event Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile has a sound that belies her age. The soulful, countryish tunes on the Washington native’s eponymous 2005 major-label debut are polished without being Nashville-slick, and owe as much to Radiohead as the Grand Ole Opry: They’re twang-friendly, but don’t seem obligated to a single genre. Her serious, tuneful, and tastefully emotive songwriting would have been right at home on the Lilith Fair tour—which, these days, means she’s perfect for Grey’s Anatomy, which has featured three of her songs. On 2007’s The Story, Carlile collaborates with her heroes Indigo Girls and even tries on a Janis Joplin-like wail for the title track.