Mary Chapin Carpenter & Shawn Colvin

Mary Chapin Carpenter has had a historical impact on women's songwriting, and her fusion of pop, folk, and country has generated hits like "Passionate Kisses," "I Feel Lucky," and "He Thinks He'll Keep Her." Shawn Colvin, a revered storyteller known for her inimitable voice and matchless guitar stylings and songs like "Sunny Came Home," have become treasured, lifetime companions for her listeners. These Grammy® award-winning artists will perform together on stage for a special evening at The University at Buffalo Center for the Arts on Friday, October 20, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. 

With hits like “Passionate Kisses”, “I Feel Lucky” and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” Mary Chapin Carpenter has won five Grammys® (with 16 nominations), two Country Music Association awards, and two Academy of Country Music awards. She is one of only 15 female members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Over the course of her acclaimed career, Carpenter has sold over 16 million records. In 2020, she recorded two albums - “The Dirt And The Stars,” released in August 2020, and “One Night Lonely,” recorded live without an audience at the legendary Filene Center at Wolf Trap in Virginia during the COVID-19 shut down, and nominated for the 2022 Grammy® for Best Folk Album.

The New York Times describes her music as “an unclassifiable hybrid of pop, folk and country that she performs in the low, steady voice of someone confiding her thoughts in a journal,” adding that her voice is “made to engage in hushed heart-to-heart all-night conversations about things that really matter.” And Salt Lake Magazine describes her “emotionally intelligent country music” as “sometimes boisterous and fun and other times introspective and socially-conscious … a great blend of smart and sassy.” 

Of the new album “The Dirt And The Stars,” produced by Ethan Johns (Ray LaMontagne, Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon) and recorded entirely live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath, England, Carpenter quotes the writer Margaret Renkl, “ ‘We are all in the process of becoming.’ That doesn’t stop at a certain age,” Carpenter says. “To be always a student of art and music and life, as she says, that, to me, is what makes life worth living. The songs are very personal and they’re difficult in some ways, and definitely come from places of pain and self-illumination, but also places of joy, discovery and the rewards of self- knowledge. They arrived from looking outward as much as inward, speaking to life changes, growing older, politics, compassion, #metoo, heartbreak, empathy, the power of memory, time and place. There are many themes, but they all come back to that initial truth that we are all constantly ‘becoming’ through art and expression.” 

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Shawn Colvin stopped the industry in its tracks with her arresting 1989 debut, “Steady On”. The following spring, Colvin took home the Grammy® Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, establishing herself as a mainstay in the singer-songwriter genre. In the ensuing 30 years, Colvin has won three Grammys®, released thirteen superlative albums, written a critically acclaimed memoir, maintained a non-stop national and international touring schedule, appeared on countless television and radio programs, had her songs featured in major motion pictures and created a remarkable canon of work. Colvin triumphed at the 1998 Grammy®, winning both Record and Song of the Year for the Top 10 hit "Sunny Came Home," from the platinum-selling album “A Few Small Repairs”.

Colvin was recognized for her career accomplishments when she was honored with the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award by the Americana Music Association. Presenting her with this prestigious award was Bonnie Raitt. Said Raitt, "She's simply one of the best singers I've ever heard -- and a truly gifted and deep songwriter and guitarist.”

In September 2019, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of “Steady On”, Colvin released a newly-recorded version of her landmark debut. The “Steady On 30th Anniversary Acoustic Edition” strips each song to the core, placing Colvin's songwriting masterclass on full display.

Colvin was recently honored with an induction into the 2019 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, alongside legendary artists Lyle Lovett and Buddy Guy. In a moving induction speech, Jackson Browne praised her as "ineffable" -- 'that which is impossible to express in words' -- and extolled, "Not many writers are able to do what Shawn does. It's a very special way of relating what really matters. It takes an original to get our attention. Shawn is utterly original in her singing, and original in what she speaks about in her songs."

Over the course of three decades, Shawn Colvin has established herself as a captivating performer and a revered storyteller, well-deserving of the commendation of her peers and the devoted audiences who have been inspired by her artistry. And as she enters her thirtieth decade as a songwriter and performer, she continues to reaffirm her status as a vital voice in music.

Shawn Colvin website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter