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Dates Appearing: July 10 - 17 Current Release: A Place in the World Pets: Cal and Reilly, both Golden Retrievers Home: Princeton, NJ |
Multi-platinum recording artist Mary Chapin Carpenter has an array of achievements to be proud of these days. With over eight million albums sold world-wide, five Grammy Awards, two Country Music Association Awards, and a host of other honors, this singer-songwriter has steadily added to her credentials as shes appealed to an ever-growing audience. Her sixth album A Place In the World, features 12 new songs written by Carpenter and performed by members of her band and several special guests. Through relentlessly honest lyrics and a musical style that defies categorization, Mary Chapin continues to evolve as an artist, and to establish her place in our world.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey on February 21, 1958, and raised in New Jersey, Japan and Washington, D.C., Mary Chapin graduated from Brown University in 1981 with a B.A. degree in American Civilization. Following graduation she worked day jobs while performing in clubs around the Washington, D.C. area, and in 1985, landed a recording contract with Columbia Records in Nashville. In 1987, Hometown Girl, Carpenters critically acclaimed debut album, announced the arrival of a striking new voice in music. And, while her first album marked a professional breakthrough for the artist, it was her second release, State Of The Heart (1989), that launched Mary Chapin into the public eye for good. The album generated four successful singles (including How Do, Quittin Time, and Never Had it So Good) and paved the way for Mary Chapin to receive the ACM award for Top New Female Vocalist. Carpenters audience grew tremendously, and the recording was certified Gold by the RIAA.
1990s Shooting Straight In The Dark became Mary Chapin Carpenters first-ever Platinum record. With the infectious single Down At The Twist And Shout (recorded with the seminal Cajun ensemble Beausoleil.) Mary Chapin fortified her niche, and reinforced it with two career milestones: her first Grammy performance and her first Grammy Award, for Best Country Vocal Performance/Female. Mary Chapins strength as a songwriter was fully evident with the release of Come On Come On (1992). The triple-platinum CD spawned a remarkable seven hit singles, (including I Feel Lucky. Passionate Kisses, He Thinks Hell Keep Her, and I Take My Chances). Come On Come On ultimately scored five Top Ten hits, two Number One singles, six Grammy Nominations and three Grammy Awards. He Thinks Hell Keep Her was honored with a nomination for the prestigious Record of the Year Grammy. Her next album, Stones In The Road (1994), debuted at Number One on the Billboard Country Album chart and held that position for five consecutive weeks. The cds first single, Shut Up and Kiss Me went to Number One, and garnered Mary Chapins fourth consecutive Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance/Female. Stones went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Country Album (the first Award given in this new Grammy category,) firmly cementing Carpenters identity as a major force in American music. The album also marked a critical turning point in Mary Chapins career. The Boston Globe wrote that Carpenters music was a unique hybrid..a mix that happily transcends boundaries.
And now A Place In The World displays the full breadth and range of Mary Chapin Carpenters music, as she confidently navigates her terrain, from upbeat tempos to subtle ballads. Mary Chapins patented anthems of hope and affirmation emerge on the rocker Keeping The Faith, with its gospel-like background vocals, and on the Motown-flavored Let Me Into Your Heart which will also be featured in Tin Cup, Warner Bros. upcoming Kevin Costner/Rene Russo romantic comedy (set for release August 9th.) Characters in Mary Chapins songs may not always be in the drivers seat, but theyre not afraid to grab the wheel. The whimsical, in-your-face bluntness of I Want To Be Your Girlfriend signals a playful yearning. Raw honesty and assertive vulnerability permeate her music as well. Frustration is heard in the aches of I Can See It Now, and a defiant open-heartedness is revealed in Naked To The Eye. In Thats Real, Carpenter makes her plea for the kind of mature relationship that eludes so many of us, set to a musical backdrop that suits the intensity of the lyrics.
