lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: let it go

brandi carlile 2009-09-06 at the triple door in seattle, washington (watch on youtube):

"so i'm a huge fan of the indigo girls."

"particularly growing up and first writing songs i was just so enamored with emily saliers and her lyrics. favorite songwriter at the time it was just all i could think about."

"and a when we became friends she kept saying 'yeah friend we should get together and write sometime.' and i said yeah, we should definitely do that, that's definitely going to happen i'm sure."

"and you know a couple of years went by it didn't happen and she shocked me, she called me one time and she goes 'friend i have a couple of days off i was thinking i'd come fly out and stay at your house, and we'd write a song.'"

"and i was just like shit!"

"you know cause i mean, i don't know if i could even play guitar in front of her for a long time let alone write a song with her."

"so she did, she comes out and stays at my house. and i'm nervous, because i know this whole time eventually she's going to make me to write something. and ah we did a lot of you know barbaquing and little bit of drinking and petting the dogs and stuff but we really didn't write anything for awhile and then finally we're all alone and she says 'okay, let's head up to your studio and write a song' so i was like oh god."

"we get up there and i grab my guitar and she grabs her guitar and she's like 'so do you know any riffs? do you have anything in mind?' and i was like....yeah, i've got stuff."

"and uh she's like 'okay, well play something for me'. and i picked up a guitar and i just started going like this (plays a chord). and then i never changed chords. i froze. didn't do anything. so finally she picks up a guitar looking at me strangely and goes 'do, do do do, do do do, do do do' while i'm playing the same chord 'do, do do do, do do do, do do do' and she's like 'okay bran change' and i'm like (changes chord)."

"and that's how we wrote the music to this song. in my fear i stayed on one chord and we ended up writing a song with basically one chord because that's what i knew. and um, you know and then we sit down to write lyrics and she hands me a pad and paper and says 'okay now you go over to that side of the room and write something and i'll go over here and write something'. and i had my little paper up over my head and i just kept looking over the top of it - that's totally emily saliers in my living room!"

"and so i finish my verse, for like fifteen minutes i'm done and i haven't said anything yet, and finally i'm like emily, um, i finished my verse and she says "okay, let's hear it" and i was like...

(spoken)
throwing coins in a wishing well
if i couldn't count
if i couldn't tell
it wouldn't worry me
if my wishes don't come true

(spoken)
open eyes to an open mile
from a broken heart
to a crooked smile
you can find your way
but your ways will find you too

and she goes 'that's great, i'm finished too'...

(spoken)
seven nights and seven days
it made my world to see your face
sweet harbinger of sin
the serpent's been let loose

"sweet harbinger of sin. it's like shit!"

(spoken)
with the harvest on the vine
some how the sun shows up in time
and gives the poet
seed for perfect thought

"except i think she said fodder."

"and i just, my verse about a wishing well just seemed so silly."

"but the reason why i'm telling you about this experience is it was a really big one for me and we wrote this song together and then when we heard about what happened to theresa butz and her partner emily called me and asked if we could record the song and all proceeds would go toward the self defense project that we're working on. so, we're doing that, and i'd love to play you that song right now."

"i'm just going to like sing emily's part because it's just one chord, it's not that great."

(plays song)

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2010-03-08: "let it go" : brandi carlile and emily sailers collaborate for cause, no depression:

brandi carlile and emily sailers, of the indigo girls, have just released a recording of a song they performed on the cayamo cruise back in 2009. this tune will soften the strictures of everyday stress with the universal potential of storytelling intimacy. the rustic lull of brandi's vocals falls in tranquil harmony with emily's poignant style, while captivating fingerpicking, carefully composed lyrics, and the atmosphere-adding percussion of matt chamberlain- bring to you the perfect balance of acoustic poeticism that makes folk music feel just right. "let it go" is a trustworthy gem worth purchasing on amazon's mp3 store-especially considering proceeds support the "fight the fear campaign"- an organization/community in seattle, wa, dedicated to preventing inflicted violence on women through informative education programs and self-defense training exercises.