Alt Disney World: Brandi Carlile

These three are even sexier with guitars in their hands,
believe it or not.

I have been a huge fan of Brandi Carlile for a few years now. I saw her do a gig in a small club supporting her first major label album, Brandi Carlile, back in 2005. She writes with the Hanseroth twins, who are the tall, talented, bald, handsome devils who play at all of her gigs with her. The show was intimate, acoustic, and one of the most stunning live sets I've ever seen. Just Brandi, the twins and an hour of the most exciting live performance I had seen in forever. I knew then and there that I was witnessing something special.

They did songs from the first album and covered "Hallelujah", which is a bold move. Usually when someone performs that song all you do is think about how you wish you were listening to Jeff Buckley sing it. When Brandi sang it, all I thought about was how grateful I was to be there, in that moment, watching an incredibly talented artist on the ascent.

Brandi is not only an amazing singer, but also a stellar songwriter, writing or co-writing every song on the disc. Her musical style has it roots in classic rock, blues, folk and country, blending them all into a chunky stew of sound that is all her own. Also, she has been out of the closet since she started her career, focusing press more on her music and making her personal life a non-issue, but admitting that she hopes to be an out gay role model for the next generation as the Indigo Girls and Elton John were to her. And me for that matter. She is just a year younger than I am and has been influenced by a lot of the same musicians and role models as me over the years.

Her first album, like all of them, is pretty spectacular. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite track, but I am quite fond of "Closer to You", which shows her more funky, bouncy, lighthearted side.

Her second album, The Story, got a good bit of attention because it's title track was featured prominently in Grey's Anatomy. The yearning tune is kind of astounding. I have heard this track butchered by many who don't posses the right mix of power, emotion and openness to pull it off. I'm talking to you, American Idol contestants. Leave it alone, ok?

Also on this album is a great hidden track, "Hiding My Heart". It is heartbreakingly lovely.

Just for compare and contrast, and because I heart her, here is a fantastic cover that Adele did as a b-side. Y'all know I'm a huge ole Adele geek, but I must say that I give Brandi the (slight) edge here. She has a certain weathered quality to her voice that adds to the aching quality of the song. But dang, Adele can sing pretty much anything, can't she?

Her third album, Giving Up the Ghost, is more of the same, which is a very good thing. She has a distinct musical voice and is an artist who knows better than to stray too terribly far from it. The music that she makes sounds both old fashioned and fresh, owing to her affinity for time-tested musical styles and her fresh take on them. I have fond memories of the song "Dying Day" because when I saw her perform live on a double bill with the Indigo Girls (my little Lilith Fair loving gay boy heart damn near exploded from the sheer awesomeness of that evening) in Tallahassee, my hometown, she and her band came down to the edge of the stage and did the whole song acoustically- completely sans amplification. The song, and her powerful voice particularly, filled the venue, which was holding probably around 1,000 people. Even though it was unplugged, it was electrifying. You can catch a glimpse of them doing this in a live venue during the video for the song.

Also on this album is a fantastic song called "Dreams". When Disney was doing promotion for Tangled, which was the 50th full length animated feature from the studio, they released this video, using Brandi's song, to both pay tribute the past and build excitement for the new addition to the canon.

When I watched the video, I was a little bit amazed. The first time I saw it, I got rather weepy, which shouldn't be too surprising. As the video swept over me, I was genuinely moved. I watched pieces of my life flash before my eyes and was overwhelmed by the breadth and quality of the Disney animated catalogue. Then, like the Disney dork I admittedly am, I watched again to see how many I could name off the top of my head.

At that point, it started to sink in that part of the reason that the clip is so powerful really is the song. The steady drum that pounds like a heartbeat. The soft, playful beginning that crescendos into an exuberant celebration and then slows itself back down to a sweet denouement. It tells it's own two minute story. The editing is brilliant, matching the clips to the feel of the song beautifully. The repetition of the word "dream" in the song is also key. Dreams have been a Disney staple from "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" all the way through the new Disney Dream cruise ship. Whoever came up with the brilliant idea to pair the emotional power of Brandi Carlile with this Disney retrospective is a flat-out genius.

The tattoo on her arm? AURYN from
The Neverending Story. Hot, huh?

If you enjoy Brandi's music, which you must, since I consider you all friends and no friend of mine doesn't love her, you should check out her new album, Live At Benaroya Hall With the Seattle Symphony. As fantastic as her albums are, Brandi really shines live and this live album really captures a performance beautifully. Plus, she's backed by a symphony, which really makes you feel the scope of the music that she's making. Strings make everything better. It'll knock your socks off, I promise.

It also captures one of my favorite moments from her live show, which is during her performance of "Turpentine" from The Story. She leads the audience in a sing along, which is often nothing short of annoying, but when she gleefully gets a thousand people to sing in three part harmony, it is really one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced at a live show and it's wonderfully captured on this CD. You can tell how much joy Brandi gets from feeding off of an audience's energy.

