Brandi Carlile Reveals Why Joni Mitchell Is the 'Standard' for Her When It Comes to Songwriting (Exclusive)
- - Brandi Carlile Reveals Why Joni Mitchell Is the 'Standard' for Her When It Comes to Songwriting (Exclusive)
Ilana KaplanDecember 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
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Brandi Carlile and Joni Mitchell in Las Vegas in April 2022 -
Brandi Carlile reveals why Joni Mitchell is the "standard" for her when it comes to making music
"She's inspired me in so many ways," the singer-songwriter tells PEOPLE of the "Both Sides Now" artist
Carlile was responsible for Mitchell performing her first full set in more than 20 years at the 2022 Newport Folk Festival
Brandi Carlile is opening up about how much Joni Mitchell means to her as a musician.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the singer-songwriter opens up about how the "Both Sides Now" performer, 82, has inspired her as an artist.
"She's inspired me in so many ways, but I think one of the most profound ways is in what I won't write because of Joni," Carlile, 44, tells PEOPLE.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Brandi Carlile and Joni Mitchell in April 2022 in Las Vegas
She continues, "There are songs that just don't get through the filter anymore of, 'Can I drive up to that gate and play this song for Joni over a glass of wine?' If I can't, it doesn't get written."
According to Carlile, Mitchell is a "standard" for her in that way when it comes to her songwriting.
"I don't really understand the metric of how I judge those things. It just have to do with how I feel when I'm playing them," says Carlile.
The song needs to be "authentic."
"I could play a song with two chords and 10 words for Joni, but if it comes from the place that she calls 'the muse' instead of 'the ick,' then I can hold my head up," says Carlile.
She adds, "But if I try and satiate someone or something by writing a song, if I'm trying to guess how it's going to be perceived by other people in the process of making it, it will come out in a way that I can't stand behind."
In 2022, Carlile helped encourage Mitchell to perform her first full set in 20 years at Newport Folk Festival, where she sang 13 songs, including classics like "A Case of You," "Both Sides Now" and "Big Yellow Taxi." Seven years prior, Mitchell had feared she might never sing again after suffering a near-fatal brain aneurysm.
Carlile spoke about getting Mitchell back on stage in an essayThe Times U.K., which revealed that she and Mitchell agreed to perform at the festival after they attended the 2022 Grammys and the Recording Academy's charity MusiCares' concert thrown in Mitchell's honor.
"But the agreement was very much that we'll just sit around in a circle and play the songs, like we always do at the Joni Jams. Sometimes Joni sings, and sometimes she doesn't want to," said Carlile at the time.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
