...now I am also a fan of their demeanor.

Last week, Aug 1st, I had the distinct pleasure of opening for the mega-talented Brandi Carlile and her band at the Lowell Summer Music Series. This was such a crazy bit of luck since I could have been lined up with a number of the artists on their schedule but was in fact selected to open for someone whom I've become a serious fan of over the past 2 years.

I've followed them from headlining at Club Passim to headlining at The Orpheum and watched them grow with each time into more stellar performers. Brandi is a joy for me to watch because she is unabashedly raw and commands the stage like man. It is thrilling for me to watch a girl summon the presence and passion of Johnny Cash or John Fogerty while also easily conjuring the sweet sounds of Patsy Cline. It just does it for me.

We arrived at the venue while the band was gearing up to do a sound check. They were amazing and already bringing it full throttle for the pretty fair number of people who had already arrived to claim a close spot on the lawn. They played nearly a complete set and Brandi's powerhouse voice just bounced all over the city it seemed. When they wrapped, Tim Hanseroth (one of the "twins") came immediately over to introduce himself to all of us and kindly offered up his extremely sexy Gretsch for anyone's use, extra strings, picks... whatever we needed. It just felt nice to be acknowledged and supported. I've certainly experienced opening for MUCH smaller headliners and had them simply ignore me and probably not even both to learn my name.

Peter, the director of the series, was there to greet us and stressed to me to push my CDs hard, that their crowd is made up of people craving new music. This venue is unbelievable in it's support of the local musician. From the time we were booked through the end of the night, they made sure to include me in all promotion of the show, the blurb in the Globe, and at show time, MC John Marciano gave quite a nice introduction.

The guys and I were visibly nervous backstage waiting to go on. Many were there before we arrived, during Brandi's sound-check, during our sound-check. They wanted Brandi and like many openings acts, we weren't sure they wanted anyone else in the way.

We took the stage and found the crowd immediately engaged and ready to the take the ride with us. By about the 3rd song we were in our groove and I felt much more connected to the crowd and used to the mix and just let go and enjoyed being there. Even if there were a number of folks who were just waiting for Brandi, you couldn't feel it on that stage. The cheers were loud and long and constant between each song. I learned a few things that I will do differently next time, but for my first time playing to a crowd of 1727, it went pretty damn well! Joe, Mike, and Arthur had my back, our adrenaline was high, but we got through our 40 minute set without any real bumps. We finished our set with a song entitled "Thank You" and when we were done the crowd cheered for a long time and, though I didn't notice then, we got some standing 0's which I saw in the video footage.

We were quick to get our gear off-stage and I knew I had to get down to the merch table quickly. As I was a walking off stage, the guys in Brandi's band were giving me and my band props. I got almost completely out of the stage area when I heard someone calling "Jen! Jen!". I turned and it was Brandi. She was trying to catch me. I quickly went over and shook her hand and told her what a big fan I am and that I've seen her a number times in Boston. She seemed surprised but happy to hear that. I was so nervous and still on my adrenaline rush that I kept walking towards the gate to get to the merch table. She kindly followed me and told me how much she enjoyed my set and that she really liked the country/rock thing I was doing and pointed to her throat and said, "you have powerful voice". I'm pretty sure I said something like "it's pales in comparison to yours but thank you!". We smiled and I, again, I just kept walking like a freak instead of stopping and talking with this completely awesome woman who I'll likely never get to talk to again! Man, sometimes...

Anyhow, I walked to the merch area and look for Ang who was ready to sell CDs. My mind was so on finding Ang (also a huge Brandi fan by the way) and telling her what just happened that I didn't even notice there was a line of folks to buy CDs. Because my CDs were on the same table as Brandi's I assumed they were people looking at her t-shirts and stuff. The second I got to Ang, a woman was asking me to sign a CD and Ang was madly looking for one of our sharpies. We dug up a crazy gold paint pen instead and off I was signing for a long time... The entire intermission and a few minutes into Brandi's set. It was amazing. I tried to keep as focused as possible on each person who came up to me, to look them in the eyes and talk to them and be present with them in appreciation for the time and support they were giving me. I met so many sweet people, young kids, teens, adults, all over the spectrum. They were so kind and seemed to genuinely excited to meet me which just felt crazy because I'm just little old Jen, giant dork who just kept walking while Brandi was trying to talk to me....

Anyway, that was thrilling and then it was time to enjoy Brandi's set. I had some good old friends from high school there that I caught up with and my Dad. Spent some time with Joe, Mike, and Arthur sharing our high. Brandi's set was AMAZING. They really get better and better. I was in awe of Brandi and how much she gave the audience and how much she continuously thanked them and showed them that she didn't take where she was remotely for granted.

Before the final song, she actually thanked me, pronouned my name correctly, and told the crowd how she thought I was really amazing and how great it was to hear another girl with a big voice doing country/rock and said they may kidnap me and take me out tour. I think I peed just a little bit...

Anyway, who knows about the kidnapping but I've got a little bag packed and waiting by the door just in case. ;) I'm ready, Brandi! Come get me!

What stood out to me above all else that night was how great the energy was coming from the folks running the venue, Brandi and her band, and of course the crowd who was there to support the music. It was a night I will not forget and I'm still running off the energy that was given to me. Brandi is such a rising star and yet one of the most grounded performers I have ever met who stayed until the last person in a line of over 200 got to meet her. She is there for the crowd. She hasn't forgotten that her fans are what it's all about and why she is successful and she has no heirs about her. I am that much more a fan of hers.