What do you think of Ms. Carlile? Are you now a convert or have I been preaching to the choir? What other artists have surprised you in a good way when they've popped up in something Disney-related?

Alt Disney World: Jonatha Brooke

Disney doesn't have the best rep with (non-Disney) music fans. Say the word and images of questionably talented tweens singing not terribly good pre-fab pop trash. I am guilty of it, too. Though I once judged them quite harshly, I must say I've come to have a soft spot for many of them as they've grown. Miley Cyrus may not be much of a performer, but she's a strong supporter of LGBT rights. Raven Symone has grown into an amusing comedy actress. Britney and Christina and Justin broke away from the MMC factory to become legit pop superstars. And, admittedly, when I was little, even I was all about MMC and Kids Incorporated with their cheese-tastically awesome nineties-ness.

I have a feeling that we will probably grow to appreciate some of the Disney pop music of our time the same way that I'm now completely charmed by Annette Funicello and Haley Mill's pop music from back in the day. Nostalgia has the magical ability to coat everything in a glittery sheen. Now nineties throwback is already happening, kids. Thirtysomethings, brace yourselves. We're that old now. (See Katy Perry's new video for "T.G.I.F." if you don't believe me. Aw, heck. I'll just put it here. Please to enjoy.)

I say all this to say that Disney is not exactly the place that most people look to for songs by legitimately great pop, alt-rock and folk songs. I am a huge, somewhat pretentious, music fan. My tastes run rather Lilith Fair, but are on the whole pretty wide reaching. I am just as likely to be jamming out to Pattty Giffin, a film score, Beyonce, or Aerosmith on my iPod. That's how I've always rolled. I take pride in being the person that introduced my Mama, and thus all her friends, in Tallahassee to Amy Winehouse and Adele months before they broke out nationally. I have pretty high standards for my music.

I decided to start this series of entries, Alt-Disney World, to discuss some of the really great musical artists that Disney has collaborated with recently. It's a way for me to marry my love of the Mouse with my love of music. I think you will be surprised by how many seriously great musicians, some established, some breaking, some indie and comfortable there, Disney has brought in to contribute music for assorted projects. I will be casting my net pretty wide, combing Kingdom to find the unexpected troubadour, rather than focusing on how Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson covered "A Whole New World" on the Aladdin Platinum Collection DVD. Snicker. Shudder.

Give the folks in these columns a chance, you may find Disney introducing you to surprisingly great music that you won't have to be ashamed to admit that you love.

Jonatha Brooke. Ready to pounce, apparently.

First up is Jonatha Brooke. I have been a big Jonatha Brooke fan since high school. I have a very clear memory of my introduction to her. I was leaning against a wooden railing on a gorgeous spring day with her song "Nothing Sacred" drifting from a nearby window. An amazing breeze and this amazing song washed over me. It was perfection.

I have seen Jonatha perform twice. She is fantastic on stage. She can raise the roof or make you cry. She started off as part of a duo called The Story, which morphed into Jonatha Brooke and The Story, and finally she went solo, making some of the best folky rock music of the last ten years and staying under the radar. One of my favorite of her songs is this gorgeous ballad, "Because I Told You So" (which coincidentally was covered by Nick Lachey- not great).

All of her albums are worth checking out. I am particularly fond of 10 Cent Wings, which "Because I Told You So" is from, Careful What You Wish For, which has a bit of a harder, poppier edge and The Works, which is an album where she brilliantly sets words by Woody Guthrie to music.

The first time I saw her live a couple of years ago, she sat down at the piano and talked briefly about writing a song for Disney. I have no idea how I missed it, but I was blissfully unaware of such goings-on. She sang the song "I'll Try" and brought me to tears. The combination of this one woman, a piano and this amazing song was so powerful that I literally wept. The whole concert was great, but the performance of that song in particular renewed my love for Jonatha and kickstarted my consciousness of the alt-Disney phenomenon. This live video of the song has great patter about her writing the song.

In the great tradition of "The Age of Not Believing" it captures the emotions running through someone who is too young to know but too old to know better. The lyric is stunningly moving and adult. The melody as simple but sweeping. She gives voice to emotions in a way that is achingly accessible to both those who are experiencing them and those who have been there. It is easily one of my favorite of her songs, period. It probably fell through the cracks for me because I don't hold Disney's direct-to-video sequels in terribly high esteem. This is from Return to Neverland, which I still have not seen, though I'm sure I will one day just to see how the song is used. On the soundtrack she also performs a haunting reprise of "I'll Try" and a gorgeous version of the classic "Second Star to the Right".

"I'll Try" has become one of the better known recent Disney songs. It has been covered pretty often and made it onto several compilations. Since then, Jonatha has kept it in the fairy realm for Disney, writing lovely songs for both Tinkerbell ("Be True") and Tinkerbell & the Lost Treasure ("It's Love That Holds Your Hand"). She is a spectacular singer and songwriter who has made a singular impact in the music of the Magic Kingdom and who is highly underrated outside of it. Give her a listen!