Singer Carlile releasing the story within

With Brandi Carlile, there's "The Story." And then there's "The Story."

And, of course, the story.

Let's start with "The Story," the song — it's a breathtaking showcase for this Maple Valley singer's rare talents. The song starts out nicely and easily enough, a sweet folk song, with gentle acoustic guitar and Carlile singing, "It's true, I was made for you." Then, at the 1-minute mark, the music kicks up to rock levels, and Carlile's vocals start climbing like a Blue Angel jet.

After those thrilling vocals, "The Story" mellows out a bit, and seems to be headed for a soft landing as a nice pop rocker.

Then, at 2:53, Carlile takes a deep breath and starts wailing, "all these lines across my face."

After this stunning scream-singing — imagine Janis Joplin, but with a prettier voice — the song again downshifts. Near the 4-minute mark, the music drops out and Carlile rises a few octaves to close the song with a beautiful, soft, "It's true, I was made for you."

Many careers were launched on lesser songs, and the spine-chilling notes of "The Story" just might win Carlile thousands of new fans in the very-near future.

"The Story" was the song of the week on iTunes in mid-March, and Carlile will sing it on various TV appearances in coming weeks, notably "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Wednesday, "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on April 27 and the "CBS Early Show" on May 19.

Now on to the album. "The Story" goes up for sale on Tuesday. This is the follow-up to "Brandi Carlile," her buzz-making (she was tabbed by Rolling Stone as one of "10 Artists to Watch") debut on Columbia Records. Sales and interest in the "Brandi Carlile" album were pumped up by use of three of its songs on "Grey's Anatomy," and Carlile and bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth — they're twins, Tim plays guitar, Phil bass — spent months on tour.

Late last year, the singer and the twins went into the studio with none other than T Bone Burnett, a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, the Wallflowers, Roy Orbison and Tony Bennett.

Producers are known for pushing buttons and turning knobs. Burnett really pushed Carlile's buttons on the title song.

"We played the song a few times," Carlile related recently, "and T Bone was back in the control booth, playing video poker. I went over and asked him what he thought, and he just said, 'You shouldn't play acoustic guitar on that. It sounds like you're not listening — your guitar is distracting you.'

"That really [made me mad], because I've been playing this song for years, and I always play guitar on it ... "

Not by any means convinced, Carlile decided to try it his way. Putting her guitar aside, she again did the vocals — and, fueled partly by the rage she was feeling at the producer, nailed it.

Carlile recorded in Vancouver, B.C., with the twins and drummer Matt Chamberlain, an in-demand Seattle drummer who has played with everyone from Pearl Jam to Tori Amos. "I feel like Matt contributed as much to the recording process as me ... I've had some of these songs for the better part of a decade, but playing with somebody like Matt breathes new life into them."

And then there was Burnett, a wily guru, not shy about his opinions. "Sometimes he was a jerk about my guitar playing. Sometimes he was wrong, sometimes he was right," Carlile says.

So in her opinion, how'd the record turn out? Jumping forward in her chair, the slim brunette says, "It sounds exactly like what I wanted. I made the record I wanted to make since I was a teenager."

The easygoing Carlile said she didn't get any pressure from Columbia Records to try to fit into one genre or another. Perhaps sensing she's a wild filly, Columbia let her run wild on "The Story," and the album is a bold one, genre-skipping recklessly, from country/Americana to pop-rock to blues/gospel.

"The Story" is only part of the Carlile story. It's been a whirlwind couple of years, signing to Columbia, TV appearances, touring nationally, meeting and playing with her heroes.

One tour stop was at Eddie's Attic, a small club in Atlanta where the Indigo Girls launched their career. "Before the show, I was talking to Eddie [Owens], the owner, and I said 'I'm so excited to be playing where the Indigo Girls started out.' He laughed and pointed to a table near the stage that had a 'reserved' sign on it."

The table was reserved for Indigo Girl Emily Saliers, who had heard Carlile's music and wanted to check her out. After the show, Saliers told Carlile how impressed she was, and Carlile had her autograph that "reserved" sign.

"I have it with me," Carlile says, reaching into the back pocket of her jeans. "Who would have thought that? I've been going to Indigo Girls since I was 15 ... "

Saliers and Amy Ray were so impressed with 25-year-old Carlile, they had her sing on "Last Tears," a song on the Indigo Girls' 2006 album, "Despite Our Differences."

In turn, the Indigo Girls make a guest appearance on "The Story," singing with Carlile on "Cannonball."

Earlier this month, Carlile had the kind of evening she pines for, when she's on the road. As she does a few times a week, she drove up to Seattle, first hitting B&O Espresso on Capitol Hill, where she met an interviewer and indulged in one of her favorite beverages, a hot apple cider with whipped cream. (It tastes like liquid pumpkin pie.) After that, she, her mother (also a singer) and a friend dined at a modest Greek restaurant on Broadway Avenue that Carlile loves.

Soon, Seattle and Maple Valley will disappear in the rearview mirror of a touring bus. After "listening party" shows at the Triple Door tonight (Carlile will play a few songs, chat with fans and autograph CDs), she begins a tour that will keep her busy for months. (She returns to play the Moore Theatre on June 1.)

"The hardest thing about being on the road is not being with my animals," she says, referring to her dog, cat and horse. But her biggest professional challenge might be saving her voice. She lets it all hang out on a few songs, notably "The Story," which everyone wants to hear when she does radio and TV shows. "That scream is going to kill me," Carlile said with a grimace.

The bottom line on "The Story," and "The Story" and the story: Carlile is putting it all on the line in 2007. "I've been holding on to these songs for so long, putting it on record is scary — like letting go."

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com