- Cute couple alert right here.
(laughter)
Aw, look at you guys.
Such a big week for you, Brandi.
Six nominations, the most female nominated,
the most female nominations in a female,
how does that feel, representing the females?
- It feels amazing, I will never forget this,
I'll never forget what this experience
has done for my life and I'm gonna enjoy telling
my daughters about it for many, many years to come.
- I mean and it's crazy, if you are,
if you were to win Album of the Year,
you'll be the first openly gay artist.
That's gotta be so cool to have that.
- I didn't even know that. Now I'm actually freakin',
I didn't think I could freak out more,
but now I'm actually - Sorry
(laughter)
That's unbelievable. Representation is everything.
I would not be standing here right now talking to you
if it weren't for the Indigo Girls
and Elton John and Freddie Mercury
and Joan Armatrading and K.D. Lang
and the people that paved the way
for us in heartache and parody.
- Yeah.
Have you practiced your speech?
Or like what are you think, how are you kind of
preparing yourself for this night?
Because it's huge.
- I think I just did.
(laughter)
- Did you practice right now?
- Got anything?
- Do you want to practice?
- No, I don't want to jinx anything at this point.
(laughter)
- Obviously this is your seventh album
that has had such amazing feedback.
What do you think it was about this album
that resonated with your fans?
- When I decide to make this album with the twins,
the things we decided to write about
we knew that the country had changed,
that we all love.
And we knew we needed to examine, internalize
sexism, homophobia, racism, resentments
that we have.
People we haven't forgiven,
losses that we haven't reconciled,
and to do an album that just dug a little bit deeper,
and I think that the album's success
has more to do with the nation that we live in
and their willingness to receive what was being said,
than it does actually the work.
- How powerful is that for you
to be able to put that message out there?
- It's really powerful to have been a part of this time
in history and I think that in the last couple of years
this nation has awoken as a nation of activists.
- Yeah.
- That's the most exciting thing I've ever seen in my life.
- So cool.
We have to talk about Dolly Parton
because obviously we are here honoring her.
How has she influenced you and your career and your life?
- I mean, Dolly's everything. Dolly's everything.
I was 15 years old when I read Dolly's book
and I think she was the first country western artist
ever to come out and support LGBTQ people.
- Yeah she was.
- What that did for me as a 15 year old lesbian,
coming out of the closet in high school,
I could never tell you what she means to me.
- Have you met her before and have you had
that conversation with her,
because I feel like she would be,
she would love to hear that. You know what I mean?
- I've met her before and I'm quite sure
she thinks I'm crazy.
(laughter)
- Why? What did you do?
- You geeked out.
- I geeked out. I can't get it together.
I can't get it together.
- I think you sang at her.
- I probably sang, I probably jumped up and down.
It was bad.
- Do you think you'll be cool, calm, and collected today?
Like do you feel like, this is okay,
you've done it already before, you've got this girl.
- No, listen. I'm a fan you know.
I'm a stand outside your tour bus
and ask you for an autograph fan.
And honestly, I feel like if you aren't,
you have no business doing this job.
- Absolutely.
- Yeah.
What's your favorite Dolly song
and can you kinda sing it for me a little bit?
- I mean it could be,
♪ back through the years I go, wondering once again. ♪
Probably Coat of Many Colors - I love that.
- because I grew up so poor
and that song resonates with me so much.
- Yeah.
- My mom's here too.
- I need you to give us. Your mom's here tonight?
- Yeah, yeah.
- How is your family taking all of, I mean
- She's got the babies, grandma's got the babies.
- Grandma's got the babies. No, Mom's here tonight.
She's got the babies tomorrow night.
- Of course she is. Oh yeah. Oh no. Who's with the babies?
- Oh no. - I'm kidding.
- We forgot the babies. No we don't. (laughter)
- Where are the babies at?
- They're at the hotel.
- Do the babies understand at all what's going on?
- They don't care. No.
They would care a lot about your dress.
- Yeah, they'd love this. - They would love your dress.
- Alright, talk with them. - Yeah, yeah.
- You just had a song come out with Maren Morris,
very excited about Common.
How did that collaboration come about?
What was it like being, did you guys actually,
were you in the studio together?
- Me and Marren started communicating
as pen pals about feminism, unrelated to music.
- Love that.
And when Marren started working on the song Common,
she just said she heard my voice on it
and she asked me if I would do it
and I was instantly sold because I love Marren Morris
and I feel like she's revolutionary.
- Oh yeah. - Yeah.
- I think she obviously, 2018 was such a big year for her,
with the cross-genre thing with Middle.
Would you ever consider doing that?
Like do you like the idea
of collaborating with other genres?
Have you thought about it at all?
- I love that idea more than anything
because I love music so much.
I love country music, I love pop,
I love hip-hop and I love R&B.
I love Appalachian music and bluegrass.
I would love to collaborate with as many people
as possible because it just gets,
all those musical muscles flexed for me and I love that.
- Well this is the week to do it,
to make those connections - Grammy week.
Is there like one person that stands out,
that's kinda on your bucket list
of you'd love to make that happen?
- Bucket list?
- A bucket list of someone you want to work with.
- Dolly Parton, girl - That's true
- Dolly Parton.
(laughter)
- Make it happen. That's your homework today.
- Yeah, alright I'm on it. I won't be weird.
- She's, you got this, you won't be weird at all.
- No, I won't.
- You've to to pep talk her.
- I will, I will.
- What'd you say to her?
- Just be cool, Brandi, just relax. Be cool.
- Awesome. Congratulations on everything,
so, so happy to meet you guys and have so much fun.
Enjoy. (laughter) Bye guys.