The pantheon of great songs that namecheck fellow artists is both wide and distinguished. Now we can add another banger to the list: New Brunswick alt-rocker Kylie Fox’s “Brandi Baby,” the title of which does indeed refer to none other than Brandi Carlile.
“I used to straighten my hair to Brandi Carlile every day in high school, and she became a big influence for me becoming a musician,” Fox gushes. “Brandi has seen me through a few big stages. I planted a lot of trees to her music”—a committed environmentalist, Fox spent several summer vacations doing just that in British Columbia—“and wrote a lot of university papers. I’ve seen her live twice. I’m in the Bramily. She’s probably my dream collaboration.”
Yet the song isn’t “about” Carlile per se. Rather, it’s a memoir of the personal path Fox had to walk to get where she is today, with her Brandi fandom as a leitmotif.
When I was fifteen
Went to the dance alone
My friends weren’t friends
My sister drove me home
I used to lean my tramp stamp up against the bar
Now I’m a teacup in your arms
You love me
So gingerly
Tenderly baby
Count my freckles, water my plants
Put on some Brandi baby, do you want to dance
The “you” in question just happens to be her drummer and fiancé, Ryan Barrie. “The first song Ryan and I danced to was Brandi’s song ‘The Story,’” Fox reveals, “and now we are planning to use it as our first dance at our wedding next year.”
Barrie rises to the tribute on “Brandi Baby,” but his muscular contribution is just part of an instrumental axis that supports Fox’s velvety, warm vocals with some slick playing by guitarist Sean Hutchins, bassist Camilo Villamizar and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Kelly Waterhouse. The song begins on a rhythm that strikes the ear and then gradually moves into something far more conducive to spinning around a dance floor with someone you’re enraptured by, especially if the DJ doesn’t have any Brandi Carlile.
Given the subject matter, the song’s accompanying music video was shot at a somewhat curious location: a wrestling match in Fox’s home of Fredericton, NB.
“My director, Jillian Acreman, and cinematographer, Jesse Anthony, asked if we could attend early and get some coverage of me singing the song before chaos ensued,” Fox recalls. “Walking onto the scene in a sequin fringe jacket ready to dance and sing in front of a camera while a bunch of wrestlers rehearsed was a very intimidating thing to do. They were all super nice and welcoming and happy to be a part of it, and it was so funny to see them beat each other up and throw cake at each other after getting to know a few of them.”
The day before the Harvest Festival gig, Fox will release her second album, Sequoia. The follow-up to 2020’s Green, the project was overseen by six-time ECMA-winning producer Daniel Ledwell (Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones, The Good Lovelies) and funded with help from ArtsNB, Music New Brunswick and the Canada Council for the Arts. The record is deeply rooted in the folk-Canadiana elements that have characterized Fox’s career thus far, while also exploring folk-rock and jazz-pop fusion; the overall effect is being described as “’70s Sesame Street meets Sharon Van Etten.”
“The eleven songs that make up Sequoia are reflections on gratitude in relation to the women in my life, my environment, my relationships and myself.” Fox says. The title stems from a news story she read about firefighters working throughout the night to save a Sequoia tree from a forest fire: “It resonated with me how severely nature and time have been taken for granted.” Accordingly, the songs on the album acknowledge those moments in life when we don’t realize what we have, while simultaneously uplifting love and life as blessings to treasure.
And looking at her career so far, Fox has plenty to treasure. Since the release of her debut EP, Balcony, in 2017, she’s shared the stage with the likes of Bahamas, The Strumbellas and Joel Plaskett. She’s showcased at the East Coast Music Awards, Folk Alliance International and the Canadian Song Conference ( all in 2021). In 2020, she participated in the Banff Centre for the Arts International Songwriting Residency, and she’s also been featured on lineups for festivals like the Cavendish Beach Music Festival (2022) and Area506 (2021). She was named “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” at the 2020 PrixNB Awards and “Innovator of the Year” at the 2023 PrixNB Awards.
Having studied both music and theater at the college level, Fox has been able to keep an oar in each of those waters. While pursuing her own career as a singer-songwriter, she’s acted as the music director for the Theatre New Brunswick Theatre School, a composer for Solo Chicken Theatre Company’s developing works and a voice teacher in her home studio. She recently fell back on her theater training to star as Dolly Parton in two sold-out performances of the tribute show Once Upon a Christmas.
Now represented by manager Joe Bamford (The Kings, Glass Tiger, The Headstones, Leslie Spit Treeo), Fox is gearing up for a busy 2024. In addition to the concert dates that have already been announced and others that are forthcoming, she’ll be representing New Brunswick on an eight-date tour of the East Coast Songwriter Circle.
All in all, it sounds like Brandi Carlile herself couldn’t be any prouder. Can that dream duet really be far behind?
