The Story was Brandi Carlile’s breakthrough second album, and the title track, written by her bandmate Phil Hanseroth, has turned up in numerous television shows and commercials. This covers album celebrates its 10th anniversary and benefits War Child, an organization that helps children who are victims of political conflict. Although Adele included the sparse “Hiding My Heart” as a bonus track on her own 21, most of these tracks were recorded specifically for this album. The Indigo Girls, who did the backing vocals on the original “Cannonball,” take the lead this time. Carlile herself sings backing vocals on Pearl Jam’s rave-up version of “Again Today” and on Torres’ delicate “Until I Die,” and she plays banjo on the Secret Sisters’ melancholy “Losing Heart.” There’s a strong country/bluegrass core on Dolly Parton’s stunning version of the title track and on cuts by Old Crow Medicine Show, Kris Kristofferson and Shovels & Rope, but stylistic coherence isn’t the point. Jim James turns “Wasted” into a reverb-drenched abstraction.
—Steve Klinge
