Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile is hard to classify. It’s easy to say she is a singer/songwriter, but her music crosses lines between pop, rock, alternative country and folksy Americana, putting her in a genre all her own.

At 17, Carlile picked up the guitar and began hitting the bar scene in her native Seattle, playing anywhere she could get a gig. While playing clubs, she encountered twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. Impressed by their instrumental skills and spot-on harmonies, Carlile became an instant fan of their band, and when the group broke up, she persuaded the Hanseroth twins to form a group with her.

They began touring regularly, headlining small venues and opening shows for artists like Dave Matthews, Shawn Colvin, Ray LaMontagne, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos, and The Avett Brothers.

In 2000, she recorded the first of several self-released recordings that sold briskly at shows. By 2005, she’d earned enough buzz to secure a contract with Columbia Records, which released her self-titled debut later that same year. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and Carlile was named one of 2005’s “Artists to Watch” by Rolling Stone.

In 2006, the band began work on her second album, The Story, with T-Bone Burnett producing. The record was released in spring 2007 to warm reviews, and the inclusion of its title track in several commercials (most notably a General Motors ad that aired during the 2008 Beijing Olympics) helped boost sales. Give Up the Ghost followed in late 2009 and cracked the Top 40, featuring production from another high-caliber studio hand, Rick Rubin, as well as a duet with childhood idol Elton John.

She has released six albums including Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony, that reached number 14 on the Top Rock Albums chart and Bear Creek which peaked at 10 on the Billboard 200, number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Folk Albums and number 3 on U.S. Billboard Rock Albums.

Her latest album The Firewatcher’s Daughter, released in 2015, garnered her further acclaim and a Grammy Award nomination.

You don’t want to miss Brandi Carlile as she takes a night off from the Avett Brothers tour to grace the stage at the Sands Event Center.

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OPENING ACT: CAROLINE REESE

Caroline Reese is a songwriter from Reading, Pennsylvania. Her music combines elements from country, folk, and rock, and she has toured nationally in support of her last three albums. She has opened for artists including Chris Stapleton, Ben Folds, Israel Nash, and John Hiatt, and she and her band, the Drifting Fifth, have been featured as an emerging artist on Nashville’s Music City Roots. The group’s EP “The Electric Year” was named Y102’s 2014 album of the year. The group is currently working on their next LP, due out in mid-2016.