Brandi Carlile | Emmy Way You Want It

Summary

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The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode Title: Brandi Carlile | Emmy Way You Want It
Date: September 17, 2025

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Overview

This episode features Stephen Colbert celebrating The Late Show’s recent Emmy win and interviewing acclaimed singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile. The discussion ranges from the joy and meaning of collaborative work, life on a family compound, Carlile’s fishing passion, her upcoming album “Returning to Myself,” and even the sweeter things in life—like a custom Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen Colbert Opens with Emmy Win and Signature Monologue

• Topic: Colbert jovially acknowledges The Late Show’s first Emmy in the Outstanding Talk category.
• Highlights:
  • Expresses deep gratitude to writers, crew, and especially the show’s audience.
  • Pokes fun at the rivalry and camaraderie among talk show hosts (notably Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel).
• Quote:

  "This award belongs to all 200 of the incredibly hardworking people who make this show...and to the audience...but I'm gonna keep it. If anyone so much as touches it, I will jab your eyes out with the wings right there."
  — Stephen Colbert (04:45)

2. Political Satire: Trump’s UK Visit and the State of American Politics

• Topic: Current events satire focused on Donald Trump’s trip to the UK, political protest, and recent controversies.
• Memorable Moments:
  • Colbert lampoons Trump’s association with the royal family and tabloid headlines.
  • Further digs at political statistics, referencing recent tragedies and political figures.
• Quote:

  "He is saying that 300 million Americans died of drug overdoses last year, when last year only 62 million people died in the entire world. Where the hell did he get those numbers? Out of JD Vance's stat crack?"
  — Stephen Colbert (13:54)

3. Brandi Carlile Interview: Fishing, Family, and “Returning to Myself”

a. Brandi’s Passion for Fishing

• Topic: Brandi reveals she’s an avid fisher, sharing stories about catching halibut and lingcod.
• Details: Describes fishing off the Pacific Northwest, and how it offers contemplative, mystical experiences.
• Charming Banter: Friendly competition with her wife, Scotch on the boat, and shared fishing dreams with Stephen.
• Quotes:

  "Some people catch one trout and that's it. The tug is the drug, man."
  — Stephen Colbert (17:36)
  "There's something really mystical about it... Trying to make contact with something that you can't see but that you believe is in there, you know?"
  — Brandi Carlile (18:19)

b. Life on the Family Compound

• Topic: Carlile recounts the intertwined lives of her bandmates and family, living together in a Pacific Northwest compound.
• Details: The group includes bandmates, sisters, and spouses—blurring the lines between personal and professional to cultivate a tight-knit, supportive community.
• Banter: Jokes about their “cult-like” family tree and plans for a communal log cabin dining hall.
• Quotes:

  "[Your] family tree looks like a braid."
  — Stephen Colbert (20:20)
  "You're making us sound like a cult. Or rather, you're revealing that we are a cult."
  — Brandi Carlile (20:22)

c. The New Album: “Returning to Myself”

• Topic: Brandi’s upcoming album, dropping October 24th, explores self-reflection after years of saying “yes” to every opportunity.
• Insights: She discusses the double-edged sword of musical collaboration and the importance of rediscovering her own voice.
• Quotes:

  "I just wanted to take all of them and say yes to everything and do all the collaborations... and so I think that I've forgotten a little bit what it means to sort of stand on my own two feet. And then I remembered again, and that's what the album's sort of about."
  — Brandi Carlile (23:19)

d. On Solitude and Authenticity

• Topic: How Carlile balances extroversion with the need for solitude, and how she integrates different parts of herself.
• Takeaway: Both her glamorous performer and “scotch drinking fisherman” personas are authentic, although rarely mixing.
• Quote:

  "Both things are really true...learning how to return to myself just means finding more ways to integrate those two really different sides... with other people around all the time."
  — Brandi Carlile (25:26)

e. Working with Elton John

• Topic: Last album project and friendship with Elton John, which reshaped her understanding of artistic authenticity and complexity.
• Insight: Elton’s multifaceted character (both “angelic” and “a beast in the studio”) deepened her appreciation for nuance in others.
• Quote:

