Brandi Carlile joins Rufus Wainwright for a track of his album Folkocracy, released June 2, 2023. The track is an old traditional Appalachian murder balled called Down in The Willow Garden about a strange man who poisons his girlfriend. The song was made famous in the early 70’s when The Everly Bros recorded a version.
The song, released on March 7, 2023 was the first track released off the album. Produced by Mitchell Froom, other artists on the album include John Legend, Maddison Cunningham, Susanna Hoffs and Chaka Khan and Sheryl Crow.
In Rolling Stone at the time Rufus and Brandi shared,
“I chose us a cheery little number — not! The song is so blatantly brutal and masochistic that I had to sing it with a woman. Sadly, we still live in a violent world,” Wainwright said in a statement. “The amazing thing about so many folk songs is that, content wise, they sound very contemporary. Think of the gun crime in the States right now.”
Carlile likened singing with her collaborator to “watching birds swirl around together instinctively in flight.” She added: “It’s anticipated but somehow as natural as can be. His voice is so special to me that I hear it sometimes when he’s not even singing with me.”
