Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - Brandi Carlile

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

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Hello and welcome to Table Manners, I'm Jessie Ware and mum is giving me daggers. You look very glamorous mum. Do I look glamorous? You do, your hair looks good. Does it? Yeah. Don't know why I've just been in the wind and the rain. Wind swept. We're at my house tonight, I've cooked. Thank you. No problem. We have the phenomenal Brandy Carlile coming on and apparently she's nearly five minutes late because she's stuck in traffic because she has come from Sir Elton John's house in Windsor. So we'll have to ask her whether he gave her a pat lunch to see her on her way.

And frankly she's been staying there all week. And we're talking to her because she has a new album out on the 4th of April with Elton What's a fabulous album? I listened to it yesterday Their voices meld together Euphoric it's so exciting The production is so brilliant the singing the songwriting all of it is so beautiful The singing, the songwriting, all of it is so beautiful. Also, they're honoring lots of queer musicians, Little Richard, Laura Nairo.

So it's kind of honoring them as well. The album's called Who Believes in Angels, and it's absolutely gorgeous. And I'm sure Brandi's gonna tell us, but she's been the biggest fan of Elton John since she was 12 and discovered him and sung Honky Cat at the like talent show in a white suit. Anyway it's amazing but I'm very interested in Brandy's upbringing she moved a lot when she was

a child and we're going to be talking to her all about this album all about her life and how she's finding England because she got married here. She wants love it here. Well, do you want to know what I've made? She's not fussy, is she? No. Didn't get any dietary requirements, thank God. Yeah. I've done a new recipe by Sophie Wyburd. It's in her book, Tucking In.

It's spiced meatballs with dates and chickpeas. Delicious. However, I didn't read that it was beef mince and I did lamb, which I don't- That lends itself better. Well, I think that's okay, but still, I wonder. Beef can be a bit hard when they're cooked. Do you think they're gonna get hard now?

No. You're just saying that to me, aren't you? No, just turn it, have you turned it off? I've turned it off. It's fine. Anyway, I've done it with couscous and toasted flakes almonds. Gonna put some parsley and coriander on the top and some cavolo nero and then I've done, because I thought Brandy's

probably had a crumble in her time here. Do you think Elton Tuck's into a crumble? Well, we'll find out in a minute. Pranthi Kala on Ketanar. Cheers ladies. Enjoyed being here with you. Thank you. Sasha, pleasure. We are so touched. We are so honoured. That you decided to not stay in with Elton tonight and have a takeaway and you've come all the way to South East London. No drinks at Elton's.

Oh thank god we'll give you a straw on the way home. How have you managed to all wait and no drink? Oh mum stop! Well I had one last night because I went out for dinner you know with Cat's mum and Cat's mum will get you wasted so. Well let's talk about your wife. Yeah. A Brit, a fellow Brit. Yeah.

And she's here. You got married in the UK. Yeah. Was it Chelsea Town Hall? Chelsea Town Hall, yeah. That's like the best. Well done, well researched. The best one to get married to.

Yeah, and then we kind of walked down the steps and we got on a vintage double-decker bus and we drank loads of champagne and drove around the city. And then we wound up in a crypt in Bleeding Heart Square. Oh yeah, I've been there. Where is it? There's a pub in a restaurant and you walk down an alley.

What area? It's in the city near Hatton Garden. Yeah, we had a little dance party in that crypt. And it's called Bleeding Heart Square. Yeah, it's cool. What was your first dance? Are we allowed to know? I think we were kind of dancing more to like things like like a prayer

and you know we were dancing to like a lot of Whitney Houston and 80s music and just like holes in the socks, blisters on our feet, walking home without our shoes. But it's a good restaurant there isn't it? Yeah it was amazing yeah. Did they do the catering? They did yeah. And what did you have? Can you remember?

Yeah I can remember we had some steaks and like roasted carrots and like a salad with pomegranates and then my favorite thing about it was our wedding cake was made of cheese instead of cake. Oh, one of those cheese wedding cakes. Like literally like, yeah, it was awesome. Do you like British cheese? I love it, yeah.

What's your favorite British cheese? I mean, you're going to embarrass me with the name. Give me some. Cheddar. Okay. Do you like your cheddar? Yeah, but I feel like that's an American thing, Vermont. No, cheddar's great. I break a rule. No, I don't.

I don't. We have a place called Cheddar Gorge, which is where it comes from. Okay, you own it. Good point. Ding, ding, ding. So you've, you have just been in the car for a long time because you've been in Windsor.

Yeah. Staying with Sir Elton. Yeah. Your beloved friend. Yeah. Does he have a full fridge? Yeah, and you can get in it and you walk in it. It's like a room. Shut up.

Oh my god. Yeah, and it's got all the good things in there, all the things he can't eat, but that we can eat, and it's just delicious. And he's got a full pantry with like loads of chocolate and you can, it's kind of heaven actually. It's like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Does Elton cook No, no, he doesn't he got a good cook. Yeah, he does this lovely guy called mark. In fact

Yesterday morning I was nervous for the Graham Norton show and yeah I woke up and and I was too nervous to eat and Elton's like staff They just sat me down. They're like right you're eating a toasted croissant with ham, you're gonna have a banana, you're gonna have a glass of water. Like they were just, it's they're the sweetest people. Do you get quite nervous? Yeah, I get nervous. Yeah.

I find that's, I mean, your voice is heavenly. It's transcendental and also, well, your lyric, all of it is just, so for me, I kind of think, as a singer who does get nervous and can't always control what comes out of my mouth when I'm singing, you know. Your voice is incredibly strong. No, no, no, no, no.