  "I think I just believed my whole life he was just an angel...when we were in the studio, I realized that's not true. He's so much more...our friendship grew up over that project."
  — Brandi Carlile (26:18)

f. Sweet Dreams: Ben & Jerry’s “Candy Bar Lyle”

• Topic: Brandi pitches her dream Ben & Jerry’s flavor, inspired by loving candy bar mix-ins as a kid.
• Fun Surprise: Ben & Jerry’s custom-made a test pint for her, and Stephen brings it out on the show.
• Memorable Moment:

  "It added years to my life."
  — Brandi Carlile (27:50)
  "Returning to myself is available October 24th and Jerry. Wake up, Ben. It's time for this ice cream to exist."
  — Stephen Colbert (28:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the Emmy Win & Show Dynamics
  "This award belongs to all 200 of the incredibly hardworking people who make this show... and to the audience... but I'm gonna keep it."
  — Stephen Colbert (04:45)

• Fishing Revelations
  "The tug is the drug, man."
  — Stephen Colbert (17:36)
  "There's something really mystical about it, you know, it's like you're trying to make contact with something you can't see but that you believe is in there."
  — Brandi Carlile (18:19)

• Family Compound Life
  "Your family tree looks like a braid."
  — Stephen Colbert (20:20)
  "You're making us sound like a cult. Or rather, you're revealing that we are a cult."
  — Brandi Carlile (20:22)

• Artistic Self-Discovery
  "I think that I've forgotten a little bit what it means to sort of stand on my own two feet. And then I remembered again, and that's what the album's sort of about."
  — Brandi Carlile (23:19)

• Ben & Jerry's Flavor
  "It added years to my life."
  — Brandi Carlile (27:50)
  "Wake up, Ben. It's time for this ice cream to exist."
  — Stephen Colbert (28:30)

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Episode Segment Timestamps

• Emmy Win & Monologue: 03:56 – 15:10
• Brandi Carlile Interview – Part 1: 16:05 – 21:04
  • Fishing, family life, community
• Brandi Carlile Interview – Part 2: 22:40 – 28:54
  • Album discussion, solitude, Elton John, Ben & Jerry's moment

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Conclusion

This episode deftly blends celebration with introspection and light-hearted humor. Listeners are treated to Colbert’s trademark wit, a warm and revealing conversation with Brandi Carlile, and a delightful exploration of identity, creativity, and community. Brandi’s openness—about her music, family, love of fishing, and Ben & Jerry’s ambitions—makes this a memorable, relatable conversation, packed with laughs and moments of heartfelt authenticity.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, everybody. Stephen Colbert here about to read the copy for our sponsor. This is from our friends at Wonderful Pistachios. And I was the wonderful pistachio spokesman for years. Yeah, I have a real close association with nut meat. Okay. You know what they say when they reach for a snack? Don't hold back. And that's exactly the approach with Wonderful Pistachios. The don't hold back snack. These little wonders are so tasty, it feels like getting away with something. But surprise. Each serving has 6 grams of protein and 0 grams of regret. That's right. No guilt. Just glory, glory in our nuts. Whether it's a satisfying crack of in shell pistachios, and that's capitalized in shell, or the smooth, instant gratification of no shells. No judgment. That's just it. Just eat. No judgment. I take issue with one thing. It's instant gratification. It's super tasty smooth.

[Brandi Carlile]

It's a hard nut smooth.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. I mean, even out of the shell, it's still a nut.

[Brandi Carlile]

We can't disparage the nuts. You.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not disparaging the nut. I'm describing the nut.

[Brandi Carlile]

Don't disparage any flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm not. I am celebrating the pistachio right now. I'm on board. I love pistachios. I love a crushed pistachio. Like a pistachio crusted trout. Oh, unbelievable. Instead of a trout amandine, a trout pistachio. Fantastic. Enough butter? Who cares?

