By Focus Staff
Brandi Carlile is the most nominated female artist and third-most nominated artist overall at the 61st GRAMMY Awards with six nominations including Album Of The Year (By The Way, I Forgive You), Record Of The Year (“The Joke”), Song Of The Year (“The Joke”),Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance.
The nominations cap off a breakthrough year for the acclaimed singer, songwriter and performer following the release of By The Way, I Forgive You. Produced by Grammy-Award winning producer Dave Cobb and acclaimed musician Shooter Jennings and recorded at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, the album includes ten new songs written by Carlile and longtime collaborators and bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth including “The Joke.” Released on Low Country Sound/Elektra Records (purchase), By The Way, I Forgive Youcontinues to receive overwhelming critical praise…
“Brandi Carlile lets loose and reaches for the sky.”—American Songwriter,
Top 25 Albums of 2018
The 50 Best Albums of 2018 (So Far): Critic’s Picks—Billboard
“…her new musical masterpiece, By the Way, I Forgive You.”—The Bluegrass Situation
“It’s my album of the year” —Elton John on his Rocket Hour radio show on Beats1
#11: The 20 best albums of 2018—Entertainment Weekly
#3: 10 Best Country Albums of 2018—Esquire
“…a master class in heart-on-sleeve songwriting as resistance. Add on her
truly incomparable vocal performances, as well as a captivating live presence, and there’s no way not to want Brandi Carlile to take over the world.”—Folk Alley, Best of 2018
“…an anthem for the belittled and bullied…evokes the grand crescendos of ‘A Day in the Life’ and the finale of ‘Abbey Road’…”—The New York Times
“…haunting and ethereally beautiful. By The Way, I Forgive You is an album
for the ages.”—No Depression
“By the Way, I Forgive You is a ten-song reckoning.”—Noisey, The 100 Best Albums of 2018
#28 “The Joke”: The 100 Best Songs of 2018—Noisey
“Carlile’s huge, warm voice, with its vibrato ending each phrase as if turning into a memory, works perfectly within the album’s grand, expressive settings, untethered to genre, massive but intimate.”—NPR Music, Best Albums of 2018
“Opting to reject bitterness, self pity or revenge, Carlile’s form of forgiveness—in her music and in these real life gestures—carries a mighty strength.”—NPR Fresh Air
“On By the Way, I Forgive You, she aims higher than ever before, this time
with her best songs and exquisite production on her side.”—Paste
“…this is her moment.”—Pitchfork
“My Favorite Songs of 2017” (“The Joke”)—President Barack Obama
“…an Adele-meets Joni Mitchell tour de force.”★★★★—Rolling Stone
50 Best Albums of 2018 So Far—Rolling Stone
“If there’s any justice in the world, By The Way, I Forgive You should
catapult Brandi Carlile into music’s upper echelons.”—Salon
The 50 Best Albums of 2018 So Far—UPROXX
“Carlile can hit diva-like highs but knows the devil is in the details. Dig in, and you might even forgive yourself for not discovering Carlile sooner.”—Variety
Over the course of their acclaimed career, Carlile and her band have released six albums, including 2015’s The Firewatcher’s Daughter, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. Additionally, last year, they released Cover Stories: Brandi Carlile Celebrates 10 Years of the Story (An Album to Benefit War Child), which features 14 artists covering the songs on their breakthrough album The Story with all proceeds benefiting War Child. Artists included on the acclaimed project, which Rolling Stone calls, “tender and powerful,” include Dolly Parton, Adele, Pearl Jam, Kris Kristofferson, The Avett Brothers, Margo Price and Jim James as well as a forward written by President Obama. More details can be found here.
Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend—a destination concert vacation featuring an all female-fronted lineup—will take place at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya, Mexico January 30-February 3, 2019. In addition to multiple shows by Carlile, Girls Just Wanna Weekend will feature Maren Morris, Indigo Girls, Margo Price, Patty Griffin, Lucius, KT Tunstall, The Secret Sisters and Ruby Amanfu. Of her inspiration behind the event, Carlile comments, “Mainstream festivals in the U.S. habitually exclude women as headline artists equal to men. I was brought up by Lilith Fair to believe that men and women enjoy live music equally and that women can not only headline a festival—they can BE a festival.”Tickets are now on sale. Complete details regarding the festival and packages are available via www.girlsjustwannaweekend.com.