I listened today. Well, thank you, but I just, you're so accomplished and brilliant and it's interesting to hear that you still get nervous for like a TV show that I, yeah. I think you have to. It's especially to hear that you still get nervous for like a TV show that I think you have to. Yeah, it's especially to sing, you know, because you can't convince people of your humanity if you're not right on the edge. If you don't understand what the psycho sympathetic nervous system is going through when you open

your mouth to sing in front of people, it's like you could maybe we could potentially lose that, that feeling of feeling of otherworldliness that you feel when you do something so risky. And I don't ever want to lose that. I love the way that feels. How do you feel when you finish a tour though? Are you absolutely shattered? Oh, grumpy and tired.

And then the very last day I get this kind of like second wind, maybe the last couple of shows where I want it to keep going and I get sad and you do the same blues yeah yeah and I'll be the same are you touring this year with this new yeah but I just got word that my whole tour sold out today yeah on the way here they told me in the car that's so excited I didn't know what are you touring in Britain, all of Britain, all Europe, Britain and the States? Not the States actually. I'm just coming over here to you guys. Yeah, I'm doing Royal Upper Hall and a bunch of Manchester and Birmingham and Dublin, Glasgow. And then I'm going to go over to Europe and I'm going to do some cities over there.

Amsterdam, Copenhagen for the first time, which is really cool. I think you're playing Vega in Copenhagen. Yeah, yeah. Babe, when I tell you, the greatest backstage catering I've ever had. Oh, I live for that. They have, you feel like you're in no, they've got like flaming juniper berry bushes

and venison on, it's banging. You're going to love it. Don't be nervous that day. Yeah, okay, I won't. Are you a big foodie? I am. I love my food. What's your favorite sort of food?

My favorite sort of food? Oh, I'm very kind of day and day. Like it really, it kind of depends on what's going on. But I think that there are some basics. I love some basic simple foods. Like I love oysters in any preparation, oysters and champagne, just like beautiful. I love anything with tomatoes, big into seafood and shellfish but my favorite thing to cook is a steak like I can make a mean steak. Which kind of steak do you have? I prefer rib-eye to eat.

Yeah me too. Yeah right to a filet. Yeah Yeah. Because that fat and the fat makes it tender. Yeah. I think. But have you have you gone? Tastier than filet. I do do. And the texture I like a lot better too. And I don't mind eating fat.

I actually like it. But do you find that? Have you gone off rare and medium rare steak? I have recently. No. What are you going into? You're well done there. I like rare steak.

I think I'm in my medium era. As I've gotten older, I've, okay, actually I went to this amazing steak house in LA called, what are they called? Boa. And they have like a steak simone that will come to your table and talk you out of ordering rare or medium rare cuts if you get really high quality beef because they want that fat to To kind of permeate the meat they want that to be seasoned internally with that fat and when you get a medium rare or rare Steak you're just kind of eating

Congealed fat you don't get the flavor Yeah, okay If you said red they actually would not understand Go to Argentina. Yeah, okay. They always overcook it. They overcook it completely. If you said rare, they actually would not understand what you're talking about. You're disrespecting a whole load of people, mum. When I went to restaurants, I said rare. I think they understand they just do it differently.

They didn't want to do it. They kind of, rare. If you're ordering medium, it's gonna be a well done there. It's like you go on, it's like you're precise. Yeah, yeah. I've taken to do do that I'm all about the medium now. How often do you eat red meat though? Like kind of a lot. A few times a week. I have like really low iron. I have just always had. My mom and sister do too. So I love red meat. Yeah. Let's talk

about your family growing up, traveling a lot of different places. What was it? 14 homes in 14 years? Yeah, like, yeah, we've moved 14 times from the time I was born to when I moved out of my parents' house at 17. And real. Why did you move so much? Well, there were always different reasons. You know, my parents, they're amazing people. They're fun. They're with us still. They're together. They're unpredictable. They're amazing people. They're fun. They're with us still. They're together.

They're unpredictable. They're like eternal teenagers. They were really young when they had us kids, and I'm the oldest of three kids. And it just kind of felt like growing up with complicated, charismatic teenagers. They were always changing their mind in jobs and life and kind of hitting

the skids and we were either getting evicted or moving or there was a controversy. There was always something kind of chaotic and intense happening. So we would just kind of take flight, you know. What was your dad trained to do? My dad, when I was born, he was a Boeing machinist. He worked on airplanes. Oh, wow. And somewhere around, maybe around 11 or 12, we moved out to the lake deep into the country, like into the woods.

And he took up construction. So I had a construction dad. And my mom was a state home. Was this all around Seattle? Ish, you know, like we say Seattle, but really I live in like a really rural part of Washington state. It's so beautiful. It is beautiful.

Oh my gosh, guys. When I've been on a tour bus, you go through all those trees when you're kind of coming through from, where's the spot? Where would I be driving from if I'm on a splitter bus? So if you come from East, you're gonna go over Snoqualmie Pass.

You're gonna see the Cascade Mountain Range. And that's definitely where you ended up through going through North Bend. From East, you're going to go over Snoqualmie Pass. You're going to see the Cascade Mountain Range. That's definitely where you ended up, through going through North Bend. That's where I live, is right in that area, at the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range. Wow. Yeah. You're talking about what my place looks like.

That was incredibly inspiring to you. It was incredibly inspiring to me. I've always lived there, and I probably always will. I've lived in the same log cabin for 22 years, because of course I moved so much as a kid that I'm like right I'm an adult no one's making me move and my mom and dad they love my house and so everybody kind of gathers at my place for holidays and we host and everything. But everybody all around you gathers in the same place you're in this compound. Yeah yeah. So who lives in the compound? Very culty.

