Mary Chapin Carpenter

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Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter.

Carpenter spent several years in Washington, D.C., before signing with Columbia Records in the late 1980s, who marketed her as a country singer.

Carpenter's first album, Hometown Girl in 1987, did not have any singles, although 1990's State of the Heart and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark each scored four Top 20 hits on the Billboard country singles charts. Come On Come On Come On Come On, Carpenter's best-selling album to date, sold seven charting country singles and was awarded a quadruple platinum in the United States for sales exceeding four million copies.

Stones on the Road (1994) and A Place in the World (1996), both of which had hit singles, and she followed it with Stones in the Road (1994) and A Place in the World (1996).

Carpenter's albums deviated both thematically and musically from her early career, becoming less accessible and more concentrated on social and political issues in the 2000s.

The Calling was a newspaper published in 2007.

She continued to perform The Age of Miracles (2010), Ashes and Roses (2012), and Orchestral's Songs From the Movie (2014). Carpenter has won five Grammy Awards, including the first female Country Vocal Performance Award, which she received from 1992 to 1995.

She has sold more than 12 million albums around the world.

Carpenter was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on October 7, 2012. Carpenter has appeared on television shows like Late Night with David Letterman and Austin City Limits, as well as on radio shows such as The Diane Rehm Show.

She also tours often, returning to Washington almost every summer to perform at Wolf Trap. She is a direct descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin, US Chief Justice John Marshall, and a fifth cousin of the late singer and humanitarian Harry Chapin (along with his brothers Tom and Steve).

Personal life

Carpenter was single for the bulk of her musical career. Entertainment Weekly referred to Carpenter as "a spokeswoman for the thirtysomething single woman" in a 1994 interview. She married Timmy Smith, a general contractor then living in Batesville, Virginia, on June 1, 2002. Sissy Spacek and singer Dave Matthews were at the wedding. The couple had been living on a farm outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, by 2007. Carpenter continued to live on the farm until the couple divorced shortly before the Ashes and Roses were released. Her divorce from Smith inspired her album "What to Keep and What to Throw Away" on her album.

Carpenter wrote a column in The Washington Times from December 2008 to March 2009, in which she covered topics relating to music and politics. This, as well as her involvement in various charities, was cited as an example of Carpenter's liberal leanings. She told The Buffalo News in 1995 that she identifies herself as politically liberal, but later stated that "it appears that the Republicans co-opted the entire country music scene." A large number of country artists, in fact, are Democrats."

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Musical career

Jennings had intended to sign Carpenter to an independent company, but a nightclub owner in Washington, D.C., sent some of Carpenter's demos to a representative of Columbia Records' Nashville division. This resulted in her signing with the brand in 1987, just two days before she was supposed to sign the new independent label. Hometown Girl, Columbia's debut album, was released in 1987. To avoid the possibility of her first name being referred to as only Mary, the label hyphenated her first name as "Mary-Chapin." She would continue to punctuate her name in this style until 1994. Carpenter wrote or co-wrote eight of the ten songs on Hometown Girl, out of ten. The two exceptions were "Come On Home" and a recreation of Tom Waits' "Downtown Train." She had also recorded John Stewart's "Runaway Train" with the intention of putting it on the record, but Columbia cut it out so Rosanne Cash could record her own version. Jennings performed guitar, synthesizer, piano, bass guitar, and mandolin on the album, while Mark O'Connor contributed on fiddle and Tony Rice on acoustic guitar. On a one-track note, pianist Jon Carroll added percussion by shaking a Cream of Wheat can. Although the album attracted increasing interest in the Washington, D.C. folk music scene, it did not produce any charting singles. Nevertheless, the album resulted in her being booked to appear at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in place of being an opening act for Emmylou Harris.