[Brandi Carlile]

Very good.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I love pistachio ice cream.

[Brandi Carlile]

Have you had the sea salt and vinegar? Wonderful pistachio. It's delicious.

[Stephen Colbert]

I didn't even know I get them.

[Brandi Carlile]

Before the softball games.

[Stephen Colbert]

But that's. You see, it's been a while since I've been the spokesman for wonderful Pistachios. I didn't realize we'd achieved new pistachio technology.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Wonderful pistachios has every snack style covered right now. There's an obsession with jalapeno lime. There is an obsession session. It's almost a disorder. It's spicy, it's zesty. It's basically a flavor roller coaster in a nut. Snacking on the go. Grab a bag of no shells. Feeling contemplative and want to work for it a little. So earning it, they're saying, if you want to earn your nut, crack open those in shell beauties. Either way, it's snacking like a champ. So the next time hunger strikes, don't hold back. Unless it's a hunger strike, and then it's important that you do. Because whatever you're doing that for, I'm sure it's a worthwhile cause. Snack like you mean it with wonderful pistachios. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more.

[Brandi Carlile]

That was a wonderful.

[Stephen Colbert]

I wonder what more there is to learn. We just told them so much. We just told them so much about pistachios. But evidently there's a whole other world. There's an unexplored vista.

[Brandi Carlile]

They got a bunch of flavors. They got dill pickle, jalapeno lime, as we learned, smoky barbecue. There's a lot of different flavors.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. And I would not disparage any of them.

[Brandi Carlile]

No, no, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

Bring it on.

[Brandi Carlile]

Nothing bad to say.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nut me, nut. Nut me with nut meat.

[Brandi Carlile]

We're nut.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, we got nothing but nut. Nutty, nutty, nutty, nutty. Talk about, talk about, talk about, talk about nutty. Good.

[Brandi Carlile]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Thanks, everybody. Please have a seat. Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, one and all. Welcome to the Late show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. I'm sorry, I meant to say welcome to the Emmy winning race show. Thank you very much. Very kind. Thank you very much. Hello. Thank you very much, everybody, please, because. Because on Sunday night. On Sunday night, we won our first Emmy for outstanding talk man. I'm telling you, we should have gotten canceled years ago. This award. I'm sorry. Let me have that. Better there, Marcus. This award belongs. This award belongs to all 200 of the incredibly hardworking people who make this show. First and foremost, the writers of this show. Who. That's right. That's right. Every day.

[Brandi Carlile]