Culty. No, the Alanis Morissette lives in a very similar setup. Oh, is that right? Where she's got lots of people living around. Well, that tracks. Yeah. Yeah. So how many people are living there? Um, everybody asked me this. You've got your log cabin. Yeah, okay. So I've got like my log cabin that I live in with my wife and two girls. And, and then on this this, say it's like a hundred acres. I don't know how, do you know acres? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. So like a hundred acres. So that's a lot of acres. That is a lot of acres. Yeah. And my band, the twin brothers, they live there. Who are kind of part that you've talked about them being Yeah, once married to my sister.

And then also in my band, I have a... So one of my basically my two band members, the twins. Yeah. One is married to my little sister. And the other one is married to a woman called Hannah, who's just kind of like our sister through marriage. And then this is going to get really strange. I'm into it.

And then my cellist is married to Catherine's sister, my wife's sister, the Brit. Oh my gosh. Wow. And then my engineer is married to Catherine's other sister and they all live there. Wow. Wow. So we're all married to each other and working together. I hope you don't fall out. Well and it happens. It does. It does happen. It'll be the end of it. That is weird when that happens. What do you do? You just go to a different acre. Well we all have the same therapist. Oh, stop, stop. She's called Pam.

She lives on the compound. She doesn't? Nope, she lives on one of the San Juan Islands and every time the shit hits the fan, it's like, well, we better call Pam. That's amazing. Yeah, it's dark. I was listening to Ariana Grande today

and she got nominated for her Oscar. Oh yeah. They said, you must've had loads of texts. I said, oh yeah, from everyone, even my gynecologist. So when you got nominated for your Oscar, who was texting you? Oh my God. Who did you ring first?

I'll tell you what, they come out of the woodwork when you get an Oscar nomination. Yeah, and I have given my number to everyone I've ever met since I was 19 years old. So I had maybe a thousand texts, just from school friends and doctors and distant cousins and just everyone I've ever met, old radio DJs that are like retired for 20 years. Yeah, I don't even know who came first. Who was the one that you rang first? Elton.

Oh! Yeah, he's't even know who came first. Who was the one that you rang first? Elton. Oh! Yeah, he's my best friend. We call each other every day, you know. I mean, let's talk about Elton and the album. This trailer that came out today. Yeah. I mean, for people that haven't seen it,

and I know this is going to be coming out a bit later, but it's a trailer of the making of your record together. And it's the first time Elton has allowed cameras. I presume maybe is it the first time you've allowed cameras in there or not? The thing people don't know about the cameras yet that's really kind of a missing point here

is that we didn't know where they were. They were fixed cameras. There were no cameramen. Right, yeah. And we utterly forgot about them. Within six hours the first day and then never thought about them again until we were watching these trailers. And we utterly forgot about them. Within six hours of the first day, and then never thought about them again until we were watching these trailers.

Because I've always wondered, because everyone wants everybody to have content now, right? Yeah, yeah. And everyone said to me, you should just put a GoPro in the corner. And I'm like, I wonder whether it would make me feel inhibited. I forgot. I never actually saw them.

Elton was throwing shit at you, so. Yeah, and I mean, I don't think he would have cared, even if there were like people standing there with a camera, but the way that you behave when you don't know there are cameras around is like really interesting. I don't wanna say I didn't know, I did know, but I really forgot.

You forgot. But this trailer shows the tensions initially and how you made this record in 20 days and you know, this you being with your icon, your idol that you made this record in 20 days and you know this you thing with your icon your idol that oh, yeah, and And you then having to be I don't know I guess you've kind of being Pam sometimes therapist Pam a bit Pam ish Yeah, Pam ish also maybe mediated between Andrew what the producer and Elton because they're both slightly more fiery than you potentially Yeah, there you potentially. Yeah.

Everyone's passionate. She's witchy and psychic. No, I've actually met Andrew Watt years ago. Okay. And he rocked up at my mate's house and he had like a Mustang. It was like some sexy car. Okay. Does he still like sexy cars? This is making sense. He likes sexy everything. He wears like no shirt under his suit jacket guy. Okay. Lots of necklaces. Is he married? No, he's got an amazing long-term girlfriend called Charlotte who's just like heaven. Great. Yeah. But so you were making this record and the trailers come out and it's waltz and all. Yeah. And it's very exciting. And also by the, the record is stunning. Thank you. It's that opening track, Validator and I.

This is what I wanted to ask you because it felt, it has this big crescendo in it. It's got this big overture at the beginning. But it gets so, it's so exciting. You feel like you're at a gig and it's so nice. Yeah, that's what I wanted. I mean, it wasn't my idea, but when I first heard that I'm like, oh, imagine opening a gig with that.

That's exactly, it was a perfect opener to an album, but then I was like that, I had goosebumps, I was imagining Elton back at Glastonbury, and you there, and now he's retired, so what's going on? Please say you're gonna play this album, because it's so perfect. I mean, we are right now just leaving it up to the great mystery of his healing and whatever

happens or doesn't happen with his sight. But I will say that we don't talk about this because I don't want him to feel pressure or nerves or to feel like he's letting anybody down because of his vision. But I have hope that something will happen because we did that performance yesterday and he sat down at the piano and it was the first time we've... When I tell you, it came out of him like a thunderstorm. It was incredible what he was doing on the piano. Didn't miss a note.

Harmonies went straight to the right harmony. I had to sing loud just to be at his level. And I was like, god damn, you're 78 and just unbelievable. So I think it could happen, honestly. Who Believes in Angels is a really complicated song and he just had 10 minutes and he had it. I mean, also you two sound so great together. Oh, thank you.

