MARY
CHAPIN CARPENTER’s NEW ALBUM PERSONAL HISTORY DROPS
June
6, 2025 —
5x Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and performer Mary Chapin
Carpenter dropped her new album Personal History on June 6, 2025.
The
eleven-track collection, produced by Josh Kaufman and recorded live at Peter
Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath, England, is more autobiographical for the
singer than any project she’s released before.
In
early 2025 the 11-song collection was recorded at Real World Studios in Box,
England, with Josh Kaufman (Bob Weir, The National, The Hold Steady)
producing and a world-class band of musicians: Matt Rollings (piano,
organ, accordion, xylophone), Duke Levine (electric guitar, hammer dulcimer), Chris Vatalaro
(drums, percussion), Cameron Ralston (bass), and Kaufman ( guitar,
organ, harmonium, harmonica). Anais Mitchell lends harmonies to ‘Home Is
A Song.’
Already
receiving critical attention, UNCUT calls it a “late career
highlight” and continues, “Mary Chapin Carpenter has struck a deep vein of
mature singer-songwriting that recalls the way Emmylou Harris surpassed
everything she had done before with 2000’s Red Dirt Girl,” while Music
Row declares, “Acoustic strumming, harmonica and spare percussion set
the mood for her smoky alto delivery…Marvellously listenable.”
Carpenter
shares, “A novel that I’ve loved for years is My Name is Lucy Barton,
written by Elizabeth Strout. There’s this moment where the main character is
taking a creative writing course, and her teacher says to her, ‘You will only
have one story. You will write your one story in many ways.’ I remember reading
that line and taking an audible breath. In that moment, I said out loud to no
one, ‘Oh, that’s what the songs are.’”
“I
started writing the songs on this album as the pandemic began winding down,”
Carpenter recalled. “What Did You Miss pointed the way forward, with its final
verse: ‘I’ve been writing it down / song by song / as a personal history.’ (I
have been) imagining this collection of songs as memoir, and how the wisdom
that comes with growing older becomes a north star, whether one is celebrating
life’s joys or navigating life’s inevitable losses.
Personal
History Stream/purchase
HERE (preferred
music platform) or listen below:
An airy and reflective autobiographical 11-track even paced
collection which showcases a journey of quality song writing craft
Top
Tracks:
“Home
Is A Song” (feat. Anäis Mitchell) (first released May 14, 2025)
“The
Saving Things”, “Bitter Ender”, “What Did You Miss”,
“Paint + Turpentine”
Personal
History Track List:
1.
“What Did You Miss” 4:59
2.
“Paint + Turpentine”
3.
“New Religion” 4:22
4.
“Girl And Her Dog” 4:59
5.
“The Saving Things” 4:53
6.
“Hello My Name Is” 6:09 E
7.
“Bitter Ender” 3:38 (first released April 23, 2025)
8.
“The Night We Never Met” 3:31
9.
“Home Is A Song” (feat. Anäis Mitchell) 4:06 (first released May 14,
2025)
10.
“Say It Anyway” 3:42
11.
“Coda” 4:47
all
songs written by Mary Chapin Carpenter
MCC UK STORE: https://mary-chapin-carpenter.myshopify.com/
On
Personal History, Mary Chapin Carpenter weaves songs from lyrical filaments and
layers of cinematic instrumentation, enfolding us in a rich rhythmic grandeur.
It may be her best album yet, and it is certainly one of the best albums of the
year so far.
- FOLK ALLEY
The
album concludes with Mary Chapin’s signature emotional measure in “Say It
Anyway” — another moving piece…until next time. Highlights – “What Did You
Miss,” “Girl & Her Dog,” “The Saving Things,” “Hello, My Name Is,” “Bitter
Ender,” “The Night We Never Met, & “Home Is a Song,” & “Say It Anyway.”
- Americana Highways
Another
wonderful, subtle production. If you allow an album to grow on you, the riche
here will become ever more evident with every listen of Mary Chapin Carpenter’s
Personal History
– ROCKING MAGPIE.
