Brandi Carlile and Tracy Gershon Rock City Winery

 Brandi Carlile and Tracy Gershon present Northern Lights Music

 City Winery, Thursday at 1p.m. (UPDATED)

     I arrived at City Winery 45 minutes early only to find the line extended to the back chain link fence behind the building. I doubted I would get in and pulled up the Americanafest App to see what other shows were at this time. The line started to move quickly and before I knew it, I was inside. I was alone, so I thought I might have a chance at finding a seat near the front. I did. Second seat in, front and center!

     Highlights of the two and a half hour show included Sean McConnell’s “Leave the Light On.”  This gospel drenched number was all the better for having Sista Strings and Brandi join on background vocals. The incredible Sista Strings, besides blowing us away with a classical, jazz, funk instrumental, sang a new song “The Reckoning.” This prayer-like number was written with McConnell.

     Brandi Carlile and the twins (Phil and Tim Hanseroth) started off acapella on “Right On Time,” the title cut on her latest album. Their harmonies make the hair on the back of my neck stand up! She also did an older song from 2007, the comforting, “Downpour.” 

     Newcomer Kish,who is 17 years old, performed “Michelle,” a ballad about a friend who keeps settling for the wrong kind of guy. She explained while driving after she got her driver’s license, she had a moment and had to pull over. She realized she was never going to be a young kid again. This prompted her to write the beautiful “Long Drive”.   

     Brandy Clark was up next. Carlile jokingly said that when she was producing Clark’s album, all of her songs were coming in at 3 ½ minutes. Carlile couldn’t understand how she did that. Clark said when she first came to town, it was drummed in her head that a song over 4 minutes would not get played on the radio. Carlile wasn’t too excited about Brandy’s “Tell Her You Don’t Love Her” until Kish, who was visiting the studio, said she loved the song. That made Carlile think she finally got it. “Tell her you don’t love her, because I do!”  Clark also sang the beautiful “Buried.”

     Last year’s special guest was Tanya Tucker. Carlile said she couldn’t be here this year because she was recovering from neck surgery, and asked us to pray for Tanya. This year’s special guests included Kate York, who sang the rebel rousing “Drive it Till the Wheels Fall Off” and Katie Pruitt, whose ballad “Blood Related” talked about choosing to love your family though the disagreements, something we all can relate to.  

     For the finale, Carlile and all of the songwriters joined in on Queen’s classic “Fat Bottom Girls.”  Way too much fun for one afternoon!