Obviously he was a fan of yours. You were a huge fan of him. That's's what you always loved him from a small child. How did you first meet him? Um, well, so I guess I guess I'll give you a background of my actual childhood. You know, I kind of talked to you about that I had a really strange and chaotic but kind of wonderful childhood. Um, our family was really entrenched in country music and country music in the States in the late 80s and early 90s was not just a genre of music it was like a cultural movement it was like a lifestyle during that time. Is it not like that anymore? You know it is but it's a little more

pedestrian than it was when when when I was young like It was really something you were proud of. And it was aligned, I think, with us sort of religiously and politically at that time, again, different era. And I got, I was allowed to do a book report. You guys have book reports in the schools over here? I don't know, explain what your book report is. You choose a book and then you study this book. Like a review?

Yeah, you do a project based on this book, art project presentation. And I got to go choose a book and I chose a book and then you study this book. Like a review? Yeah, you do a project based on this book, an art project, a presentation. And I got to go choose a book and I chose a book on a boy called Ryan White because I thought the boy on the cover was cute on the book. And he had died of AIDS in the early 90s. And in this book, I'm reading about a worldview that I have never been exposed to before, thinking of HIV and AIDS like really differently because what happened was the evangelical right tried to sort of like weaponize this boy against the gay community by saying that AIDS is caused by the gay community and this

boy was not having it. He was really brave, even as like a young teenager and ostracized like in every way. And then this gay British rock star comes into this boy's life and Just changes his life like moves into his house starts taking calls for the mom Steps in and starts helping with all of the media and the frenzy at the end of this boy's life and when he dies this rock star sings a song called Skyline Pigeon and At the funeral and I saw the lyrics of Skyline Pigeon, and I was like, right, that is going to be my job.

I'm going to write lyrics like that. It's unbelievable. Turn me loose from your hands. Let me fly to distant lands over green fields, trees, and mountains, and flowers, and forest fountains. And I was like, I've never seen fucking anything like that in a country song. And it took me to the library where I found two albums by Elton John and a book and was a different kid after that. I got a keyboard, I learned to write

songs and I learned about Queen and George Michael and U2 and The Beatles and Kate Bush and Sanito Conner and just my whole worldview expanded. So I carried that affection for this British rock star that I fell in love with as a person before I ever heard his music throughout my adolescence into my early twenties and like as soon as I could get away with it, I got a record deal, I wrote him a letter. And he immediately responded and said, what do you want to do? He likes letters, doesn't he? He's been writing letters to announce this album. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So you still have this letter? I don't have it, no. And of course, he doesn't have it. It was just like a fan letter from Crazy Lesbian. No. And then you didn't become pen pals, but you kept... We stayed close.

I mean, I had picked like the most tumbleweed connection song I could think of and I was like, will you come and play piano on my song? And he's like, well, if you come to Vegas, I will. So I got invited to go to Vegas. I'm like maybe 25 at this time. And I go there with my files and we're gonna do this song. And I'm like walking down this hallway

and I can hear him talking in the control room and after seeing Live at Melbourne and Tantrums and Tiaras and all of his interviews, being this big fan as a teenager, I'm like, I'm gonna turn the corner and I'm gonna meet Elton fucking John. And I did, but it wasn't weird. We just like immediately were friends and he sent me over a hundred albums and just started staying in touch and mentoring me and

It led to this, you know, however many years later. What is it 18 years later? Yeah, and it's crazy story. And you still love him as much more? I love him more because of what I saw in the studio, the absolute mayhem. But he, I mean, he's so good at his art, isn't he? And it's so wonderful to watch someone who's so accomplished and so good at what they do. I mean, look, the only chance I've been able to see him

perform at was at Glastonbury headlining it. Oh, were you there? It was so beautiful. It was magical. And he had such a host of ages. And it was, you know, everyone knows some of this, his talent and the way he played and the soul and his like, it was just, it's remarkable.

And he is so generous. I mean, his whole thing uplifting other artists, he's so generous. I wanna know, is it true that he has the best flowers in every house of his and he keeps them having flowers in every house, even if he's not there? He has the best flowers and he sends the best flowers. You don't need to look at the card

to know they came from Elton John. That's if you can reach that high. That's a big bunch. Are your children with you? They are, yeah. Have you been to Legoland yet? Yeah, we went to Legoland. Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it?

Every time they stay there, we go to Legoland. Yeah, my kids are back at home with Elton right now. Oh gosh, he's babysitting. I mean, sure, we can call it that. Do they call him Uncle Elton? They call him Elton, and they call him Uncle Elton sometimes when they're with me, but he's the only man they've seen in his underwear.

Have you just got sisters or you've got a brother as well? I've got a brother and a sister and we're really really close. Yeah. Yeah we're like a really close family. So who was cooking when you were growing up? My mom. My mom's a great cook. Is she? Yeah. What's her best dish that you would always want to cook? I loved when she would make Swiss steak she called it. Swiss steak? Yeah she just cut up a bunch of steak and put like mushroom cream sauce and it was just like a big white trash meal that we would pour over mashed potatoes and we loved it. So it's called Swiss steak? That's what she called it. And that was her best meal? I thought so. I thought everything

she made was really good and nice and salty and my mum doesn't under season. Oh good, I don't either. And desserts, are you big on desserts in your family? Yeah, I love to eat. So do you, on this big compound, do you have animals? Do you have, is it farming? Do you like to grow stuff? Yeah, I've got chickens and a dog and some cats. I had, until a few years ago, a horse and some goats too and we're preparing to get some more horses again. Yeah, because you had horses when you were younger, didn't you? Yeah, yeah, I love horses. Do you like, so do you ride most days? I'm not like an equestrian person, I'm not like a classy horseback rider or anything. But you like horse riding? I love horse riding,

yeah, I just love horses. So who's doing the cooking at home? Well me and Catherine we trade off. We love to cook. We cook breakfast, lunch and dinner because we live so far out in the country. Yeah. And we trade off just depending on whose food we're craving on any given night but I love cooking for Kath and she likes cooking for me too. So what do you like to cook? Steak? I like to grill things and to cook on cast iron on the grill. I like to do a lot of like crispy skin seafood and prawns and like I said I love to cook ribeye steaks and filet for Kath because she doesn't prefer a ribeye. And I grill vegetables. Yeah I do, I am a fisherman so outside of music. Yeah you like fishing. Yeah. I liked. I am a fisherman. So outside of music... Yeah, you like fishing.

