LOS ANGELES — Brandi Carlile already knew the women of L.A.’s Lucius were special when she brought them along to Joni Mitchell’s place in Bel-Air one night not long ago.
“Whatever that intangible thing is that a singer has that can grab you by the nostrils and make you pay attention — they’ve got it,” the Grammy-winning folk-rock star says of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who’ve performed with Carlile many times over the last few years, including just this month at the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Mitchell in Las Vegas.
Still, it didn’t hurt that evening at Mitchell’s — where Lucius was taking part in one of the private all-star “Joni Jams” she’s held occasionally since recovering from a 2015 aneurysm — to have her feelings confirmed by one Paul McCartney.