Come on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Every day. Who? They take down everything I say during the show just so that there's a script at the end of the night as a souvenir for everybody. It's incredible. They do it every day, but they don't do it alone. The stage crew, production staff, talent segment editors, the band, hold field, control room, props, graphics, research footage, digital accounting, legal, wardrobe, makeup, security, maintenance, assistants and interns. And. And of course, the audience department who Let in all of you gorgeous people every night because you, you, the audience, you people here, you people out there, you are the ones who ultimately make this show possible. So this belongs to you too, but I'm gonna keep it. And if anyone so much as touches it, I will jab your eyes out with the wings right there. I just go and pop them out like I'm pitting an olive. Okay. I'm so grateful to everyone at the Academy who voted for us and to the Emmy producers for the flattering lighting that made me look so much younger on Sunday nights. And I want to toss a bouquet of admiration to the other nominees in our category. My dear friends, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmel. These two fellows, old friends, unbelievably talented. So lovely. Just, just two princes. Kimmel even put up a four year consideration billboard. And this is real. That said, I'm voting for Stephen. That is so nice. That's so nice. That is loveliest classic. You know what? Fair is fair to pay him back next year. I'm going to do the exact same thing. Speaking of Emmys, Donald Trump doesn't have one. Also right now, right now, he's out of the country, making his second state visit to the uk. But for a state visit, Trump's going to be keeping it surprisingly low profile. He's going to be at Windsor Castle behind closed doors, far from massive planned protests and without delivering a traditional address to potential critics in parliament. In fact, he's so unpopular over there that on the Windsor Castle grounds, and this is true, protestors laid out this colossal banner of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. That is huge. Did you see how big that is? What are they going to do with it? After Trump's state visit? Children, we have a donation of a very unfortunate parachute for today's gym class. Oh, no. Get out of there. Get out of there now. Instead, Trump will be visiting the royal family, including King Charles. I cannot wait to see those two together. So, Charles, let me get this part straight. You cheated on your ex wife with an older woman? Is that, is that even legal? Is that like driving on the wrong side of the road? Trump's very excited about meeting the King. It's an honor to have Ms. King. And you know, he's. I think he represents the country so well. I've watched. He's such an elegant gentleman. He's such an elegant gentleman with his top hat and his monocle and his little cane. Nope, wait, that's Mr. Peanut. Hold on. Oh, God, who did I just eat? While Trump is over there, he'll be treated to an opulent banquet in Windsor Castle and a carriage ride through the grounds of Windsor Castle. Oh, the pageantry. He's just like Cinderella. But good luck slipping the glass slipper on those cankles. Now then, after the dinner after Windsor Castle, he gets to go to the Star wars experience and buy a custom lightsaber. Now the visit is officially to discuss trade, or as the White House put it, to highlight and renew the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. Yes, the special relationship, which is hard to define, but I think it looks a little something like this. That's it right there. With this trip and this particular trip to the. How we doing? A little over a little bit. With his trip to the UK Trump gets a much needed break from the hard work of going after anyone who dares criticize him about anything. We learned today that Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Times for $15 billion, which explains why today's Wordle was a hole. Trump got it in four. Got it in four. Trump was also using the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk to go after folks who disagree with him. Before the FBI even had a suspect, Trump blamed the radical left. And since then, he and his allies have sought to link the murder without evidence to coordinated left wing terror movement funded by progressive and liberal charities. Yeah, at this point, you have to assume that all charities are fronts for terror and they try to get away without getting caught. That's why the meals are on wheels. Just listen. Just listen to JD Vance yesterday. While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fake that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left. And it is a statistical fact that J.D. vance yanked that statistic right out of his stat crack. And they don't, they don't want you to know that he's making this kind of stuff up. In fact, over the weekend, the Department of Justice deleted a study showing that domestic terrorists are most often right wing. But, but RFK Jr says that what really killed the study was the measles vaccine. One Trump lackey's job might get deleted in the wake of this terrible assassination because according to Fox News, knives are out for embattled FBI Director Kash Patel. In fact. And is this true? We have a photo of Patel seeing that headliner folks are mad at Patel on both sides of the aisle simply because he sucks at his job. For instance, last week, okay, this terrible thing happened. He prematurely announced on social media that the FBI had nabbed the suspect, which they had not. And then we learned that as the hunt for Charlie Kirk's assassin unfolded, Patel posted that series of bungled tweets from Rao's, one of New York City's most exclusive Italian restaurants. I'm told we also have a photo of Patel learning that he messed up. Look at that. Yesterday, Trump also announced that the United States had sunk a second Venezuelan boat. Trump was asked, they did1like2weeks ago and then another one last week. Trump was asked about one of the two sinkings this weekend, and he defended it like this. What's illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country. And the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs. That's what's illegal. I hope I. I hope that's illegal because that's a lot of people. In fact, it would mean nearly 90% of the current US population of about 340 million people died from drug overdoses last year, which would explain why we appear to be in hell. We're all dead and we're in hell right now. But I. I found an ang.

[Brandi Carlile]

To.

