It took three months before her schedule would allow for time to conduct our interview, but it was not for lack of trying.The accessible Brandi Carlile—known to the Pacific Northwest, specifically Seattle, Wash.—has become a worldwide phenomenon. Embarking on sold-out concert tours one right after the other, it's any wonder Carlile has had time to breathe over the past three years, much less sit down for an interview with me. When it comes up in conversation, she tells me that I sound just like her mother. I'll take that as a compliment.
Carlile is as personable and genuine as they come—especially in the music and entertainment industry. Maybe it is because she lives in Maple Valley instead of Hollywood. Or, just maybe, it's because this is one fiery chick that has her act together and knows how to take it out on the road. Either way, Carlile is a force to be reckoned with, and her strength permeates the surface of the current static-like structures filling the airwaves delving deep into the pores of society with composure and certainty.
When she sings old Johnny Cash songs, the sold-out crowd stands up and stomps its feet along with the music. Her rendition of "Hallelujah" usually includes inviting her little sister up on the stage to perform with her. Cheers and whistles can be heard from the stage to the street and, on occasion, there is a slight chill in the air which seems to symbolize to those involved that something pretty special is going on.
There was a time not very long ago when Carlile stood on the stage at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo to open a show for Indigo Girls. Her giddiness reflected that of a young woman meeting her mentors in music and in life. Today, Carlile considers Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers her dearest friends. In fact, it is through their close friendship that their newest team adventure, Fight the Fear, was born. Carlile talked before the kickoff celebration for Fight the Fear.
Sarah Toce: I wanted to talk with you about your new project, Fight the Fear.
Brandi Carlile: Well, the reason why I'm doing it—there are so many reasons. It's sort of inspired by, in a positive way, the heinous crime that happened in South Park over the summertime to Teresa Butz and her partner. [ Editor's note: Butz and her partner, Jen Hudson, were stabbed in their house by a man who climbed in through their window, according to Fox2Now.com . Butz later died. ] It was a ripple effect throughout our community and the women's community, in general, seeing as how it was a gender-based crime. It was a ripple effect of fear and hyper-awareness and I know I certainly felt that way—I was home and I got together and started talking with my friends—with the Indigo Girls—and we wanted to discuss something that we could do to change that fear into confidence and to refine the awareness so that it was a healthy awareness and sort of give that community their strength back and sort of inspire something positive to happen from something so awful.
So we partnered with the Seattle Police Department and two women-owned and -run self-defense organizations: Seattle Kajukenbo, Seven Star Women's Kung Fu and Teresa Butz's partner, the surviving partner of that attack. Together we have been able to get into different organizations and offer self-defense courses for women in the Seattle area for one year in at-risk communities.
SARAH TOCE: Wow, that's amazing. I know that when that happened we all locked our doors a little bit tighter and were a little bit more vigilant about our surroundings.
BRANDI CARLILE: Yeah, and that's the awareness part of it. It's the fear part of it that's unhealthy and that's the part that we want to help combat.
SARAH TOCE: Good work—you should feel very proud about that. I talked with some friends in my community and they are very excited about this project. Now, tell me a little bit about the Century Ballroom event.
BRANDI CARLILE: Yeah, the kick-off event on [ Jan. 10 ] . It's kind of a two-part event that's going to start with a mission statement and then the first self-defense course, which will be for the LGBTQ community which has always been very near and dear to my heart and I believe that if you're LGBTQ you're always at a certain amount of risk for violence so I think that that qualifies as an at-risk community. So, it'll be an LGBTQ community kick-off.
So, basically, 100 people will take this self-defense course at the same time. I think it will be very powerful to watch. So, that will be the first couple of hours and then the second couple of hours we're going to have a couple of speakers including Teresa Butz's partner and Melinda Johnson, the executive director of Fight the Fear Campaign and of Seattle Kajukenbo. Then, there's going to be some performances from me and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. Then we're all gonna go home! And it's basically a big kick-off event to celebrate the cause and to gain visibility for our project so that people can become involved if they feel a ) that they can benefit from the classes themselves, or b ) if they feel that they can benefit our organization in some way. What we hope to do is continue it through the years so that this won't just be a one year project—it'll be something that we'll be able to offer for a long time to come.
SARAH TOCE: Has it been a conscious decision to become more involved within the LGBTQ community within the past few years?
BRANDI CARLILE: I've always been super-involved with the gay and lesbian community in Seattle. My whole life I have been—since I was a teenager. Some of my first and biggest gigs were at Pride and the non-smoking nights at The Wildrose. I've always been really involved in the gay and lesbian community—always in a fun, light-hearted way and so I wanted to be involved with something profound.
SARAH TOCE: Well, you picked the right thing to do. I just cannot tell you enough how inspiring this is going to be for everyone in the community.
BRANDI CARLILE: Well, I really am only a part of it, you know; the Seattle Police Department [ has ] been amazing, the Indigo Girls are a huge part of it, Seattle Kajukenbo and Seven Star. I can't say enough about [ Hudson ] —she has been unbelievable.
SARAH TOCE: Yeah, it's pretty incredible for her to come out and take a huge part in this project. It is very inspiring.
BRANDI CARLILE: Yeah, every step of the way she has been involved in this project and she's doing a lot of work. She designed the logo and the Web site and entering e-mails. She's been fantastic.
SARAH TOCE: Now, how did you partner with Indigo Girls for this project? Was it mostly through your friendship with them and just talking or was it something else?
BRANDI CARLILE: Through my friendship with them. They are like my dearest friends in life and serious mentors to me. They were playing in Seattle, I think, just days after it happened and we were sitting backstage going over our set list and they had had Home Alive come out and they set up a Compass Center, which Teresa Butz had been heavily involved in, and we were just talking like, "What can we do, you know, to empower women in this community and to transform that fear into confidence and awareness?" We kind of got on this self-defense thing because we thought it would make women feel stronger. So, we recorded a song that is going to benefit the project and that is how their involvement came along. They happened to be playing a show right after it happened.
SARAH TOCE: What other projects do you have coming up in your organization and also in general within the next year or so? Anything you can share?
BRANDI CARLILE: Our foundation, first of all, is still doing its environmental work. We're still partnering with Reverb and I am also getting involved with a local food bank here in Maple Valley and trying to get on the executive board of directors, which will be really fun. The foundation is still involved in the Women's If Project making educational documentaries for kids in school to sort of alter their trajectory. That's what the foundation is doing and what our band is doing is—we just recorded a Valentine's Day EP which we're super-excited about. It's called "XO, BC." We're embarking on a tour in about a week and looking at doing the Symphony tour at the end of 2010.
SARAH TOCE: Very exciting. Then hopefully somewhere in there you're gonna be able to stay home and chill out.
BRANDI CARLILE: [ Laughs ] You sound like my mom! I'm homesick on the road and then when I get home I'm roadsick.
SARAH TOCE: Well, I know you're super-busy so I won't keep you, but do you have any last words for us?
BRANDI CARLILE: I really appreciate you giving visibility to our project and your support. Thank you so much.
