BROKEN HORSES :: Brandi Carlile

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Cross-genre musical artist Brandi Carlile seemed to burst on the scene following a multiple Grammy-winning evening in 2019. The most nominated woman at the 61st annual awards (six), Carlile blew audiences away with her Song of the Year performance, "The Joke," an anthem for those who struggle to fit into the world's divisive molds. Thanks to Carlile's intimate memoir, Broken Horses, the story of how the "overnight sensation" struggled and strived for years can be known beyond the fans who have followed her religiously even prior to her first studio album in 2005.

Carlile's childhood in Washington State was marked by alcoholism, poverty, religion, health problems, instability (14 different homes) and, as the first-born grandchild, her own "inflated sense of self-importance and burden of perceived responsibility." That said, her family was warm, close, musical and filled with characters that lay a good storytelling foundation. But it is Carlile's sense of self and her ability to be deeply vulnerable and introspective before an audience that allow her to plumb the depths of her upbringing and forge her trail to center stage.

A brilliant lyricist, Carlile adapts her gift to the long form without missing a beat. Her style is conversational, whether the topic is music, charity work, motherhood (Carlile and her wife have two daughters), LGBTQ+ rights, Barack Obama or Carlile's beloved "gay pen pal father figure," Elton John. Overflowing with thoughtfulness, wicked humor, photographs and song lyrics, Broken Horses is an epic sit around the campfire. 

GUITAR :: David Schiller

I don't play the guitar. I'm not sure I've ever even picked up a guitar and strummed it (odd, that). But I love guitars. Their sound, of course, acoustic or screeching metal. More so their mere presence and craftsmanship, the many forms and artistic impressions they carry. All of which is what prompted me to read David Schiller's Guitar: The World's Most Seductive Instrument. I came for the pictures and good stories and I found them.

Some of the writing was over my head. This is a book for guitar aficionados, which we have already confirmed I am not. But boy is it a beauty. An encyclopedia of guitars, a photo of each accompanied by the name, model, builder, and type. Then, the stories. Stories of Elvis, Eddie Van Halen (who boils his strings, who knew?) and his "Frankenstrat," Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, the Beatles, Prince, and on and on.


Schiller's love of the guitar shines through in his writing: "[W]hat's most special about a guitar is the physical bond it creates. A guitar has a body. A voice. It has a look we can admire, show off, modify, identify with. Players can spend hours, days, a lifetime with it, cradled in our arms. We pack it up and carry it everywhere, and when we meet a fellow guitar lover, we can geek out and speak about guitars for hours. It's both universal and deeply intimate, as ubiquitous as any other consumable...and yet , transcendent. It even falls prey to the most believed-in romantic myth: 'The one' is out there, just for you. But unlike said myth, no guitar lover ever needs to settle for just one! So turn the pages, and maybe you'll find your next true love."

Despite not knowing or understanding the technical nature of the guitar ("it looks like an archtop, with its f-holes, but also like a flattop, with its familiar pin bridge. Yes those are pickguards hugging the f-holes..." Wha?)  this book was a joy to flip through and would be a great gift for any guitar lover.