Mary Chapin Carpenter has always chosen her own path. From her first gigs as a rising star on Washington D.C.’s folk scene in the early 1980s, she has made a reputation as both a singer and songwriter with a mind of her own. Over the course of an 11-album recording career, Carpenter has won five Grammy Awards and sold over 13 million records.She has scored 12 top 10 singles, including “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” which was nominated for a Record of the Year Grammy.
Carpenter signed with Rounder Records in 2007, and her first release with the label, The Calling, received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, her fifteenth overall Grammy nomination. In 2008, Zoë/Rounder Records released Carpenter’s first holiday album, Come Darkness, Come Light,which includes some favourite Christmas songs by other writers, rarely heard traditional tunes, and six Carpenter originals.
Carpenter has achieved the same success as a live performer having toured nationally and internationally for nearly two decades winning two Pollstar Country Tour of the Year awards.
She has remained immersed in humanitarian work throughout her career, performing in support of cancer and AIDS research, U.S. troops overseas, the Campaign for a Landmine Free World and hunger relief efforts, among other causes. Carpenter was also part of a CNN special on the anniversary of September 11, and recently she has contributed a regular, bi-weekly column to The Washington Times. Additionally, Carpenter has been featured on NBC’s “Today Show;” CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman,” NPR’s “Morning Edition”, NPR’s “All Things Considered” and CBS News’ “Sunday Morning.”
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