Carpenter wanted to make her next album more available to country radio after her first album's commercial failure. "How Do" debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for the first time in early 1989. State of the Heart, the song's lead single on Columbia's second Columbia album. Three more singles appeared on the album between 1989 and 1990. Carpenter wrote "Never Had It So Good," a song that Carpenter coproduced with Jennings. This was her first top-ten hits on Billboard by 1989. After it was "Quittin' Time" (co-written by Robb Royer and Roger Linn) and "Something of a Dreamer," Carpenter wrote by herself, Carpenter wrote "Something of a Dreamer." Carpenter's debut was "still in transition" between her debut's folk influences and her later albums' more mainstream country sounds, according to William Ruhlmann of AllMusic. In 1989, she was named top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music. "Quittin' Time" was nominated for the Best Female Vocal Performance at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1991.

Shooting Straight in the Dark, 1990, was her third Columbia album. Its first single appearance was "You Win Again," Carpenter's own composition. After it was a front page of Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps' "Right Now" we received, it was a back cover. On release, both of these cuts hit top-20 on Hot Country Songs. In 1991, "Down at the Twist and Shout" reached the top of the charts. Last night, "Going Out Tonight" was also a top-ten hit and was the best in the world. On "Down at the Twist and Shout," the Cajun band BeauSoleil accompanied Carpenter, while folk singer Shawn Colvin performed duet vocals on "The Moon and St. Christopher." On the "Right Now" page, Don Dixon played bass guitar and sang backing vocals, while Matt Rollings contributed on piano. Jennings also performed various roles as a producer and sang backing vocals. The Morristown, New Jersey Daily Record's Jim Bohen said the album was more upbeat than its predecessors, citing "You Win Again" and "Down at the Twist and Shout" as examples. The involvement of BeauSoleil and Shawn Colvin, according to Mike DeGagne of AllMusic, contributed to Carpenter's popularity; she also praised her songs on "Halley Came to Jackson" and her vocal performance on "What You Didn't Say." Carpenter received his first Grammy Award in 1992 in the category of Best Female Vocal Performance; the song was also nominated for Best Country Song that year. She received the Academy of Country Music's Top Female Vocalist Award the same year. In 1992 and 1993, the Country Music Association (CMA) named her Female Vocalist of the Year.

Come On Come On, Carpenter's fourth Columbia album, was also her most commercially profitable. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a decade after its inception in 1992, was named quadruple platinum, recognizing four million copies in the United States. It also registered a total of seven singles between 1992 and 1994. "I Feel Lucky" came in first place. On its first appearance on country radio, it reached the number four spot on Hot Country Songs. The song was also a crossover hit in Canada, with top-five on the country charts and number sixteen on the Adult Contemporary charts (both then released by RPM). "Not Too Much to Ask" was Joe Diffie's next release from the album. This was a recreation of Lucinda Williams' 1989 album "Passionate Kisses." Carpenter's version of the song reached number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Adult Contemporary charts, marking her first appearance on either. Carpenter appeared alongside Patty Loveless and Kathy Mattea in a television special on CBS titled The Women of Country in 1993.

"The Hard Way" was the next single off Come On Come On, followed by a cover of Dire Straits' "The Bug." "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" and "I'll Take My Chances" came after it was announced. Carpenter co-wrote "I Feel Lucky," "He Thinks He'll Keep Her," and "I Take My Chances" with Don Schlitz, and she wrote "The Hard Way" by herself. Carpenter was nominated for a number of Grammy Awards and nominations, as well as an honor from Come On Come On. In the category of Best Female Vocal Performance between 1993 and 1995, "I Feel Lucky," "Passionate Kisses," and "Shut Up and Kiss Me" received accolades, ensuring Carpenter won the award for the fourth year in a row. Come On Come On Come On Come On Come On Come On Come On, Like its predecessor, the program featured a bewildering array of musical collaborators. Shawn Colvin sang on "The Hard Way," "Passionate Kisses," and the title track, with the Indigo Girls also appearing on the former. In addition, Rosanne Cash performed vocals on "Rhythm of the Blues." Andy Newmark, a former Sly and Family Stone member, played drums on three tracks. According to Entertainment Weekly's David Browne, the album had more "edge and directness" than its predecessors, and that the lyrics had a theme of "people trapped between tradition and modern lives who're aware that the solution lies within their own inner resolve." Carpenter received the Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance in 1994, for "Passionate Kisses," the magazine was nominated by the same group for Best Country Song.

