I had a blast last week hanging out with Maple Valley singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile – the main attraction tomorrow night at the Triple Door – twin writing partners Tim and Phil Hanseroth and drummer Nathan Brown, who was actually auditioning for a spot in the band. (No word yet on whether he'll be on board tomorrow.) We munched on chicken satay at a restaurant near their rehearsal space in Ballard, covering everything from the making of Carlile's new album, "The Story" – due from Columbia on Tuesday – to fishing (one of Brandi's favorite pasttimes) and naked snow angels (don't ask.)

The funniest part of the whole experience involved Brandi's Doberman, Bailey, who was waiting in the SUV after the interview. Brown hops in the back seat and the pooch sticks its snount inches from his face, with teeth bared. The guy leans forward pretty quickly, as you might expect, and I'm wondering if he's about to lose an ear on the ride back to the practice space.

But Brandi reassures that Bailey is just "smiling." She proceeds to show us that she does it on cue and that she's actually figured that some people will pet her when she does this. Others are more likely to soil themselves. Weird. Hilarious. And I wanna kick myself for not getting a shot of this on my Treo. But I digress.

Anyway, all apologies for the grainy audio on Brandi's clips. It was my backup recorder. But the ones featuring the Hanseroth bros are a bit clearer since they're taken from phone interviews the day before.

And did I mention that the new album is great? I'm predicting a breakout year for the local girl.

Meeting Brandi (Tim)

Being a buzz band since Rolling Stone called Brandi one of 10 bands to watch (Phil)

Recording with renowned session drummer Matt Chamberlain (Brandi)

Canada conspires to stop the album (recorded in Vancouver) (Tim)

The video the band recently shot for “The Story” (Tim)