A crowd laughed, clapped and cheered as country artist and activist Brandi Carlile and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke about the music industry, her activism and what shapes them as people in a fireside chat to kick off the AmericanaFest conference on Wednesday morning.
Mason introduced Carlile, praising her storytelling and advocacy in her music and personal life, calling her “a force of good in this [music] industry.” He then asked her to give a glimpse into her life and music beginnings.
Carlile grew up outside of Seattle, finding her love of singing in front of crowds at nearby dinner theater Northwest Grand Ol’ Opry, where she could sing the “matriarch outlaws” in country music – Patsy Cline, Tanya Tucker and Dolly Parton. Her first performance, though, was Rosanne Cash’s “Tennessee Flat-Top Box” at 8 years old in front of 300 people.
“I still remember the blindingness of it, the lights reflected in my glasses,” Carlile said. “… I was like, ‘I live here now. I live on stage. This is my life.’ And I don’t think I have ever even contemplated looking back.”
From the moment she stepped on stage, her family, friends and the crowd supported her and “never made [her] feel weird” about performing and singing, she said.
“A community does create an artist, and art thrives in that setting,” Carlile said.
Carlile moved on to talk about her collaborations with iconic artists, like Elton John, Tanya Tucker and Joni Mitchell, throughout her career. She said her collaborations were and are essential to her growth as an artist and person.
Even Carlile’s upcoming solo album, “Returning to Myself,” helped her learn more about herself by collaborating with producers and her band.
“No one can return to themself alone,” she said. “It takes a village to return to yourself.”
She dislikes criticism and doesn’t really know how to handle it, but she is trying to figure out a balance with that and her activism and social media usage, Carlile said.
“I’m still that 8-year-old on stage with the lights in my glasses that just wants everybody to like me,” she said. “I haven’t found a way to differentiate between praise and acceptance and self-esteem and acceptance, just like most people. I’m navigating it – clumsily.”
Carlile doesn’t mind receiving criticism for her activism or music, but she said she cannot handle it when someone criticizes her person and character because she wants to “keep that part soft.”
With her activism, she chooses a cause she entirely believes in and is willing to stand behind to help a cause grow, Carlile said. She wants people to come together in causes because a group or community can make a change.
“I feel like we’re better together,” Carlile said about the music industry community. “I think we’re a really interesting and eccentric, dysfunctional family, and I’m really proud to be a tiny part of it.”
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