This Empty Northern Hemisphere

In 2009 Brandi Carlile joined Gregory Alan Isakov in the studio to sing on five tracks of his album This Empty Northern Hemisphere. Their friendship in the previous year when he joined Brandi Carlile on tour as their opening act.

Isakov was born in South Africa and moved to the US when he was seven. He is now a long-term resident of Colorado and has joined the BC band on stage at Red Rocks on a few ocassions during the past decade. He opened for them in 2012 when the first headlined Red Rocks, and they collaborated on a show in 2015 with Anderson East. Most recently he was a suprise guest and joined them for three songs in 2023 on their second of two sold out nights. Brandi Carlile’s and Phil Hanseroth’s nephew JayJ joined them on stage playing mandolin.

In a 2013 interview when asked about future collaborations with Brandi Carlile he said:

Yeah, I’m planning on doing a little country record, almost like cowboy songs, with her. I’m hoping to go out to her house and get her to sing some stuff with me.

https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/10-questions-with-gregory-alan-isakov/

Pop Matters discussed one of the tracks on the album “That Moon Song”:

“That Moon Song” opens with automotive imagery, “the tail lights burn red / They were hotter than hell.” Again a nod to Springsteen’s own use of machinery and cars as symbols. Whereas Springsteen used cars to represent masculinity, Isakov avoids the pitfalls of gender stereotypes. “That Moon Song” portrays a spectrum of emotion, thereby challenging the linearity of masculinity. To even further remove the song from standard gendered construction, he relies on the formidable Brandi Carlile to provide the background vocals. She bestows the song with an ephemeral quality that acts as a counterpoint to Isakov’s raspiness.

https://www.popmatters.com/gregory-alan-isakov-10-songs-2611422721.html

The final track on the album was a cover of Leonard Cohen’s song, One of Us Cannot be Wrong.

The album is available in all formats including Brown Transulcent vinyl. It was reissued on Gold Vinyl in 2021.