Welcome everyone to Sodajaker on songwriting. We're very happy you could join us. I'm Brian, here with Simon, and gracing our 286th episode is a Grammy and Emmy-winning American singer-songwriter and producer.

Since first emerging in the mid-2000s, she's risen to superstar status in her native US, and performed or recorded with the likes of

Joni Mitchell, Alicia Keys, The Indigo Girls, Jacob Collier, Hosia, Soundgarden and Dolly Parton.

As this episode drops, she can be heard showcasing her considerable vocal and writing talents

on Who Believes in Angels, a brand new duet album with her good friend and long-time inspiration, Elton

John. We're thrilled to welcome the exceptional Brandy Carlisle to the show. Brandy was born in

1981 in the very remote town of Ravensdale, Washington, some 40 miles from Seattle. Her family

were poor and moved around a lot during her formative years, and Brandy would often have to make

her own entertainment, which included teaching herself to sing. She developed a love for classic

country music early on, especially the records of Patsy Klein, and gave her first live performance

at just eight years old. Having reached their teens, she gained further stage experience

singing backing vocals for an Elvis impersonator.

She started writing songs around the age of 15 and later dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music.

Inspired by her love of Elton John, who's recorded Oever as she'd begun to explore around the age of 12,

Brandy taught herself to play piano.

By 17, she'd added guitar to her repertoire and was a regular on the Seattle live scene,

where she first met twin brothers Phil and Tim Hansroth of the Fighting Machinists,

with whom she quickly developed the close, personal and musical bond.

By late 2004, the buzz generated by Brandy's self-released recordings

had secured her a deal with Columbia,

and her eponymous debut LP dropped the following year.

Second album, 2007's The Story, produced by Teabone Burnett,

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