MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER PERFORMS ON “CBS THIS MORNING”
THE THINGS THAT WE ARE MADE OF OUT NOW – ALBUM PRODUCED BY DAVE COBB – TOUR DATES CONFIRMED
Mary Chapin Carpenter recently stopped by “CBS This Morning” to perform three songs as part of their “Saturday Sessions” series. Watch Carpenter play “Something Tamed Something Wild,” “Map Of My Heart” and “The Blue Distance.” The performances celebrate her widely praised new album, The Things That We Are Made Of, which is out now on Lambent Light Records via Thirty Tigers (webstore, iTunes, Amazon). The album is also available on vinyl—Carpenter’s first since 1992’s Come On Come On.
Carpenter is currently in the midst of an extensive tour in support of the album, including newly confirmed dates this fall in Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. See below for details. Released to widespread acclaim, NPR Music praises, “If The Things That We Are Made Of sees the country veteran searching for memories to inscribe and old roads to rut, it finds her most often looking toward the unknown with grace and breaking fecund ground with top producer Dave Cobb,” and goes on to assert, “Her album plays out both sides of that classic country gesture at the unknown—darkness and latent enlightenment —and by emphasizing both, she accomplishes what sounds like a transformation.” Additionally, the Associated Press calls it, “…an evocative collection of songs,” while The Huffington Post declares, “…Carpenter is now at the height of her musical career, painting a compelling, relevant piece of art tinged with mixed feelings of grief and joy, all without preaching or darkening our minds with sadness.”
Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton), the album features eleven new songs written by Carpenter. Of the album’s lead track, “Something Tamed Something Wild,” Rolling Stone asserts, “…beautifully sums up where she’s been and sets the stage for what’s yet to come… ’Something Tamed Something Wild’ and indeed the entire new album finds the songwriter at her most thoughtful and also at times sweetly whimsical, perfectly capturing the buoyant spirit of her early successes and also serving as a reminder that she remains one of the most grounded, sentient songwriters of her generation,” while, of “Map Of My Heart” Music Row’s Robert Oermann states, “I love the brisk, crisp texture of this lightly rocking performance. Carpenter sounds like ‘the Everly Sisters’ as the rhythm section throbs relentlessly and the electric guitar gooses the track with some deep twang. And it goes without saying that her lyrics are totally evocative.”
The Things That We Are Made Of was recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium and Low Country Sound studios during the spring and summer of 2015. In addition to Carpenter (vocals, electric/acoustic guitar), the album features Cobb (electric/acoustic/gut string guitar, percussion, Moog, Mellotron), Annie Clements (bass), Brian Allen (bass), Chris Powell (drums, percussion), Mike Webb (piano, B3 organ, reed organ, Mellotron, Fender Rhod es) and Jimmy Wallace (piano, B3 organ). Of the album, Carpenter comments, “Working with Dave felt great from the first day of our sessions. He is always willing to try something new, believes that ‘yes’ is the only answer, and surrounds himself with wonderfully talented and generous musicians; by the end of the project, I felt as if I was a part of a new family.” Cobb adds, “I wanted to work with Mary Chapin because very few people can cut with words like she can. She’s an absolute poet and legend. I was so happy to collaborate on this album together.”
Over the course of her acclaimed career, Carpenter has recorded 14 albums and sold over 14 million records. With hits like ”Passionate Kisses” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” she has won five Grammy Awards (with 15 nominations), two CMA awards, two Academy of Country Music awards for her vocals and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Most recently, in 2014, Carpenter released her acclaimed debut orchestral album, Songs From The Movie. Arranged and co-produced by six-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza, the record is comprised of ten previously recorded compositions including “Between Here and Gone” and “Come On Come On.” Since it’s release, Carpenter has performed alongside the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the London Concert Orchestra, the L.A. Philharm onic and the National Symphony Orchestra among many others.
