Brandi: Best at Bourbon & Beyond

Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile displays the heart of her music: community, vulnerability and love

By Kendall Polidori

Brandi Carlile sauntered on stage at Bourbon & Beyond in an exuberantly colorful and wildly patterned outfit. A toothy smile was plastered across her face.

Carlile is not new to the industry. She’s released seven studio albums and has earned 18 Grammy Award nominations, winning six times. She’s a gifted singer-songwriter who has spanned various genres over the years, with a focus on strings and a signature twangy voice.

Despite an extensive discography and playing the second headlining spot at the September festival in Louisville, Kentucky, Carlile is incredibly humble—nearly blown away by the throngs of people standing in awe below her.

Carlile’s words are pure poetry. There’s a touching vulnerability to her songs. Playing tear-jerking compositions, like The Joke and The Story, she had attendees who had never heard her music before that night nearly ripping at the seams—feeling emotion, inspiration and connection. And it doesn’t hurt that her vocal range is nothing short of excellent.

Brandi Carlile at Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville, Kentucky in September 2022.

Photo by Steve Thrasher

But she doesn’t just sing sad songs. Carlile celebrates the beauty of an imperfect life, with uplifting and grateful songs like You and Me on the Rock, a story about her peaceful life with her wife and two daughters.

A Carlile live performance is made for any music lover, touching on influences from pop, rock, alternative, country and folk. She can’t quite be compared with anyone else, except maybe her close friend Joni Mitchell.

About an hour into her set, Carlile and her band performed their version of Radiohead’s song Creep, luring the crowd to sing along in unison.

Bourbon & Beyond is a festival for music lovers who appreciate instrument-driven big bands. Carlile’s string section delivered just that and more, with an aggressive, fast-paced, and elongated string solo, including guitars, violins and cellos. It surely got the crowd going.

Brandi Carlile.

Photo by Steve Thrasher

START WITH Carlile’s The Story and you might notice her vulnerability in songwriting, as well as her range in vocal and chord progressions.

PAY ATTENTION TO how the song builds in tempo, adding more and more instruments as it continues. But her voice remains the point of interest.

For more from Bourbon & Beyond and the festival’s intimate Rocks Room sessions, check out "Beyond Bourbon, In The Rocks Room" online at luckboxmagazine.com.

Kendall Polidori is The Rockhound, Luckbox’s resident rock music critic. Follow her reviews on Instagram and Twitter @rockhoundlb.

B&B’S ‘ONE SONG’

"Where The Roses Never Fade," Jimmy Swaggert

"Johnson City Blues," Gary Brewer

"High Enough," Damn Yankees

—GARY BREWER & THE KENTUCKY RAMBLERS

Gary Brewer & The Kentucky Ramblers

Polaroid by Kendall Polidori

"Here, There And Everywhere," The Beatles

—MATILDA MARIGOLDS

Matilda Marigolds

Polaroid by Kendall Polidori

"Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin

—FRED MINNICK

— The Rockhound has been asking musical artists, “If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be?” See more on Instagram @rockhoundlb.

SOUNDBITES

Riot Fest Standout: THE MENZINGERS

In a period when pop-punk was perhaps losing steam, The Menzingers formed in 2006 to produce a more classic punk sound for their debut album. Over the years, they’ve morphed into a more straightforward rock band, softening their drums and setting a slightly slower vocal pace. At Riot Fest Chicago in September, they performed their 2012 album "On The Impossible Past" in its entirety. The album occupies a place in the band’s progression toward more traditional rock, easing up on the typical punk tones with less-aggressive shouting and a slightly smoother tempo. Notable songs from the album are "Good Things" and "Casey," which stand out from the rest with a more unusual vocal structure and chord progressions.

Readers looking for some of the band’s bigger hits can find them on the 2017 album "After the Party," including the title track—an ideal rock anthem to belt out in the shower.

Read the full review at luckboxmagazine.com

—JAMES BLAKEWAY

SMASHING PUMPKINS: Homecoming at Metro

While the Smashing Pumpkins have played Chicago’s Metro 40 times over their 35-year career, the 1,100 attendees for this September performance knew they were witnessing something special. The venerable alt-rock act was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the iconic Chicago venue by returning after 10 years’ absence to the stage it first graced in 1988. With a 23-song performance spanning two and a half hours, William Patrick (Billy) Corgan and company showcased a portfolio of hits from albums with global sales exceeding 30 million units. Surprises included a dark and deranged, seemingly improvised cover of Talking Heads’ "Once in a Lifetime." Notably absent from the setlist was fan favorite "Mayonaise"—a song with an intentionally misspelled title inspired by a look inside Corgan’s refrigerator.

The Smashing Pumpkins will begin touring with Jane’s Addiction in the Spirits on Fire tour covering North America beginning in October. On November 15, the band will release the first of three acts to its new, 33-song rock opera, "Atum."

—JEFF JOSEPH

FIVE QUESTIONS

WHISKEY MASTER FRED MINNICK AT BOURBON & BEYOND

Fred Minnick

Photo courtesy of Fred Minnick Media Inc.

WHAT’S HAPPENING THESE DAYS IN THE SPIRITS INDUSTRY?

Fred Minnick:

People are seeking out spirits endorsed by pop culture. For example, the old beer brand Coors Banquet is experiencing a resurgence because of Netflix’s Yellowstone series. The trend in movies and TV is that people aren’t having cosmopolitans on the screen anymore. Instead, they have high-end whiskey, specificallybourbon or nice tequila. And so you see this cultural shift from drinking stuff just to get you messed up to drinking something that you can appreciate later on. So it’s a completely different world today compared with in the ‘90s.

WHICH DISTILLERIES SHOULD PEOPLE BE PAYING ATTENTION TO?

Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery in Iowa and Old Forester Distilling Co. in Louisville, Kentucky.

WHAT’S THE MOST UNDERRATED BOURBON?

Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond. It’s under $20, and it’s got a lot of bang-for-your-buck flavor.

FOR SOMEONE WHO PREFERS TO DRINK BEER, WHAT’S A GOOD DRINK TO START WITH IN THE SPIRITS CATEGORY?

You can have a bourbon cocktail or some kind of cocktail with grapefruit that’s hoppy like an IPA but has a great fruity note. If you like porters, which have chocolate, I recommend a Scotch with a sherry finish and some chocolate notes.

IF YOU HAD TO PICK ONE BOTTLE TO DRINK FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I would probably say 1969 Old Crow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. I had it for the first time 15 years ago, and I can close my eyes today and still taste it.