Mary Chapin continues to bear witness to the simple strivings and shattered dreams of her generation with Hero In Your Own Hometown, in which tales of small-town frustrations are juxtaposed by a driving, propulsive beat. In the gentle, flowing rhythms of Sudden Gift Of Fate, were reminded of lifes periodic graceful moments. Set to an elegant string arrangement, Sudden Gift of Fate conveys quiet joy. Loves redemptive power reigns triumphant in The Better To Dream Of You, set to the strums of a 12-string, Byrds-like guitar. Mary Chapin spirits us to Tuscany with What If We Went To Italy, a wistful reverie of civilized sensuality, with witty tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Inspired by the delicately powerful work of Joseph Cornell, the beautiful Ideas Are Like Stars, enters the splendid isolation of his world and art, exploring the connection between imagination and nature, the austere solace of creativity, Mary Chapin closes her new album with its haunting title track. Though not quite a coda, A Place In The World is distinct from the songs which precede it. Carpenter sings, quietly and soothingly, of the search for purpose and identity. In hushed vocals, she speaks on behalf of the voiceless and marginalized -- images evoked in earlier recordings such as I Am A Town and John Doe #24.
Mary Chapin Carpenter is a dynamic live performer, and her rigorous U.S. and inter- national touring schedule in 1995 garnered rave reviews. Following a local concert, The New York Times praised: the quality in Ms. Carpenters music that bridges con- ventional categories is a down-to-earth directness and rock-bottom honesty. Named as one of Amusement Business top 10 touring acts of 1995, Mary Chapin performed well over 100 concerts world-wide, and plans to tour as extensively for the new record. In addition to her work on A Place In The World, which she produced with long-time collaborator John Jennings, Mary Chapins schedule has already encompassed numerous concerts (with additional U.S. and World Tour dates to follow this summer and fall,) the release of a PBS documentary video celebration of her music, Jubilee: Life At Wolf Trap, and an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Brown University. Mary Chapins remake of John Lennons Grow Old With Me, from the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero, became a Top 20 hit at AC Radio this spring. Carpenters visibility and her role as a cultural figure in America have grown as well. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, instrumental and original versions of Why Walk When You Can Fly, the uplifting track from Stones In The Road, were heard during the airing of a retrospective film on the 1960 Rome Olympics. Shes also appearing in television spots for Major League Baseball, singing her version of Take Me Out to the Ball Game along with members of the Baltimore Orioles (be sure to look for a cameo by Mary Chapins beloved golden retriever, Cal, in these clips!)
Raising awareness on a variety of issues is a responsibility Mary Chapin takes seriously. Shes contributed an essay to A Voice Of Our Own: Leading American Women Celebrate the Right to Vote, a book commemorating the 75th Anniversary of womens suffrage. Mary Chapin has also written a childrens book. Dreamland (HarperCollins Childrens Books) is a gentle lullaby of a story, in which a good-night kiss sends a little girl sailing off to a magical place where children from around the world come to follow their dreams. Proceeds from Dreamland benefit The Institute for Intercultural Understanding. The book was inspired by a Carpenter song of the same name, which she contributed to the 1992 fund-raising releases Child of Mine: The Lullaby Video and Till Their Eyes Shine: The Lullaby Album. In addition to her written words, Carpenters deeds and special performances have made an impact. She regularly advocates on behalf of environmental causes, and has supported numerous national and local charities in the Washington, D.C. area; her extensive 1995 Stones In The Road Tour celebrated the 50th Anniversary of C.A.R.E.; shes been a supporter of a variety of human rights organizations, and has performed for Presidents Bush and Clinton.
When Newsweek Magazine described Carpenter as an Everywoman, a rare performer who is of her audience, not above it, they identified what is perhaps her most inviting quality; the lyrics in her songs seem like words we could hear ourselves speaking, and her music is a warm, familiar embrace. Mary Chapin has said songwriting is like trying to find my place in the world, to look at what Ive done wrong and what Ive done right. In musically articulating her own victories and struggles, she gives eloquent voice to all of us. And in doing so, Mary Chapin Carpenter helps us all in our quest to carve A Place In The World.
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