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Singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter has launched a new online music series called “Songs From Home.” Although she’s practicing social distancing by performing solo from her kitchen in Virginia, Carpenter’s debut episode finds her joined by a special guest, her dog (and “co-producer”) Angus, who wanders in and out of frame, variously staring out the kitchen window, offering his affection, and gnawing on a bone as Carpenter sings “Edinburgh.”
“[It’s] a song I wrote a few years ago about one of my favorite places,” she writes on Facebook. “I meet up with a ghost, we welcome New Year’s Eve in and I ponder why we wait until it’s too late to tell people how we feel about them.”
Noting her casual attire and the clip’s minimalist production values, and joking that Angus’ bone-chomping doesn’t quite keep time with the song, she adds, “Clearly he won’t be hired as anyone’s percussionist anytime soon. Ahh, who cares? The point in doing this is simply to connect… we may not be able to shake hands, give hugs or find toilet paper in the stores, but we can be there for one another and remind ourselves that when this is over, love and kindness will be what gets us through the darkest times.”
While a series of April tour dates with longtime friend Shawn Colvin have been postponed, Carpenter’s June dates with Sugarland and solo gigs later this summer remain on her schedule for the time being. In December, she released a music video for the affecting new track “Our Man Cronkite,” an homage to the legendary news anchor and a tender reflection on what she calls “the mysterious passage of time.” The track is expected to be included on the follow-up album to 2018’s Sometimes Just the Sky.
