Oh dear. A rush of goosebumps, the welling of tears in the eyes. That moment when you become aware of a special connection between you and a song, and all external noises and worries go quiet. That moment when every ounce of focus – heart, soul and mind – is between you and the song, and you have the sublime pleasure of reveling in its beauty.

This a capella performance of “Oh Dear” by Brandi Carlile and her band worked that magic on me when I watched this ACL performance sometime last year. Everything about it is perfect to me: all the harmony parts, the placement of each character in the group, Brandi’s animated expressions… and – her VOICE. Oh dear oh dear. The pristine falsetto, the inflections, and the purity.

This simply knocked me out.

(ACL has wiped this video clean from the internet. I’ll get it back up if I find it!)