Carpenter in the Road introduced Stones in 1994. It was the first one to crack the Billboard Top Country Albums charts on debut. In addition, her lead single "Shut Up and Kiss Me" became her first number one on Hot Country Songs. The sequel to "When I Want to Be" reached the top of the charts, but the next two singles were less popular. "House of Cards" reached its high point at 21, while "Why Walk When You Can Fly" started at 21. She was the first woman to reach the top 40 percent of the charts. Stones in the Road was awarded a double platinum for American sales of two million copies. Carpenter wrote every song on the album by herself. Kenny Aronoff's drummer Kenny Aronoff and keyboardist Benmont Tench were among the contributing musicians. Both "Shut Up and Kiss Me" and "Tender When I Want to Be" were Trisha Yearwood's featured backing vocals, while Lee Roy Parnell played slide guitar on both the old and closing track "This Is Love." The title track was inspired by her memories of attending Robert F. Kennedy's funeral parade when she was a child. Thom Jurek, the artist of AllMusic, said that "Carpenter cut back on the number of hooks in her songs, resulting in a palette that needed closer listening to appreciate." He likened "When I Want to Be" to Bruce Springsteen's work, and compared it to "John Doe No. 5". "The End of My Pirate Days" and "The Conclusion of My Pirate Days" are "moodier" than her previous works. At the 37th Annual Grammy Awards, Stones in the Road received Carpenter her first Grammy Award for Best Country Album. "Shut Up and Kiss Me" received Best Female Vocal Performance at the same time, and was nominated for Best Country Song at the same time. When "He Thinks She'll Keep Her" was nominated for Best of the Year, she earned her first nomination outside of the association's country music categories this year.

Carpenter recorded "Dreamland" for a multi-artist album of lullabies in 1996. "Til Their Eyes Shine: The Lullaby Album" was Carpenter's debut in 1996. HarperCollins released the song's lyrics in a children's book of the same name the same year, with illustrations by Julia Noonan. All proceeds from the book's sales were donated to the Institute for Intercultural Understanding, a children's advocacy group.

A Place in the World, 1999's A Place in the World, her last studio album to be released in the 1990s was 1997's A Place in the World. As was the case with Stones on the Road, she wrote every song on the album by herself. Before the album's release, Carpenter told Russ DeVault of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she wished she had more time to record the album because she "likes to change stuff." The title track also referred to a "sense of identity" and a "search for fulfillment." "Let Me into Your Heart," the lead single on the country music charts, debuted at number eleven. Three singles were followed: "I Want to Be Your Girlfriend," "The Better to Dream of You," and "Keeping the Faith" were three of them, but these three were much less popular. "Let Me into Your Heart" received a Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance, her first in that category. The album "doesn't have the deep reflective rewards of Stones on the Road," Jurek said, "noesn't have the same kinetic appeal as Come On Come On." Despite this, he thought it was "well-crafted" and thought "Let Me into Your Heart" had influence on soul music. Carpenter said she began to feel "malaise" towards the end of her career after this album. As a result, she deliberately planned fewer touring dates in order to spend more time with family and friends. She also expressed dissatisfaction with A Place in the World, saying her bossed her into making a "commercially viable" album rather than allowing her to choose songs she wanted to hear rather than allowing her to choose songs she wanted to hear. As a result, she recruited Ron Fierstein, who was then serving in this capacity for Shawn Colvin. Fierstein was supportive of Carpenter's decision to slowed the rate of her career, and she was encouraged to concentrate on touring and choosing songs until she felt she was ready to make another album.

Party Doll and Other Favorites, her first best hits album, was released in 1999. Unlike most popular hits albums, this collection mainly consisted of live recordings curated from various concerts and television appearances throughout the 1990s. Carpenter and Jennings produced new studio recordings as part of the package, as well as new studio recordings made by Blake Chancey and Jennings. Mick Jagger's "Party Doll," from his 1987 album Primitive Cool, was covered in this video. "Almost Home" and "Where You Are," two of the new albums' "most People" and "Wherever You Are," were released as singles, with the former becoming her first top-40 country hit. Although Eli Messinger of Country Standard Time said that the more up-tempo songs such as "Down at the Twist and Shout" and "Shut Up and Kiss Me" showed "how much fun Carpenter can be," as well as the majority of her hit singles.

