The girl can't help it. With a spirited smile that could charm the devil, Brandi Carlile possesses a natural beauty and wholesome goodness that radiates from the inside out. Like her music, she is honest, heartfelt and uncompromising in her values and beliefs. Her passion is her music and music is her life. And at 29, Brandi Carlile is doing exactly what she set out to do as a small child growing up in rural Ravensdale, Washington. She is living her dream. 

Born June 1, 1981, the oldest of three children, Brandi Carlile grew up listening to the likes of Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash.  Her early years were strongly influenced by her mother, Teresa Carlile, a local country and western singer. At 8 years old,  Brandi performed  Roseanne Cash's "Tennessee Flat-Top Box" at the Northwest Grand Ol' Opry and was immediately hooked by the lure and applause of the audience. Under her mother's watchful eye, Brandi continued giving live performances and cultivating her musical talent. At 16, Brandi got a job with her best friend as a backup singer for an Elvis impersonator, who also happened to be  her best friend's father. By 17 she had taught herself to play the guitar and piano, had long been writing songs, and had just discovered rock and roll. Brandi was completely "wowed" by legendary music greats Elton John, Freddie Mercury of Queen, Roy Orbison, and Radiohead's Thom Yorke, all whose influence would come to play an intricate part in refining Brandi as an artist.