Every once in a while I hear a voice, or a sound, or a musical arrangement that takes me completely by surprise. It takes me by surprise because it chips away at my foolish belief that I am absolutely certain about what kind of music I like and what kind of music I don't like; what kind of music makes sense to me and what kind of music leaves me baffled and impatient; what kind of music makes me hot and what kind of music leaves me cold. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised — after all, music is supposed to be unpredictable. It's supposed to be disruptive, provocative, and run counter to our expectations. Today's song does all those things for me because I never would have expected to find myself enjoying it quite so much, and returning to it for repeated listens on the podcast where I found it. A little bit of web surfing revealed a disappointingly slick-looking, and pouty pre-packaged pop star with a suspiciously spelled first name. But further investigation piqued my interest and convinced me that (at least) today's song was the real deal: full of interesting imagery, (im)perfectly appealing vocals and simple, stark guitar strumming. I don't know where 24-year old singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile is headed in her musical career, but she comes off sounding like someone who's got a pretty good idea. This song is from an early live ep. Her most recent release may be nothing but commercial, big-label crap. I doubt it, but then again, I've been wrong about music before… Today's Happy Medium Song of the Day is “Downpour” from the Brandi Carlile live ep, Live from Neumo's. (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)