Time* Sex* Love*, her next Columbia album, was released in 2000. "Simple Life" lead single was responsible for her last chart appearance to date, peaking at number 53 on Hot Country Songs. The asterisks in the title, according to Carpenter, were an abbreviation of the full name: "Time is the greatest gift; sex is the equalizer; love is the great mystery." This was a warning that Jennings had to Carpenter when she said that the three concepts were all represented in the album's lyrical material. Carpenter produced the album at AIR Studios, a London studio owned by George Martin. Chancey and Jennings were both assisting in production duties once more. She wrote every song on the album, as well as Kim Richey, Gary Burr, and Jennings on specific tracks. She also said that rather than attempting to find songs that would be popular at radio, she decided to concentrate on making an album she loved. She toured in both the United Kingdom and the United States during 2000 and 2001, with Steve Earle accompanying her for the latter. "Finally recovered Carpenter" was removed from her country-inflected sound and ruminating on careers and careers from a distinctly middle-aged perspective," Erlewine said of the album. The album's producer, John Kenyon of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Gazette, thought it was well-produced but it was too long and lacking in musical variety. Carpenter underwent arthroscopic surgery for a knee injury and was therefore unable to attend the majority of the concerts while sitting. She also told Dave Scheiber of the Tampa Bay Times that although the album's songs were highly regarded in concert, she was dissatisfied with the lack of radio play and wondered if she really was a country artist.

Carpenter appeared alongside Emmylou Harris, Bruce Cockburn, and Patty Griffin in a benefit concert for Landmine Free World, a charity dedicated to raising the profile of landmines left behind in former war zones. This concert was held at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, North Carolina. Habitat for Humanity had her name as Chairwoman of their Build Project, which employed women to build houses for the homeless around the country. With her eighth studio album, 2004's Between Here and Gone, she came to an end. In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), she said that the title track was inspired by songwriter Dave Carter's death. Carpenter's other songs on the album were inspired by her emotions after the September 11 attacks. Carpenter deliberately wanted to find a different artist for this collection in order to achieve a different style. Though she picked session pianist Matt Rollings in this role, long-time producer John Jennings was also active on the project, with several instruments. Mac McAnally, Stuart Duncan, and Viktor Krauss were among the other musicians on the list. Donna Mintz, the album's front art, was painted by Donna Mintz, who gave it to her as a gift and said she often listened to Carpenter's albums for inspiration. The album was described as "a sophisticated yet very accessible recording, pleasing in its tempos, and in its lavish presentation," Thom Jurek of AllMusic said.

Carpenter left Columbia Records and signed with independent Zo Records, a Rounder Records affiliate, in 2006. The Calling, which was 2007's first appearance on the label, was her first appearance on the label. Despite the fact that it was not intended for any charting singles, the compilation reached number ten on Billboard's country albums charts, despite the fact that it came in at number ten. In 2007, it was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. She wrote the entire album by herself and co-produced with Rollings once more. Jurek said that the album had greater rock music influence than its predecessors due to the heavier use of electric guitar and drums, as well as the fact that she "has a hell of a way of seeing life from both directions." Carpenter was hospitalized for a respiratory embolism shortly after the album's debut, which caused her to cancel all concert dates this year. Following her release from the hospital on April 27, 2007, she released a statement on her website announcing that she was recovering and planning to tour again in 2008. She began working on Come Darkness: Twelve Songs of Christmas, her first album of Christmas music, after recovering from the embolism. In 2008, this was the first time we saw one. Carpenter covered tracks from Robin and Linda Williams' Red Clay Ramblers to this project. In addition to a number of songs she wrote herself, she also included carol "Once in Queen David's City" and the African-American spiritual "Children, Go Where I Send Thee." Jennings and Jennings decided to make the album "spare," and so did the majority of the songs with Jennings, who performed various acoustic instruments and tour keyboardist Jon Carroll on piano.

