Ravensdale, WA · americana · rock

Brandi Carlile

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Americana's reigning voice — eleven Grammys of thunder and grace, with a catalog that moves from whisper to belt like weather changing.

Carlile was born in Ravensdale, Washington, in 1981, and grew up in small towns south of Seattle, including Black Diamond, Maple Valley and Auburn. At four she nearly died of bacterial meningitis; at eight she performed Johnny Cash's "Tennessee Flat Top Box" onstage with her mother, and by fifteen she was writing her own songs.

She left Tahoma High School to pursue music, taught herself piano after hearing Elton John and later picked up guitar. In Seattle clubs she began performing with twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, who have remained her long-term writing and playing partners; Columbia Records signed her in 2004.

Her music moves between folk, country and rock, built around a voice that can shift from a near-whisper to full-throated belting within a single song. She has released eight studio albums since her self-titled 2005 debut, including The Story (2007), Bear Creek (2012) and By the Way, I Forgive You (2018).

Carlile has won eleven Grammy Awards, among them three for co-writing Tanya Tucker's While I'm Livin', and two Emmys for children's television work. In 2019 she formed the country group the Highwomen with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby, whose debut album won a Grammy for "Crowded Table."

She is openly gay and speaks often about queer visibility in country and Americana music, alongside broader work on humanitarian aid, racial justice and LGBTQ rights. Live, she moves as easily through close family-band harmonies as through full-band arrangements.

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