[Stephen Colbert]

Put that level, to put that level of dumb into perspective. He is saying that 300 million Americans died of drug overdoses last year when last year only 62 million people died in the entire world. Where the hell did he get those numbers? Out of JD Vance's stat crack? It is a statistical fact. The US Government has so far provided zero evidence that the boats they blowed up real good were carrying drugs. Might have been, but we don't know. But it's having an effect. As the President told reporters, there are very few boats out in the water. There are not a lot of boats out on the water. I can't imagine why. Not even fishing boats. There's nobody. Nobody wants to go take a fish? Yes, Nobody. Meanwhile, I drank a lot of Diet Coke today and I gotta go take a fish right now. And that's what it's called. That is what it's called when you pee and a little fish comes out of there. We got a great show for you tonight.

[Brandi Carlile]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen, you know my first guest as an 11 time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter who has also won two Emmy awards and is a New York Times best selling author. Please welcome back to the Late show, Brandi Carlile. Hey.

[Brandi Carlile]

Hi.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nice to see you again.

[Brandi Carlile]

It's nice to see you too.

[Stephen Colbert]

You know, I've had the pleasure of talking to you many times on stage and off, and I just learned something about you today that I did not know before is that you are an avid fisherman.

[Brandi Carlile]

Avid.

[Stephen Colbert]

I did not know this. Look at this. Look at you hauling in this halibut. That's a hell of a halibut right there. What'd that thing weigh at? You got it on the. Gotta be a 40 pound halibut.

[Brandi Carlile]

Oh, well, 25.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Brandi Carlile]

That was my first one of the.

[Stephen Colbert]

Season of this past season. Just now.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah. Halibut season. In May.

[Stephen Colbert]

In May. Up. Where are you fishing?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, I live in the Pacific Northwest, so that's gonna be like. That's gonna be on the peninsula, the Straits of Juan de Fuca, right offshore in the Pacific.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. And here you are. This is. What is this, a big cod?

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, that's a lingcod. That's April.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's your wife Katherine right there.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, that's lingcod season.

[Stephen Colbert]

Does she like fishing as much as you do?

[Brandi Carlile]

She does like it. She's competitive about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right, most importantly, how long is this? How long you been fishing?

[Brandi Carlile]

Oh, I mean, probably since I was 6 or 7 years old. You know, my dad took me trout fishing. Some people, it's like you're like this. I think you are.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Brandi Carlile]

Some people catch one trout and that's it.

[Stephen Colbert]

I was it. I went fishing a kid with my dad.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the tug is the drug, as we say. The tug is the drug, man.

[Brandi Carlile]

The tug is absolutely.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is it. What do you love about fishing?

[Brandi Carlile]

I mean, there's so many things I love about it. It's really contemplative time for me. I like. It's like Gemini Energy it's different than my job. And pretty.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm sorry, what's Gemini Energy?

[Brandi Carlile]

It's where like one person wears a suit and tie every day and then the other person is just like salty scotch swilling fisherman.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure. And that's actually, I want to point out in this photo of you with.

[Brandi Carlile]

Your wife, you've got an awful lot.

[Stephen Colbert]

Of almost empty bottle of scotch in your hand. Don't zoom in, don't zoom in. You gotta stay hydrated out there.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, that's really specific. Yeah, I mean, I just think that there's something really mystical about it, you know, it's like you're trying to make contact with something that you can't see but that you believe is in there, you know?

[Stephen Colbert]

Right. I like. Cause it takes imagination. You've gotta put yourself down that line to where the hook is and imagine what this experience is like for. For that fish.

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, have you ever wanted to send down a camera?

[Stephen Colbert]

I have.

[Brandi Carlile]

You've done it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, Yeah. I had this thing. I forgot what it was called. A friend gave me one of these things, and you could run it down so that when it was always recording, but it would record and dump and record and dump. But if you got a strike, it would keep recording. So you could see the strike on the end of the hook. Yeah.

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, it's going to really help you learn how to set the hook. Not too early and not too late, right?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, Yeah. I know what I'm getting you for Christmas.

[Brandi Carlile]

But my dream, My dream is to take you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I would love to go out. Please, let's go. I would go in a minute.

[Brandi Carlile]

I really.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm free in June.

[Brandi Carlile]

Salmon fishing, June 1st.

