T-Bone Burnett - RodneyOlsen.net

I was introduced to the music of T Bone Burnett at an Elvis Costello concert many years ago at the Perth Concert Hall. Burnett was the ‘support act’ and someone that I needed to ‘endure’ before the real act began. I’d wanted to see Elvis Costello for years and this guy T Bone Burnett was now the only thing standing between me and that moment finally arriving.

Something strange happened when Burnett started singing. Instead of just wishing that he got off the stage so that I could hear about Oliver’s Army, I found myself completely drawn into his music and his lyrics. As it turned out, although I really enjoyed Costello’s performance, and it was rather brilliant, I enjoyed Burnett’s even more. I was now a fan.

T Bone Burnett hasn’t got the greatest voice in the world but he sure knows how to write great lyrics.

I was listening to his song Criminals on my iPod a couple of days ago and found myself once again agreeing with every word. T Bone sings it as his personal song but I can so easily make it my own. I can nod in agreement with every word.

Criminals is a great reminder of where we need to start if we want to change the world.

Criminals

I’ve seen a lot of criminals
I’ve seen a lot of crime
Doing a lot of evil deeds
Doing a lot of time

We speak of these men as aliens
From some forbidden race
We speak of these men as animals
We will lock in a cage

But there’s one man I must arrest
I must interrogate
One man that I must make confess
Then rehabilitate

There is no other I can blame
No other I can judge
No other I can cast in shame
Then require blood

I see him in the shadows down the hall
I see him in the plaster on the wall

There is no crime he cannot commit
No murder too complex
His heart is filled with larceny
And violence and sex

His heart is filled with envy
And revenge and greed
His heart is filled with nothing
His heart is filled with need

He’s capable of anything
Of any vicious act
This criminal is dangerous
The criminal under my own hat

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It’s hard to believe that the young lady who joined me in the studio this morning could have such a big voice.

Brandi Carlile has a big, big voice and it was a pleasure to talk to her today during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM.

If you’re not familiar with her music you owe it to yourself to check out the video clip for her song, The Story.

Brandi is a gifted singer/songwriter who grew up learning to make her own entertainment, camping and hiking in the nearby woods and teaching herself to sing. She grew up listening to the classic country music favourites of her parents, making her stage debut at the age of eight after she was taken to a local country radio show by her mother.

At 17, Brandi picked up the guitar, and began playing anywhere she could get a gig. While playing clubs, she encountered a band called the Fighting Machinists, featuring twin brothers Tim Hanseroth on guitar and Phil Hanseroth. She became an instant fan and when the group broke up, she persuaded the Hanseroth twins to form a group with her. They’ve been together ever since.

In 2005 Brandi Carlile was signed to Columbia Records, releasing a self-titled album later that same year. The album earned great reviews, and she was named one of 2005’s “Artists to Watch” by Rolling Stone. In 2006 she began work on her second Columbia album, produced by T-Bone Burnett. Titled The Story, the album was released in April last year.

Her music was showcased to a wider audience when Grey’s Anatomy used three of her songs: “Tragedy,” “What Can I Say,” and “Throw It All Away”.

In April 2007, Grey’s Anatomy debuted her single, The Story.

Brandi worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, during her 2007 tour.

Brandi Carlile is in Perth, Western Australia, for a concert, supporting Maroon 5.

If you’d like to hear our chat just click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

(Bio info thanks to Billboard and Wikipedia.)

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Tag - T-Bone Burnett