New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The origins of Brandi Carlile's Cover Stories project are in a stack of handwritten letters she penned to some of her favorite artists and activists over the past few years: Adele, Dolly Parton,
Pearl Jam and President Barack Obama among them. Carlile was galvanized to do something about the mounting refugee crisis, particularly after the birth of her only daughter in 2014, and teamed up with War Child UK to make a lasting difference in the lives of children less fortunate than her own.
With the 10th anniversary of her breakthrough T-Bone Burnett-produced album The Story approaching, Carlile recruited artists from across generations and genres to reinterpret the record's original fourteen songs with newly recorded versions of each. All proceeds from the album benefit War Child UK, an organization dedicated to supporting children affected by conflict. In addition to Barack Obama's foreword, and recordings by Adele,
Dolly Parton and
Pearl Jam, the record features striking covers by Kris Kristofferson (with
Chris Stapleton joining him on guitar),
Anderson East (with
Miranda Lambert singing harmonies), The Avett Brothers, Jim James, Margo Price, TORRES and a Patrick Carney-produced
Ruby Amanfu cut.
Cover Stories has been released to critical acclaim:
Brandi sat down with the New York Times for a feature, which ran in print last week: https://nyti.ms/2pK0LkQ
NPR premiered Cover Stories via First Listen, praising the record's illustrious lineup and proclaiming "Carlile's music feels right in their hands": https://n.pr/2pxiFaD
Rolling Stone discussed the record with Brandi, Seth Avett, Margo Price, Jim
James and Mike McCready of
Pearl Jam: https://rol.st/2qWjCH6
People Magazine took a look at the making of Cover Stories: https://bit.ly/2pJViKJ
Watch the music video for Dolly Parton's take on "The Story," featuring original footage from War Child UK, via NME: https://www.nme.com/news/music/dolly-parton-brandi-carlile-war-child-video-2068131
"Carlile is a tireless activist who has harnessed her success in service of noble causes." - Los Angeles Times
