SPRINGFIELD – The Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center will welcome singer-songwriters and longtime friends Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin to the stage of the Kuss Auditorium at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
On stage, the friends of over 30 years will swap songs and share stories. They will perform material from their vast catalogues as well as some of their favorite songs.
Over the course of her career, Mary Chapin Carpenter has 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 and is one of only 15 female members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Her songs speak to the most personal of life’s details and the most universal. Carpenter’s most recent release, Sometimes Just the Sky, a celebration of her 30-year recording career, features new versions of some of the singer’s most beloved songs plus one newly penned track. Of the music, Billboard praises “… the new rendition features not only different flavors and textures created by the players but also a deeper meaning within the lyrics, which hold up 30 years later.”
Shawn Colvin won her first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album with her debut album, Steady On, in 1989. She has been a mainstay of the contemporary folk music scene ever since, releasing 12 albums. Colvin triumphed at the 1998 Grammy Awards, winning both Record and Song of the Year for “Sunny Came Home.” Her memoir, Diamond In The Rough, was published in 2012. She received a 2016 Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award from the Americana Music Association. Presenting her with this award, Bonnie Raitt said, “She’s simply one of the best singers I’ve ever heard and a truly gifted and deep songwriter and guitarist … She was groundbreaking when she emerged and continues to inspire me and the legions of fans and other singer/songwriters coming up in her wake.” In Sept. 2019, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of Steady On, Colvin will be releasing a newly-recorded all acoustic version of that landmark album.
The Clark State Performing Arts Center is located at 300 S. Fountain Ave. in Springfield. Tickets are available on ticketmaster.com.