Yeah. I liked fishing. Do you? My dad used to take me when I was little. Yeah? And obviously, you know, we lived in Manchester so it wasn't great for its fishing. OK. But there's something very peaceful about going fishing and you're with your dad and

you're sitting alongside. For some reason it's not that boring fishing for a kid. No. You think it might be boring. Yeah. Because not a lot happens. It's a bit like watching cricket. Yeah. But it isn't somehow. You're just waiting for the moment, aren't you?

Yeah, it's, I just think it's one of the best things. Actually, horses and fishing are like the two best things I think you can do for your soul. You could be a member of the Royal Family. Really? Horseback riding and fishing. My manners would be all wrong. No, but they say, what is it? It's a perpetual act of optimism to try to connect to something you can't see. Yeah. And so what fish do you get in Seattle? All kinds. So tell me what would you cook? Which fish? Well, everything. I

love all the seasons they open up and there are different seasons, you know. So I'm about to enter into my fishing season right now. I've got a new boat. And I'm a boat captain. Okay. So I'm going to go out for ling cod and rock cod in April. And then in May, the halibut opens up. My favorite fish. Oh, it's the best. Why? Well, they're huge. They come up like the trunk of a Volkswagen and they fight the whole time and then they're just snow white and beautiful meat that preserves like nothing else and when we process it all our from from the catch to the processing to the flash freeze to the cook when it's all only ever touched your hands it's such a nice. So that's what I love to cook is fish

that I catch. I love the skin on halibut. Oh that it's not me. Oh you don't like it. Tell me what what do you have. I like it because it's slightly when you can make it crisp and it's slightly oily around the side. I think it's delicious. Wow. So I'm surprised if you like eating the fat on meat. Yeah. I love the fat on halibut. It's just so rubbery. No, not if it's crispy. Hard to get through. Really, you've got a really crisp bit. No, I like it.

Well, and the cast iron on the grill is so nice for doing that. I love doing salmon that way. But do you catch salmon? Yeah. OK. Yeah, so May is halibut. Yeah. End of May is spot prawns.

What? Yeah, we have nine inch spot prawns. The sweetest, most gorgeous prawns. Like langoustine? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And we catch them in about 400 feet of water. It's a lot of work. How do you catch a prawn?

Well, you take a prawn trap and you put about 30 pounds of weight in it. See, I don't even know what a prawn trap is. You'll have to explain. It's like a big cage. Like a lobster pot. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, okay. You have to explain. It's like a big cage. Like a lobster pot. Yeah exactly. And you drop it down about 400 feet. And you wait an hour and then you bring it up and once you start bringing it up you can't stop

because they'll get out of the holes. They need to get that momentum behind it. And you can catch a couple hundred shrimp in a pot that way. At the end of the day you've got five, six hundred shrimp. Too many to eat. You have to freeze some. Well we usually all split them up on the compound. Oh my god, of course there's a lot to feed, lots of that. We just had a table made that can have 40 people at it. 40 people? Yeah. Bloody hell, it's like Dolly Parton. It is like Dolly Parton! Yeah that's... She likes a lot at her table. This looks beautiful No it's it's spiced lamb meatballs with chickpeas and dates and yogurt and like couscous with some flaked almonds and Mmm. Oh my god. That's fantastic. Oh my god, my wife is so jealous right now. Awesome. Just want some. Have you not eaten? None of you eaten? There's a ball for all of you.

Catherine, do not be polite. Please don't. I've got loads. Don't do this. British. God. And is this yogurt? Yeah. So good. Great yogurt. I love it. And I've actually loads. Don't do this, British, God. And is this yogurt? Yeah, it's so good. Great yogurt, I love it. And I've actually, we're doing a crumble for Pud. Have you put it in, darling? I haven't. Do you like it?

I love crumbles. I felt like being married to a Brit, you've gotta know about a crumble. Ask my wife, and my favorite dessert is she's gonna tell you crumble. Oh really? Mm-hmm. Where did you meet Kath?

I met Kath through Paul McCartney. Oh did you? Mm-hmm, how? Well, I was running a charity and Kath was heading up Paul McCartney's charity foundation and she read about one of our campaigns, a really sad one actually, over here and was moved by it and called up and said, how can I help? I want to send some a bass guitar, a signed bass guitar, some music books,

anything I can help to raise money for this auction. And my management called me and said, this woman that works for Paul McCartney is really smart and we think you should talk to her about running a foundation. And so I started talking to this woman over the phone and over email and I thought she was 75. Why? Because she was so wise. Yes and she worked with Paul McCartney so I just associated her as his age for like a year, maybe more. Yeah and so I'm thinking I'm talking to this sweet little old lady over here in London. I'm like 25. You didn't have to do it for.

