin have been collaborating on a film called, “Birdwatching,” although I have yet to verify whether or not Martin was just making things up onstage. That’s probably the case. Regardless, it was funny. –Erin Manning