Brandi Carlile talks about recording with Elton John, dreams, Twilight, alien abduction and her 2009 album Give Up the Ghost.

By Shawn Conner

A couple of years ago, when Brandi Carlile was touring behind her breakthrough second album, The Story, I asked her about Elton John, whom she’d named as one of her heroes.

“Is there a period of Elton’s you’re less fond of—say, the ‘I’m Still Standing,’ ’80s Elton?”

“Nope,” she said, not missing a beat. “I love it all.”

So you can imagine Carlile’s excitement when the phone rang one morning last year and Sir Elton himself was on the other end. The 28-year-old singer from Ravensdale, Washington, had been trying to get word to John about appearing on her next album. He responded by playing piano and singing on “Caroline,” a song Carlile wrote for her niece and included on her new album, Give Up the Ghost.

“Caroline” is a bouncy little blast of sunshine, but Carlile does upbeat pretty well; “Touching the Ground” is another toe-tapper. She also does drama, as demonstrated by The Story, three of whose songs ended up on Grey’s Anatomy. On Give Up the Ghost, she brings her big, powerful voice to the swelling piano ballad “Before It Breaks” and “Looking Out,” while the sparser “I Will” and “Oh Dear” reflect her laid-back country roots.

Carlile called from Toronto via her record company while in the midst of a tour ending in Seattle on Oct. 24. She had played the city’s Mod Club the night before.

We talked about what she was doing when Elton John called, the mountain of music he subsequently sent her, songs inspired by dreams, Twilight, alien abduction and which member of her band was currently obsessed with extraterrestrials.

I began by reminding Carlile of what she’d told me about Elton John two years earlier.

“Elton John can do no wrong,” she reaffirmed.

SC: So it must have been quite the thrill getting that phone call. Did you know he’d be calling?

BC: Not at all. I just knew he was an amazing person. I thought he might get back to me. He got to me before I was even awake.

SC: Did you talk for a long time?

BC: Just a few minutes.

SC: And he came to you, or you went to him?

BC: We recorded his vocals in Vegas, at the Palms Studio.

SC: Did you feel like Kiki Dee, the co-vocalist on John’s hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”?

BC: Not Kiki Dee at all! He came in and did his piano and vocals in one take. He finished and stuck around and we talked about new music.

SC: That’s right, and didn’t he send you something like 100 CDs afterward? How did that work—one big box, or…?

BC: There was one big shipment, and they started trickling in as he thought of more stuff.

SC: Was there one artist whose work he included more than others?

BC: Leon Russell. He was appalled I wasn’t familiar with Leon Russell, and now I can see the influence he had on Elton John.

SC: Is there anything you’ve thought of that you think Elton John should hear?

BC: Yeah, I’ve been putting together a collection. But I’m having trouble. He goes to a record shop in Atlanta once a week and buys everything. He really keeps up. I have to really find some obscurities to find something he hasn’t heard.

SC: So let’s talk a little about Give Up the Ghost. You’ve said that a lot of the songs originated in dreams. Are you big into dream interpretation?

BC: You know, I am getting into it. The twins are really into it. I also like Native dream interpretation and dream-recall development. It’s a fun place to write from. I find your subconscious is much more honest with you than your environment.

SC: Do you meditate?

BC: I don’t think I have the attention span. My mind wanders. I know your mind’s supposed to wander, and then you’re supposed to constantly try to bring it back. But I tried it again last night and failed miserably. I just thought, What am I doing?

SC: Yeah, you could be writing a song. Or reading Billboard!

BC: [Laughs.] Billboard. And I’m on the road all the time.

SC: You recorded Give Up the Ghost in Los Angeles, and apparently you tried sushi and yoga for the first time.

BC: Yeah. I mean, I’ve been exposed many times to both of those things, but I tried them finally when I was doing some soul-searching in Los Angeles. Which is a horrible place to be soul-searching.

SC: Have you heard if any of the songs are going to wind up on Grey’s Anatomy?

BC: I’m not sure yet. The record comes out next week.

SC: Would you want any of your songs to appear on one of those vampire shows?

BC: Haha. You know, probably not. Unless it was the Twilight series. I’m a fan. I love the first one, and I love the books. I read the entire series in four days. While I was on the road. There goes the idea of being on the road being such a busy time.

SC: What’s your current reading material?

BC: Some Cormac McCarthy and some Civil War nonfiction. And I just finished Communion, about alien abduction.

SC: That’s an odd choice. That came out years ago, didn’t it?

BC: Phil [Hanseroth] lent it to me. He’s obsessed with aliens right now. He completely believes it’s true. He could be right, who knows?

SC: Before the interview, I did a search of your name on Twitter and came across someone who wrote that she knew you when you sang in a choir with your sister.

BC: Huh. That never happened.

SC: Really? Hmm. She also said you were a really nice person.

BC: She made that up too.