‘Personal
History’ is a record that Carpenter’s fans will absolutely love. It’s a deep
dive into her life and 17 records in, it’s remarkable that she’s still able to
deliver music of this calibre – 3 STARS EF COUNTRY
Rough
Trade presented a conversation and acoustic performance from Mary Chapin
Carpenter back on May 19th at Amazing Grace
in London. This unique event celebrated the release of her new album.
A
conversation with Mary Chapin Carpenter and screenwriter Nicole Taylor,
with acoustic performances.
Watch
Instagram Clip HERE
Nicole
Taylor is a screenwriter, originally from Glasgow. She adapted David Nicholls’
bestseller ONE DAY into a 14 part series for Netflix which went to global
number one and received widespread critical and audience acclaim. She also
wrote THREE GIRLS for BBC1 about the Rochdale grooming scandal, which won five
BAFTAs, and the film WILD ROSE, starring Jessie Buckley and Julie Walters. The
film is now the basis for a new musical, for which Nicole has written the book.
Directed by John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), it received its
world premiere at the Edinburgh Lyceum in March 2025.
On
the heels of the album’s release, Carpenter will join forces with fellow Grammy
Award-winning artist and songwriter, Brandy Clark, for a special US tour
this summer and fall. Additional summer performances include a return to the
legendary Newport Folk Festival on July 27 and a stop at Louisville’s Bourbon
& Beyond Festival on September 12.
Mary
Chapin Carpenter Summer & Fall Tour 2025 with Brandy Clark
09 - Revolution Hall - Portland OR
10 - Benaroya Hall - Seattle WA
11 - Hult Center - Eugene OR
13 - Uptown Theatre - Napa CA
14 - Mountain Winery - Saratoga CA
16 - Lobero Theatre - Santa Barbara CA
19 - Humphreys - San Diego CA
20 - Wilshire Ebell Theatre - Los Angeles CA
21 - Fox Tucson Theatre - Tucson AZ
22 - Scottsdale PAC - Scottsdale AZ
25 - Botanic Gardens - Denver CO
26 - Pikes Peak Center - Colorado Springs CO
27 - Strings Music Pavilion - Steamboat Springs CO
28 - VENUE TBA - Fort Collins CO
JULY
29 & 30 - Stone Mountain Arts Center Brownfield ME *an evening with MCC
One
of music’s “most reliable and empathetic songwriters” (Pitchfork),
Carpenter has sold over 17 million records over the course of her renowned
career. With hits like “Down At The Twist And Shout” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep
Her,” she has won five Grammy Awards (with 18 nominations), two CMA Awards, two
ACM Awards, is one of only twenty-two female members of the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the 2023 ACM Honors Poet’s
Award.
Carpenter’s
last solo recording, 2021’s One Night Lonely (Live), was nominated
for Best Folk Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards—exactly 30 years after her
very first nomination. A rare solo performance, the album was recorded at
Virginia’s legendary Wolf Trap and features songs from across her acclaimed
career, including from her last solo studio album, The Dirt And The
Stars.
photo credit: Aaron Farrington
Most
recently, Carpenter released Looking For The Thread, a collaborative
album with legendary Scottish folk stars and songwriters Karine Polwart and
Julie Fowlis. Released to widespread praise, Folk Alley describes it as,
“a set of warm, introspective, and stunningly gorgeous songs…It’s beauty and
warmth touch our souls deeply, and each song is a many faceted gem of love and
hope,” while Music Row calls the project “enchanting” and The Arts
Desk declares, “It’s only January but this is an album of the year…a class
act, heartfelt and beautifully crafted.”
In
addition to her work as a musician, last fall Carpenter unveiled her new
podcast, “Hope is a Muscle,” which finds her in conversation with people from
all walks of life including Joan Baez, Adriene Mishler, John Darnielle and
U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin. During its run, the podcast was in
the top five music podcasts on both Apple and Spotify Platforms. Previously, in
2020, Carpenter released the three-part audio liner notes podcast, “One Story,”
with American poet, Sarah Kay.
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