Singer Brandi Carlile's memoir shows rugged resilience in ‘Broken Horses’

Armed with a powder-blue cowboy hat bedazzled by her mother, a homemade vest and a turquoise bolo tie made by her great-grandfather, Brandi Carlile gave her first solo performance at the Northwest Grand Ole Opry Show at 8 or 9. The deal was sealed.

“The applause at the end was the nail in the coffin of any other path I might have gone down in life,” writes Carlile. “I never wanted to leave that stage.”

In Carlile’s memoir “Broken Horses,” she shares the story of how a “shy and quiet but very clever” child who grew up in a “run-down single-wide mobile home up on top of a mountain” in Washington went on to become close friends with her childhood hero Elton John, win multiple Grammys and produce country icon Tanya Tucker’s last album.

Thirty-nine may seem a little young to write a memoir, but in Carlile’s opinion no one is too young, too old or too uninteresting to write their own story.

“Your life is in fact twisted and beautiful and you’ll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to be known,” she writes in her acknowledgements. “Even if it’s just by you.”

Armed with a powder-blue cowboy hat bedazzled by her mother, a homemade vest and a turquoise bolo tie made by her great-grandfather, Brandi Carlile gave her first solo performance at the Northwest Grand Ole Opry Show at 8 or 9. The deal was sealed.

“The applause at the end was the nail in the coffin of any other path I might have gone down in life,” writes Carlile. “I never wanted to leave that stage.”

In Carlile’s memoir “Broken Horses,” she shares the story of how a “shy and quiet but very clever” kid who grew up in a “run-down single-wide mobile home up on top of a mountain” in Washington went on to become close friends with her childhood hero Elton John, win multiple Grammys and produce country icon Tanya Tucker’s last album.

Thirty-nine may seem a little young to write a memoir, but in Carlile’s opinion no one is too young, too old or too uninteresting to write their own story.

“Your life is in fact twisted and beautiful and you’ll find that as you peel back the layers, the unexpected side effect is that it feels wonderful to be known,” she writes in her acknowledgements. “Even if it’s just by you.”

“Anyone who hasn’t read this book wouldn’t understand the dance between the rugged side of me and the one who loves to shine,” she writes.

She’s a woman who can write a killer song and who built her firstborn’s nursery. She’s someone who’s always been anxious, but was brave enough to perform Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” in its entirety with Mitchell herself in the audience.

Her resilience has seen her through her fair share of hardship because she knows, in the end, she’ll have the last laugh — “The joke’s on them.”