[Stephen Colbert]

Done. Yeah, done. Thank you. Wow. So the boat is called the name of it.

[Brandi Carlile]

You're actually not going to believe this because you're a major Elton John fan too, right?

[Stephen Colbert]

Of course. Yeah.

[Brandi Carlile]

It's called the Captain Fantastic.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[Brandi Carlile]

And I have the font from the.

[Stephen Colbert]

Captain Fantastic from the album, the brown.

[Brandi Carlile]

Dirt cowboy purple font and everything.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that's nice. Not everybody gets that.

[Brandi Carlile]

No, it's just gonna be me and you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. Okay. So you live up in Washington State. Pacific Northwest, we'll say, but Washington State. Your situation up there is this big family compound.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who walls on it?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, the twins in my band for 25 years. And, you know, we all married each other's siblings and stuff.

[Stephen Colbert]

So, like, one of them married your sister and one of them married your wife's sister?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, yeah, both my wife's sisters are married. To people who live on the compound and work for my band.

[Stephen Colbert]

So your family tree looks like a braid.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah. You're making us. You're making us sound like a cult. Or rather, you're revealing that we are a cult.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly. Or a summer camp.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

Exactly.

[Brandi Carlile]

No, it's very much a summer camp.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Do you have a place for y' all to eat together?

[Brandi Carlile]

Actually, we're in the middle of building, like, a log cabin for us all to eat together in. Because we all started having so many kids, we outgrew each other's houses.

[Stephen Colbert]

Brandi Carlisle, I knew you were talented. No one told me you were fun. You're a lot of fun.

[Brandi Carlile]

I am pretty fun. I think we would have a lot. We can have a lot of fun together. Starting in June.

[Stephen Colbert]

Done. All right, we have to take a quick break. We're right back with more Brandi Carlisle, everybody.

[Brandi Carlile]

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[Stephen Colbert]

We're back with Brandy Carlisle. The new album comes out on October 24th, called Returning to Myself. Twenty years after your debut album, Brandy Carlisle, what's that title mean to you?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, it was something I wrote as a poem to start the album when I didn't even know I was starting the album. But, you know, listen, when my album, by the way, I forgive you did so well, you know, I wasn't, like, very young. I'm one of those people that kind of broke through, like, at, like, 40, you know? So it's been this thing where I had all these opportunities just come at me over the past five or six years, and I just wanted to take all of them and say yes to everything and do all the collaborations and start all the country bands and just do all the things, you know? And so I think that I've forgotten a little bit what it means to sort of stand on my own two feet. And then I remembered again, and that's what the album's sort of about.

[Stephen Colbert]

You have done extraordinary collaborations.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But returning to being on your own two feet. How do you feel about being alone? Are you lonely when you're alone?

[Brandi Carlile]

I just won't be alone. I'm not having it. I'm just not. I'm not an alone person. Are you?

[Stephen Colbert]

I like to be alone sometimes, but I enjoy humans.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, me too.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, they fascinate me.

[Brandi Carlile]

I think the key is to be alone when you're with people so that you can sort of, like, be yourself and you don't acquiesce to the situation and feel like. Well, I was gonna say feel like you need the host. You know, learning to be with people and still just kind of center yourself, even if it means you don't want to talk or something. That's probably something you're gonna have to relearn how to do.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm fine with not talking when I'm not getting paid for it. When do you feel most like yourself? Because as a performer, I don't know if you actually have. You don't have, like, a performance Persona, but people have a performance energy. And so that's like, for me, at least, even though I'm supposedly myself right now, I'm about one and a half times in terms of my energy right now.

[Brandi Carlile]

Sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

When do you feel like. No, this is Brandy?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, both things. I mean, this is gonna sound like a cop out. Both things are really true, though. Like, I really am a Gemini, where I really do love to be glamorous and put on a suit and tie and drink a glass of champagne and have a handful of rings and sing big songs. I love that. That's who I am. But then when it's not, I'm a scotch drinking fisherman covered in slime on a fishing boat and thinking, this is brandy. So both things are really true. They very rarely find opportunities to mix.

