Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Mary Chapin Carpenter in Session

Bob hosts a session from Mary Chapin Carpenter, who discusses and plays songs from her latest album The Things That We Are Made Of.

Mary Chapin Carpenter in session, discussing - and playing songs from - her latest album "The Things That We Are Made Of" due for release later this month

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, Carpenter was able to channel her anti-Nashville approach into chart success and industry awards by the early '90s.

Carpenter was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of a Life magazine executive; she spent 2 years of her childhood in Japan, where her father was launching the Asian edition of Life. Her mother had begun to play guitar during the folk explosion of the early '60s, and she gave her daughter a guitar when Mary became interested in music as a child. 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. Carpenter met guitarist John Jennings during the early '80s and the pair began performing together. They eventually made a demo tape of their songs, which they sold at their concerts. The tape wound up at Columbia Records, and the label offered Carpenter an audition. By early 1987, Columbia had signed her as a recording artist, and her first album, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔtown Girl, was released that year.

57 minutes

Last on

Thu 5 May 2016 19:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2

More episodes

Previous

28/04/2016

Next

The Best in Country and Roots Music

See all episodes from The Country Show with Bob Harris

Music Played

  • The Chicks

    Some Days You Gotta Dance

    • Fly.
    • Monument.
    • 010.

  • Jess and the Bandits

    Kiss You Now

    • CD Single.
    • After Midnight Girl/ Sonnet.
    • 001.

  • Cale Tyson

    Staying Kind

    • A Sailor's Guide To Earth.
    • Atlantic.
    • 001.

  • Sturgill Simpson

    Oh Sarah

    • ASailor's Guide To Earth.
    • Atlantic.
    • 008.

  • Margo Price

    Hands Of Time

    • Midwest Farmer's Daughter.
    • Third Man Records.
    • 001.

  • Mary Chapin Carpenter

    Hand On My Back (Live Track)

  • Mary Chapin Carpenter

    The Blue Distance (Live track)

  • Mary Chapin Carpenter

    Something Tamed Something Wild

    • The Things That We Are Made Of.
    • Relativity Entertainment.
    • 001.

  • Kip Moore

    Running For You

    • Wild Ones.
    • MCA Nashville.
    • 012.

  • Mandolin Orange

    From Now On

    • Such Jubilee.
    • Yep Roc Records.
    • 005.

Broadcast

  • Thu 5 May 2016 19:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2