Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter (born February 21, 1958 in Princeton, New Jersey) is a highly successful country music singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Carpenter, the daughter of a Life Magazine executive, spent two years in Japan as a child, moving to Washington, D.C. in 1974. She graduated from Brown University. Washington's vibrant music scene gave birth to her first album, Hometown Girl, in 1987, which was produced by Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter John Jennings. The two collaborated on many subsequent albums and performed together.

One of her most widely known singles is "Passionate Kisses" (written by fellow singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams), a song with a rock flavor musically and lyrics listing simple desires such as "a comfortable bed", "food to fill me up", and "time to think". Another big hit was "Down at the Twist and Shout", (named after a popular club Carpenter often performed at in Bethesda, Maryland) which she performed in January 1997 at Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. A number of Mary Chapin Carpenter's songs speak to women, urging them on through hard times or troubled r...