I’ve always prided myself on listening to music that others weren’t listening to or reading the books no one had ever heard of. I like not fitting in. I like being different.

There are few singers that just resonate with me and inspire me. I’ve blogged about musicians before, mostly the ones from my youth, that I had a connection with. I learned all the lyrics to their songs. They have meaning. I still listen to them.

One such singer, but not from my youthful years, is Brandi Carlile. Her second album, The Story, came out in the spring of 2007. And the title song, The Story, got quite a bit of airtime on the local stations that year. But I haven’t heard her on the radio since.

I remember how much I loved the lyrics of the song. And Brandi’s voice had the control of k.d. lang (another personal favorite) but she has the grit of Melissa Etheridge and the soul of Sheryl Crow. I’d never heard her before so I bought the album on CD and it quickly became the soundtrack of my life that year.

Two years later she released another album that was even better, Give Up The Ghost. And four more albums since then; all of them different and true. Brandi is a storyteller and I frequently find myself just putting her music on repeat when I’m writing or on a long road trip. Her music moves me and I’ve never gotten tired of it. I’d love to see her in concert some day.

Do you have a favorite singer that you discovered later in life and have had a connection with?