No, there was no, this was, you know, Kath and I have been married for 13 years, so this is at least 16, 17 years ago, right? Was there any flirtation with this 75 year old woman? No, God no. I mean, no, you know, I was like, well, let it go, I was a child. So I'm talking with this woman, I think she's brilliant,

and I'm really grateful to her because she's really helpful and she's actually sending us things and being really cool. And then one day I go to New York City to play this gig and we called her the charity lady, and they said to me, I was getting ready to go downtown in New York with all my hip lesbian friends. I was going to get on the back of this cute little baby dykes Vespa and we were going to go down to the bars and sing karaoke and I was all excited. And they were like, the

charity lady is here to see you, so don't leave right after the show. And I go, oh, not the charity lady. I mean, anywhere but New York City. Can't you come there for once? Not the old charity lady. Yeah, you know, I mean, I really grateful for her and they're like, come on, she's done so much for you, please just meet the charity baby. And I'm like, okay. So I get off stage after my stupid little show and I walk back into the dressing room and there is this absolute knockout woman standing there who's my exact age and she goes hello I'm Catherine Sheppard she I which couldn't believe that voice came out it was such

a shock you know and I was just infatuated immediately infatuated with her it did the charity lady go on the back of the bike and go to the club yeah that's what I was I didn't go to the club I stayed I stayed with the charity lady for the rest of the evening and lost track of all of those fun lesbians and they went into town without me. And the rest is history. That is so lovely. And now I'm married to the charity lady. Brandy can I ask you about Joni Mitchell and the famous Joni Jams? Yeah. How is she?

Joni's great. In fact, I had a terrible moment today. I did an interview. Joni's one of my very, really good friends and we've been really good friends for five or six years and I've been able to be in a kind of passenger seat. Is she better? Yeah, she's fucking amazing. She had that aneurysm 11 years ago.

She had a stroke. It was an aneurysm. It was way worse. An aneurysm 11 years ago. She had a stroke. It was an aneurysm, it was way worse. She was like, I mean, she hardly came out of it. She had to relearn everything, talking and walking and eating and everything. And about five or six years ago, I got to get involved with her musically and start to help her re-emerge back into doing music again, even her own in her living room. But yeah, when you were the person that really encouraged her to do that, it was you were leading that. Yeah, I would say that that was probably me.

How did you feel? Is it because you could, because you obviously saw there was a glimmer of like wanting and hope from her, or was there a tussle with that conversation where she was like, I am not doing this and you were like. It was, it was like that, but it was, I didn't ask either. She just preempted this conversation. I was like, I think it was around that same time, 2018 maybe something like that.

I went to dinner with her cause she liked my wife. She didn't even know me and I got invited. It was, it's a long story, but Catherine and her met and they made friends. And I come in on the coattails of my wife all the time. So I get invited to this meal and Joni is talking to me about music or whatever like a little bit and she goes, yeah you know I don't do music and I don't want to hear it. Whatever you have to say about how you think whether that's a good idea or a bad idea I don't want to hear it. I'm happy to

not do music. I'm a painter. But my house, it misses music. She goes, so I'm wondering, maybe you could get some friends together and you could start coming over and you guys could play the instruments and be in the house. And these became the Joni Jams. These became the Joni Jams.

And the very first Joni Jam, what happened was, you have a woman that has not opened her mouth to sing or touch an instrument since the sannyurism, and even before it, honestly, she was done with music. And there was a moment where Herbie Hancock was at the piano, you know, just, right? And his hands are just kind of floating over the keys, and everybody's drinking wine and talking and having a party, and Joni's sitting quietly in her chair with a glass of wine, and nobody else knew what Herbie was playing, but Joni did, and you just hear out of the corner of the room, summertime and the livin'

is easy. And the room just, half the room burst into tears, Herbie burst into tears. Oh my god, I'm going to cry. She just opened her mouth and decided now's the time I sing now and she just started singing and she's still doing it. With that voice. With that voice. And she takes risks every time she does it. She pushes her body to the very limit. And I may have helped but no one gets credit for what she's done for the last six years

with her body and her ability other than her. Can you paint the picture of the Joanie Jam? You know, you say there's wine, is there snacks? Yeah, Joanie likes Mexican food. There's a lot of Mexican food. Okay. She also quite likes hot dogs. Oh yeah.

So we have some hot dogs. So we have a chef called Chef Steph that cooks for everybody. And we always have a margarita stand. Joanie loves a Cadillac margarita or a Pinot Grigio. What's a Cadillac margarita? It's a really boozy margarita. I thought margaritas were boozy anyway. It's only lime juice and tequila.

I think of it because it's got Grand Marnier in it. Yeah. So she amps up the Grand Marnier. She amps that up and then you end up with these buckets of tequila and she can drink you under the table and not even blink. Cool. Yeah, she's really cool.

You should come to it, Joni Jem, you know? I would, that is one thing that I can jam jamming I want to vomit Tell me why I'm just what do you cover when you cover something? I don't play and like I feel like a fraud look at you with all your instruments and then you can do that I'm like, yeah, I can write a song with the in collaboration and I guess song in collaboration and I guess it jams literally. It's like improv. So if Herbie's on the piano, what are you playing? I'm playing guitar, but I'm often just facilitating. I'm often asking other people to sing. I make sure that everybody gets involved in the circle. I make sure Joni's getting to

sing enough. I make sure everybody knows that it's not a show for Joni that we're actually there because we want Joni to sing. And also that everybody gets heard. You know, everybody wants that chance to like play for Joni Mitchell. They're terrified. You're a producer and a facilitator as well as being very talented. So there's someone on drums. So drum kit then. We have had a lot of percussionists in there. Marcus Mumford comes in and plays percussion a lot. Oh, he's lovely.

Griff from Dawes, A Browns, Matt Chamberlain, my drummer's been a couple of times. Yeah, we've got amazing people. You have Ruben come and play piano. Ruben's the original Joni Jam piano player. He used to play. Ruben James. Ruben James is a gorgeous boy.

Gorgeous. Who used to play in place. We used to use Ruben James is a gorgeous boy gorgeous who used to play with Sam Smith And so Ruben was always there smiling and being gorgeous and like when Sam was singing All that you know ballads Ruben and Sam be that to be them to the whole time And he I remember being at Glastonbury with Ruben one time. We had a fun night. He's intoxicating. He's fab and talented. Oh with Ruben one time, we had a fun night. He's intoxicating. He's fab and talented. Oh, he's a dream. Last Supper.

