Mary Chapin Carpenter
 Though her fan
base consists mostly of country fans, singer-songwriter Mary Chapin
Carpenter makes music that blurs the line between country, folk and
rock, earning comparisons to artists like Nanci Griffith, Rosanne
Cash and the Indigo Girls. Born on February 21, 1958 in Princeton,
N.J., Carpenter grew up in a wealthy family that loved music, and
began playing acoustic guitar at an early age. As she grew up, however,
her home life became more turbulent -- the family moved every
few years to accommodate her father, an executive at Life magazine,
and the stress eventually caused her parents to divorce. After attending
the Taft School -- an exclusive private prep school in Connecticut
--Carpenter traveled for a while, then attended Brown University,
where she began performing at open mic nights.
1.turbulent: adj. 狂暴的, 吵闹的
2.prep:n. 准备功课, 预习
When she graduated in 1981 she moved to Washington, D.C. and became
a regular at local clubs, covering artists like Bonnie Raitt, Billie
Holiday and James Taylor, making ends meet by working a day job
in the office of a tobacco lobbyist.
By 1986 Carpenter had switched from performing covers to writing
and showcasing her own songs, winning five local music awards in
the process. She signed with Capitol Nashville late that year and
made her debut in 1987 with Hometown Girl, which won positive
reviews but didn't appeal to mainstream country radio. Carpenter
kept her day job until 1989, when she signed a publishing deal with
EMI and released State of the Heart, which featured the Top
10 hits "Never Had It So Good" and "Quittin' Time" and eventually
went gold; Carpenter was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Country
Vocal Performance/Female.
1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark was an even bigger
smash, going platinum on the strength of its No. 1 single, "Down
at the Twist and Shout" (recorded with the Cajun band Beausoleil).
This time, Carpenter won the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance/Female.
Carpenter continued to gather steam with 1992's Come On, Come
On, a more mainstream country effort which went triple platinum
and won three Grammys, spawning the hit single "He Thinks He'll
Keep Her." 1994's Stones in the Road, a more personal, introspective
effort that revisited Carpenter's folk roots, went platinum and
won a Grammy for Best Country Album. 1996's A Place in the World
went gold; that same year she published her first children's book,
"Dreamland," profits from which were donated to the enigmatic
charity "Voiceless Victims Project of the Institute for Intercultural
Understanding." (Carpenter has long been involved in humanitarian
causes, and in 1997 appeared at UNICEF's 50th Anniversary concert.)
A second children's book, Halley Came to Jackson, based on
her song of the same name, will be released in late 1998.
1.enigmatic: adj. 谜一般的, 高深莫测的
Seth Hindin
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