I need to admit right now that I’ve been totally remiss and have done all of you a disservice. I was doing edits on this site over the last few days and, when I got to the music page and was pondering a better layout (or some actual category pages…) I realized there was a great musician missing: Brandi Carlile. How the awesome singer/songwriter got left off the page is a mystery. It’s an error that is totally my fault, I assure you!

Brandi’s music has been labeled a lot of things: Alternative Country, Alternative Rock, Folk, Folk Rock – you name it. She’s not one to be pigeonholed into one particular sound. In fact, on her latest hit album, she’s backed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (for at least the third time in her music career!). Live at Benaroya Hall With The Seattle Symphony was pulled together from all of two (only two) sold out shows in December of 2010. It was produced in May of 2011. At the time I’m writing this, it still ranks well under 5,000 in music CDs on Amazon.com. That’s phenomenal and a real tribute to Ms. Carlile.

Though she’d been singing in front of people since the age of eight, Brandi professionally entered the music scene in Seattle in the early 2000′s. She was “discovered” by Dave Matthews (of the Dave Matthews Band) in 2003 and signed to a major label. She’s best known for her 2007 album, The Story, and for the title track from the album. The single, “The Story” has been used by General Motors to promote fuel efficient cars, by a Portuguese beer brewing concern and by many other high profile advertisers and other diverse parties including television shows.

Her 2009 album Give Up the Ghost, has also achieved great commercial success due to her own stellar performance and the mix of collaborations with the likes of Elton John, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers). Ms. Carlile was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Music Artist” for the album. She didn’t win as she was up against Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert, both also deserving (Gaga took the award).

Brandi’s been an out and proud lesbian for all of her professional career. She takes no personal credit for this and does not consider herself as brave for “coming out” because, she says, others paved the way for her.

Brandi is currently touring on a limited schedule. Her has several tour stops nationally during July of this year. She’ll also be working with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra again this November. Tickets for two performances with them went on sale yesterday (March 13th).