Throughout the 2010s, she continued to record for Zo Records, most notably with The Age of Miracles in 2010. Many of the songs on this album were inspired by her emotions after her embolism, as well as the effect it had on her touring and recording career at the time. She said that the track "Iceland" represented "losing and disconnection" she felt while hospitalized, and that closing track "The Way I Feel" was about "resilience" she felt after successfully recovering. Rollings produced and performed on piano and Hammond organ, while Dan Dugmore played steel guitar and twelve-string guitar. Alison Krauss and Vince Gill's duets were also included on the album. The album was described as "a literate and thoughtful collection of songs that refer to the themes of both love and intelligence with equal parts of compassion and intelligence," according to Mark Deming of AllMusic, although he wondered that it would not appeal to Carpenter's more up-tempo stuff, such as "Shut Up and Kiss Me." Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine was less positive about the album, praiseing the lyrics of the title track and "I Put My Ring Back On" but generally dismissing the album's sound as "a pedestrian, coffeehouse blend of hushed acoustic strumming." Carpenter performed "I Feel Lucky" at the Grand Ole Opry in July 2010, before going to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center to support The Age of Miracles. She toured around the country in support of this album from mid-2011 to mid-2011.

In 2012, Ashes and Roses followed Zo in Zo. The death of her father and her divorce from her husband inspired this album's songs. On the track "Soul Companion," James Taylor provided duet vocals. While applauding the use of Hammond organ and mandolin in the production, Jurek praised the use of Hammond organ and mandolin in this project as "the most confessional record of her career." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post wrote, "woeful and stunning coffeehouse folk songs, adorned with sparing, almost offhanded instrumentation that is often restricted to guitars and pianos." Keefe's involvement in the project was less favourable, with Carpenter's "hushed" vocal style and the lack of hooks. Songs From the Movie, a film by composer and conductor Vince Mendoza, was her next project. This was a series of orchestral re-recordings of existing songs from her catalog. She performed excerpts from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Scotland, following the album's 2014 release. Jeffrey B. Remz, who writes for Country Standard Time, felt that the album needed "a little more energy" and "veers more towards the valuable and pretty side, but that sometimes it's a little too much." Carpenter's touring program included a mix of orchestral performances from Songs from the Movie, as well as acoustic sets starring Jon Carroll, multi-instrumentalist John Doyle, and opening act Tift Merritt.

She began recording her next album in 2015 with production assistance from Dave Cobb after leaving the Zo label. This album, The Things We Are Made Of, was released in 2016 under Carpenter's own Lambent Light Records brand, with distribution rights available through Thirty Tigers. Cobb also performed guitar, Moog synthesizer, and Mellotron. The lead single was chosen from "Something Wild" by the author. Carpenter appeared on various dates throughout 2016, beginning with a concert at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in July. Carpenter said she intended for her vocal tracks to be "imperfect" and that she had trouble "relinquishing possession" of production duties. The songs were also inspired by her running her dog through the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to her. Prior to the album's introduction, NPR Streamed it online through its First Listen service. Cobb's portrayal as "elegant" and considered it well suited to Carpenter's voice, according to Scott Stroud of The Associated Press; however, Carpenter's lyrics were a "unexpectedly poignant turn of phrase," according to him.

Sometimes Just the Sky, a 2018 edition of Lambent Light, was next on the list. This collection featured re-recordings of tracks from each of her previous albums as well as the title song, the only original composition. In comparison to selecting all of the musicians except for Carpenter's touring guitarist Duke Levine, Ethan Johns produced the album. The musicians filmed the project at Real World Studios, which is owned by Peter Gabriel. She embarked on a tour in mid-2018 to promote the charity after its unveiling. She and Johns began working on another album as a result of this project. However, production was suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Carpenter began broadcasting acoustic performances online in response. In August 2020, Johns' second project, The Dirt and the Stars, was announced. She performed a 26-song solo acoustic set in 2020 and returned to the Wolf Trap for the second time. This set was released as an album and DVD collection titled One Night Lonely, which received a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album nomination. When COVID-19 prohibitions were lifted across the United States, she revealed plans to tour with Shawn Colvin in 2021. She cancelled these tour dates and did not return to tour until 2022 due to a shoulder injury, and did not begin touring again until 2022. A number of songs from The Dirt and the Stars have been included in her shows during this period.

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