Mary Chapin Carpenter was part of a small movement of folk-influenced
country singer/songwriters of the late '80s. Although many of these performers
never achieved
commercial success,
Mary Chapin Carpenter was able to channel her anti-Nashville approach into chart success
and industry awards by the early '90s.
Mary Chapin Carpenter was born and raised in Princeton, NJ, the daughter of a Life
magazine executive; she spent two years of her childhood in Japan, where her
father was launching the Asian edition of Life. During the folk explosion of the
early '60s, her mother had begun to play guitar. When
Mary Chapin Carpenter became interested in music as a child, her mother gave her a guitar.
Mary Chapin Carpenter played music during her high-school years, but she didn't actively
pursue it as a career. In 1974, her family moved to Washington, D.C., where she
became involved in the city's folk music scene. After graduating from high
school in the mid-'70s, she spent a year traveling Europe; when she was
finished, she enrolled at Brown University, where she was an American
civilization major.
Following her college graduation, she became deeply involved in the
Washington-area folk scene, performing a mixture of originals, contemporary
singer/songwriter material, and pop covers.
Mary Chapin Carpenter met guitarist
John Jennings during the early '80s and the pair began performing together.
Eventually, they made a demo tape of their songs, which they sold at their
concerts. The tape wound up at Columbia Records, which offered
Mary Chapin Carpenter an audition. By early 1987, the label had signed her as a
recording artist. Her first album, Hometown Girl, was released that year.
Hometown Girl and its follow-up, State of the Heart (1989), earned her a
dedicated cult following, as well as two Top Ten singles, "Never Had It So Good"
and "Quittin' Time." Country radio was hesitant to play her soft, folky,
feminist material, but she received good reviews and airplay on more progressive
country stations, as well as college radio. Shooting Straight in the Dark,
released in 1990, managed to break down a lot of the barriers that stood in her
way. "Down at the Twist and Shout" became a number two single and the album sold
well, setting the stage for her breakthrough album, 1992's Come on Come On.
Come on Come On signaled a slight change in direction for
Mary Chapin Carpenter -- although there were still folk songs, she felt freer to loosen
up on honky tonk and country-rock songs, which resulted in several hit singles.
Two of the singles from the album -- "I Feel Lucky" and "Passionate Kisses" --
hit number four, and "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" became her first number one.
Come on Come On would eventually sell over two million copies. Her fifth album,
Stones in the Road, released in 1994, concentrated on the folkier material, but
it was still a major success, selling over a million copies within its first six
months of release. Place in the World was released in October 1996, and Time*
Sex* Love* followed in spring 2001.
Mary Chapin Carpenter's tenth album, 2004's Between Here and Gone was produced with
pianist Matt Rollings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Mary Chapin Carpenter for your next corporate or private event.
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