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Brandi Carlile On World Cafe

Brace your abs for an emotional gut-punch. Brandi Carlile is here with bandmates and co-writers Tim and Phil Hanseroth. Together, they have a new album called By the Way, I Forgive You. It was recorded at Nashville's legendary RCA Studio A, produced by Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings. And it's filled with emotionally stirring songs — some that are massive and some that are stripped bare.

In the first category, there's a song called "The Joke," born out of a request by Dave Cobb. He challenged Carlile to write a song that went floor to ceiling the way her epic ballad "The Story" did ten years ago. Carlile responded, along with Phil and Tim, by writing an opus with strings, a really big build and the kind of high note that only Carlile can hit.

Then there's the acoustic guitar-based "The Mother," which doesn't go for the high notes or big swells but instead pulls deep on the ol' heartstrings. The song is about Carlile's daughter Evangeline. In this session, hear Carlile's performance of both of those songs live, and our conversation about the tenth anniversary of her breakout album The Story. She celebrated that anniversary by assembling an A-list roster that includes Dolly Parton and Adele to cover the entire album for the benefit of War Child UK. Oh yeah: Barack Obama participated too.

Carlile, Tim and Phil (along with drummer Chris Powell and a full band with a string section) performed in front of a live audience here at the World Cafe. They started us off with "Every Time I Hear That Song." Hear it all in the player above.

Copyright 2018 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.
Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.