[Stephen Colbert]

I was gonna say, do those people agree with each other?

[Brandi Carlile]

I don't, but they really do both exist. So at both times, I feel like I'm being fully myself. And learning how to return to myself just means finding more ways to integrate those two really different sides, you know, with other people around all the time. Like, I like it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I wanna ask you about one of your collaborations. Last time you were here, you were here with Sir Elton John.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Which was an honor to have him here and a ton of fun.

[Brandi Carlile]

That was really cool, you and I.

[Stephen Colbert]

To double team him like that. Exactly. Your last album before this one was a joint album, was a joint project with him called who Believes in Angels? What's he like in the studio? What's that collaboration like?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, he's mind blowing because he's probably the greatest living composer. And this formidable energy comes out of him in many different ways. And it can be really loving and really creative. It can be really harsh. And so my love for him, you know, I idolized him my whole life, like you have. And I think I just believed my whole life he was just an angel, just walking around in a white robe, just this glowing angel of a man. And when we were in the studio, I realized that that's not true. And he's so much more than that and so much more complicated than that. So our friendship grew up over the course of that project. But also the way I look at other people grew up, you know, that we aren't all one way. And we have dark energy and really beautiful energy. And when they collide, that's what angelic is to me now. So in the studio, he can be a beast.

[Stephen Colbert]

Gotta get it done. We at the Late show, we're big fans of Ben and Jerry's around here. And I have a flavor. I have the flavor right here. This is called that's Americone Dream.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yes, it is.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right there. That's my flavor right there. But I understand you have an idea for a flavor of your own.

[Brandi Carlile]

I love Ben and Jerry's. Sure, sure. And I do have an idea for a flavor of my own inspired by, like, my love of crushed up candy bars and ice cream as a kid. Yeah, I just thought with my name, it's like, why not have a candy Bar Lyle Ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you told this to Ben Jerry's?

[Brandi Carlile]

I maybe relentlessly have told that to Ben and Jerry's.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I understand that they made up one.

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, very kindly. They made up one for me and brought it to me and let me taste it and see my name on a Ben and Jerry's.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like a test pipe. A pint.

[Brandi Carlile]

Oh, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[Brandi Carlile]

It added years to my life.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right. Is it gonna. Is it any word? Is it gonna move forward or anything like that?

[Brandi Carlile]

Well, I mean, who doesn't want a candy bar, Lyle, ice cream? But I don't think so. I think they just did it for my little heart, like, just to make me happy.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, we wanna make you happy, too. So we reached out to Ben and Jerry's and they sent us. They sent us. They actually sent us the pint and they sent us the recipe.

[Brandi Carlile]

No way.

[Stephen Colbert]

And so we made up a pint of candy bar Lyle.

[Brandi Carlile]

Oh, my God, there it is. Are we getting into it?

[Stephen Colbert]

Shall we?

[Brandi Carlile]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Returning to myself is available October 24th and Jerry. Wake up, Ben. It's time for this ice cream to exist. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. Meet Dan.

[Brandi Carlile]

Hey, how's it going?

[Stephen Colbert]

Dan has big life goals. I'd love to own a home one day. Numerica Credit Union is the perfect partner to help make Dan's goals come to life.

[Brandi Carlile]

They are?

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. We help you manage your money with confidence, using tools and guidance tailored to your goals. So whether you're building breathing room into your budget or saving for your dream home like me, Numerica is there every step of the way because your goals and your life matter. Numerica Credit Union money where it matters. Federally insured by ncua, Tulsa is my home now. Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount plus original series, Tulsa King. His distillery is a very interesting business. And we got to know the enemy from Taylor Sheridan, co creator of Landman. What are you saying? I'm all right. If you think you're going to take me out, it's going to be really difficult. Tulsa King new season streaming September 21st, exclusively on Paramount Plus.