You're going to a desert island for a very long time. Away from the compound. Away from the compound. What are you going to have for dinner? A starter, a main, a pud, because you know what a pud is, because you're married to a Brit, and a drink of choice. Would it be your very own cocktail that exists in Seattle? You're gonna hate me, I'm gonna say no.

What's it called, the Carlisle Cup? The Carlisle Cup. What's in it? My wife quite likes a Carlisle Cup. What's in it? Pimms. Oh! You'll be pleased to know.

So the charity lady likes a Carlisle. The charity lady loves a Pimms. Um, for me, okay, the cocktail, pleased to know. So the charity lady likes a collo. The charity lady loves a Pimms. For me, the cocktail, like the start, would be the classic whiskey sour with egg white. Oh really? Classic whiskey sour. Okay. With like Woodford Reserve or some kind of maybe a Kentucky bourbon.

And then I would go oysters, like raw oysters, champagne, vinaigrette, shaved ice, lemon, Tabasco sauce. Okay, okay, so we're starting there. Okay. And it's Maine next? Okay, I'm gonna dish between that and the Maine. Okay, we're going straight to the Maine. You can have some extras.

You can have an extra. You can do what you want. You can have a soup. Some kind of like a little bready baklava with goat cheese and like pistachios and balsamic. Where have you had this? Several places. Like some kind of a flaky bready thing with those things on it. Like a...

Delicious. Yeah. Like a tart. So just tell me, is it like our feta in filo or something like that? Yeah, it is like that. Yeah. It's got that kind of... Baked feta in filo. something like that? Yeah, it is like that. It's got that kind of... Baked feta in filo. And then you put...

Oh yeah, it's gorgeous. You can put pomegranate on the top. Pomegranate would be perfect. Yeah, okay. Pomegranate molasses we might go with, yeah. Okay. Okay, go on. And then it's really hard for me to decide between halibut salmon and a ribeye, but I

would maybe go ribeye. Are you cooking your own ribeye? I am, and this ribeye is gonna have on it some you know coarse black pepper, coarse salt, a little bit of brown sugar, forget that. Oh caramelization on the outside. I've never done that. That's a great idea. And some black coffee. What the grounds? Like a coffee rub. All rubbed onto this ribeye. And black coffee. What, the ground? Like a coffee rub, all rubbed onto this rib eye. And ground coffee? Yeah.

Like, and we're not talking instant coffee, we're talking real beans. We're talking real espresso beans ground, not too fine and rubbed into the meat with the brown sugar. Wow. What would you call that, a rub? I don't know. I learned it from another singer actually. Who?

Emily Selyers from the Indigo Girls. She's kind of, her and her friends, Sue and Ross, kind of walked me through making a steak early in my 20s. So I would do that, and on the side with that I may have some like grilled eggplant, which you would call aubergine. And like rocket salad, that would be like my main and

then for dessert I would probably go crumble apple. Oh thank god for that. No pressure bloody hell I'm scared now. Or maybe a key lime. If it was fish I would then finish with the key lime and some champagne. I like how decisive that was Brandy. I think it sounds like a good meal. Do you like that? Yeah I do. If you have meals where everyone's all living near each other do you say oh we'll get together

on Sunday night. Do you ring the bell? You bring this or you bring that. It's like a potluck supper. Yeah and we do it all the time. You do it all. I imagine you would. We each have individual things we're really good at like my wife's roast dinner is like the compound favourite. Which meat? She does chicken. Roast chicken. Yeah and that's really popular with everyone and she also, my sweet wife, she does Thanksgiving and Christmas and she cooks for everyone. Usually at least 20 people if not 40. And you get people to bring things to... Yeah. My sister bakes like you would not believe.

Like she bakes amazing baked goods, cookies and cakes and rolls and she also does cheesecakes and key lime pies and stuff. So my sister is like a boss with all the sweets. I want to live in this compound. You've got to come. If you ever come to Washington and you don't come to dinner, I will be so offended. Don't come.

I'm coming. And you're going to rub that bloody beef? I am. And with that coffee? And dinner, I will be so offended. Don't come. I'm coming. Okay. And you're going to rub that bloody beef. I am. And with that coffee. And you, I'm taking fishing. I'll go fishing. I've never known this about you.

I used to go with my dad. I never knew this about you. I love fishing. Thank you, Brandy. I wanted to also know, if I was opening the fridge in your house, what would I be seeing in that fridge? Probably all my wife's healthy choices. Okay. Yeah, but if I want the things I like I like to eat like a child when I'm not cooking. Right. I will go and get those things at the grocery store

What are these things? Oh, you won't know the names of them, but like, you know gushers, kids candy, fruit snacks and Cheez-Its and Blizzard ice creams and What's a Blizzard ice cream? Oh, it's a Dairy Queen. Have you ever had Dairy Queens? We've heard of Dairy Queens. Yeah. Somebody else has spoken about Dairy Queen. Who has talked about Dairy Queen?

I can't remember. Do you guys know Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Yes. Okay, so it's my dream to have a Ben and Jerry's ice cream named after me or at least like somehow associated with me. What would be the flavors? Okay, so I have a name and everything. Go on.

So you know there's like... Let's pitch it. Jerry Garcia has Cherry Garcia. Yeah. It's delicious. Yeah. Fish, the band Fish, which you guys don't know but they're huge in the store. Yeah Fish. Fish food. Fish food. Yeah we have that. I didn't know they were all these fish. Is that named after a band? Apparently so. They like bands. They like like jam bands and rock and roll bands. Mine would be called Candy Bar Lyle. Oh yeah! All the best candy bars crushed up and your favorite ones Heath and Hershey's with almonds and Snickers and Favreau. All crushed up in ice cream.

Have you spoken to Ben or Jerry? No, but I need to find Ben and Jerry and pitch my idea. Don't worry, this is gonna go viral right? This is is yeah. Yeah candy bar. Lyle candy bar Lyle And what would the base be would it be vanilla base or chocolate base vanilla? Okay? Yeah to be just it's gonna be a lot Of sweets a lot of chocolate in there. Yeah, is it mostly chocolates? Well candy bars and in America just chocolate There's different Reese's cups. Oh, yeah, that would be perfect. Yeah Butterfingers would be big butterfingers yeah I'm I'm thrilled for you this is gonna happen you think you know you got an album I would give back

two of my Grammys for a candy bar Lyle ice hear that? She'll give you both a Grammy if you give her an ice cream. It's not to be because it's so clever. This looks really nice. I hope it's quite good. I went quite heavy on the crumble. I went custard or cream. Do you want custard or cream? Ah, cream.

Okay, thank you. Thanks darling. I feel like, I mean, you're an incredible storyteller on a song, but also just meeting you here. You are too. Oh that's very kind, thank you. But I would love to know if you can rack your brains the best dinner party you've ever been to. Mmm.

And if you remember the food. The best dinner kids for the food. Would it be about the food or would it be about the company? Well I, maybe it's a bit of both. Maybe the food was not important. I had, it's just going to sound name-droppy and braggy. No. Let's do it. Dinner parties. I've had some great dinner parties. Oh, that's so exciting. Do it.

Yeah, I love a name-drop. Cav, what do you think is the best dinner party I've ever been to? I've had some pretty good ones. When you're rolling with Paul and Elton and Joanie. I think it would be with all them. Cav, you've had one with all of them in the room. Yeah, and Barna. What's he like? Oh, he's fun. He's great. God, he's crazy.

Oh, he has a drink and he's really fun. He actually encourages a lot. You know, I've always gone over my limit whenever I've spent any time with Bono. We must get Bono on the podcast. Yeah, and he's taken the time to like, he sends me beautiful messages and words when something hard happens in the US

because he knows I have a heart for displaced people. He sends me encouraging little things. He doesn't have to do that. He listens to my music. He, you know, we'll sit together at a dinner party cause all kinds of trouble and I just think he's Like magical and I love his wife Ali so much I want I want me and Katherine want to be Bono and Ali when we grow up. Okay This is do you remember the food that was fed to you? Or was it just drink?

You can't think of the food when Bono's there. Really? Yeah I remember a lemon cello. Oh does he keep his sunglasses on at the table? No actually yeah yeah actually he does now that I think you mentioned it I'm having a fuzzy memory of the sunglasses yes. before we let you go brandy back to Windsor. What is a nostalgic taste or Scent that can transport you some somewhere. Oh a nostalgic taste or scent that can transport me somewhere For me, it's gonna sound Generic but it's this it's the smell of the sea Because that can transport me out of one version of myself and into the other version of myself. Are you a big like, what's yours? I'm a Gemini.

Are you into, okay, I am not a Gemini, I'm a Libra. We're both Libras. You're both Libras. Well, the Gemini thing is that we're like two different people and that couldn't be more true for me. One part of me loves attention, loves being in a crowd, loves being very glamorous. I love champagne and you're like I like that I'm getting to wear Valentino to the Oscars. But the other part of me is just walks around in rain gear and fishing and working on dirt work machines and doing construction and has this like kind of connectedness thing. But the sea takes me out of a attention seeking part of myself and it really connects me to something

I think a little bit greater. So that's the sea. I wanna go to the sea now. You've really sold it to me Brandy. No, I love it. Do you need a picnic to take in the back of the car? I am absolutely stuffed. And like I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. It was delicious. Thanks the car. I am absolutely stuffed. Good.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. It was delicious. Thanks, you guys. Oh, you're so sweet. You're wonderful. I love the record. I'm thrilled that you got to do this. I know.

For the 12-year-old person. I just think it's magic. And I kind of feel like you could probably do anything that you put your mind to. So thank you so much, Brandy. That means a lot coming from you. You could too. Thank you. I'll try.

But I can't wait. And we're going to... I've got it in my diary. I want to come to the Royal Albert Hall. Please, please, please, we'd love to come. And you guys should keep doing this. It's really cool. Oh, we are.

Until I pop my clogs. Well, it's official. I'm completely in love with Brandy Carlile. That was such a lovely conversation and she's funny, generous, talented and tells a great story. I know. Candy Bar Lyle. Candy Bar Lyle. The best ice cream name. That was so good. And Ben and Jerry, if you don't do that, you're fools. You're fools. Fools to yourselves. Yeah. Thank you, Brandy, for coming on. Schlepping.

I mean, she's been doing schleps but I bet you the bed that she's going back to in Sir Elton's is so comfy do you think he's given her a key to get in do you think Elton said look let yourself in and make a cup of tea before you go to bed maybe like she's got somebody ready for a foot rub for her or something. I know. Anyway just amazing. Who Believes in Angels is out on the 4th of April. It's gorgeous. It's brilliant and just rousing and incredible and the songwriting on it is unbelievable and it's just so exciting to hear Elton John and Brandi Carlile singing together and creating together. So yeah, go and listen to it And also go and listen to Brandi's music. I mean you might be able to see her because she's just sold out the whole tour Yeah, because she's just like we'll get a ticket. Yeah. Yeah good. I'm I'm going off

It was a banging meal. I mean there's no buts. I thought it was delicious. Thank you mom Just what you need on a Friday night. It was delicious. It was a banging meal by the way. There's no buts. I thought it was delicious. Thank you, Mum. Just what you need on a Friday night. It was delicious. It was exotic and gorgeous. Really nice. Thank you. Thank you for listening and we'll see you next week. You