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A D.C. homecoming for Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mary Chapin Carpenter readies sold-out Birchmere engagement

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Mary Chapin Carpenter interview, gay news, Washington Blade
Mary Chapin Carpenter interview, gay news, Washington Blade

Looking at lyrics for her new album made Mary Chapin Carpenter realize she’s still asking questions. (Photo courtesy Sacks & Co.)

After a four-year break from new material, 2016 finds Mary Chapin Carpenter back with her 14th studio album, “The Things That We Are Made Of.”

Since the release of 2012’s “Ashes and Roses,” the five-time Grammy winner has toured with fellow singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin; released and toured with her 2014 symphonic album, “Songs From the Movie”; and toured an acoustic show last year.

Carpenter will be wrapping up the end of a busy touring year performing two sold-out shows at the Birchmere Dec. 6-7. A few last-minute tickets may be available when the box office opens each evening at 5 p.m.

Carpenter recalls her early days performing at the Birchmere, looking back and being labeled a country artist during a phone chat from her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

WASHINGTON BLADE: What are your memories of singing at the Birchmere?

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER: I don’t know when the exact first time I ever had a show there. I started playing there in the early ’80s as an opener and as part of other groups. It’s much bigger than it used to be. The new Birchmere has been there a long time now. The old Birchmere used to be about a quarter of the size. It really was an intimate space and one of the premier listening rooms in the country. Now they can bring bigger shows and there’s more seats, but it’s still such a revered listening room.

BLADE: Does it feel the same playing there now?

CARPENTER: You mean the same feeling of being nervous and scared? Yes! (laughs)

BLADE: You’ve played the Birchmere and Wolf Trap many times. Do you have a preference?

CARPENTER: They’re so different. I don’t prefer one over the other. Certainly, the Birchmere being more intimate, it’s an opportunity to be more free wheeling and chatting with the audience where with Wolf Trap, it’s so vast, but it’s still possible to feel the collective energy of 7,000 people. I feel so lucky to be a resident of this area in the sense that I have two hometown stages that mean the world to me and they’re both very different, but they’re both deeply meaningful to me in terms of my career and what it feels like to play music. I have gone to both as a listener for so long before I had the good fortune to play those stages, they’re just treasures.

BLADE: Tell us about your current tour.

CARPENTER: It’s actually been a few years since I toured with a band, so reconvening the band incarnation with brand new music just lifts you up and makes you feel energized with new players and new music.

BLADE: And your new album?

CARPENTER: What this record is about in my mind, it’s about asking questions. When I laid down all the lyrics to proofread, it’s an odd thing, it wasn’t until I did that, looked at each song physically next to one another that I realized that so many of the lyrics in the songs are posed in the form of the question. What it made me feel was that given the subject matter that it’s far more important when you reach a certain time in your life to just feel that you’re still asking questions and you’re still curious and you’re more comfortable with the idea of not knowing because you can’t have all the answers and that’s OK. It’s just remaining open, inquisitive, open-hearted, alert to everything around you and accepting.

BLADE: When you listen to “The Things That We Are Made Of,” it’s distinctly different than your last album, “Ashes and Roses.” Do your albums reflect where you currently are in the different stages of your life?

CARPENTER: Yeah, I hope so. I heard this wonderful interview with Anne Patchett, she was on Diane Rehm and I was listening to it. She’s one of my favorite authors and she said something that I don’t remember the exact words, but I’ll paraphrase, it was every book she’s written has led to the next one. It made a lot of sense to me as someone who tries to create these sort of worlds where every couple years another world exists, a world of song. This record, I understand where people say it’s very different or whatever, but from my position it doesn’t feel so much different as a natural next place to go.

BLADE: Looking back is a recurring theme in your work. Is that a conscious decision?

CARPENTER: I just can’t help it (laughs). I think songwriting, as a creative form of expression, I mean, on one hand it’s a deeply personal exercise and you’re trying to express your feelings, trying to express yourself within the world and it’s about connection as well. That’s the gift of live music of course. When we’re in our 20s and 30s and even in our 40s, I think we have a sense that life is going to last forever. It’s only when the challenges, the losses, the changes in our lives, the loss of parents or a health issue that tend to come upon us as we reach the mid point. Those are the things that kind of stop you in your tracks and not so much teach you, but alert you to the fact that no, you’re not going to live forever. There’s a reason people have crises at times of their lives because mortality is a difficult thing to grasp.

BLADE: We all have moments in our lives where things are constantly changing whether we want them to or not. How do you deal with the unexpected?

CARPENTER: You have to be comfortable not being in control. I think of myself, my personality is I like order out of chaos. I like things to be organized, I like to know what I’m doing. It’s just this disillusion idea that I’m in control, but I’m not. The greatest test for me is when things blow up and you sort of have to regroup. You have to feel that all’s not lost. The idea is when you’re a younger person, is that when things blow up, “Oh my God, it’s the worst thing that ever happened,” but later in life, there’s a freedom that comes around where you’re not so invested or — it sounds so Oprah like — but you’re not so attached to the outcome. You’re able to handle a blow up and realize it’s not the end of the world.

BLADE: When did you first notice you had a gay following?

CARPENTER: It’s funny to me because I never think about it. It’s never been something I ever sort of thought about it. So in that regard, I guess I have no idea. I’ve always been so happy just to look out into the audience and see people.

BLADE: How does it feel testing out new songs on the road?

CARPENTER: It helps me to sort of hone the song. I go into the studio with 25, 30 songs and I don’t record all of them, but I have a sense of what I think are the strongest and playing them out and getting a sense of how they feel that way, as opposed to just playing them in my house. It does sort of weed things out.

BLADE: Will you be doing anything special next year for your 30th anniversary in music?

CARPENTER: Next year marks the 30th anniversary of my first record (“Hometown Girl”) so we’re talking about a project, something special to kind of mark it and a live record is certainly on the list.

BLADE: Does it ever bother you being labeled a country artist?

CARPENTER: It’s not something I reject. I spent 20 years on the Nashville Columbia label. It was an incredible opportunity and I got to reach so many people. It’s given me everything I use today and it’s allowed me to go where I’ve wanted to go. I think of starting out and having this label, “country” as nothing I could reject in anyway and I’m proud of the music and the times and everything we did during those years. That said, I don’t think it really applies to me anymore. Furthermore, I grew up listening to all sorts of music. Labels were for soup cans as the saying goes. It’s just not something I paid a whole lot of attention to and made to feel to be a big deal. I just sort of feel like we all play music and we just want to connect with who we connect with.

Mary Chapin Carpenter interview, gay news, Washington Blade

Mary Chapin Carpenter (Photo courtesy Sacks & Co.)

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Music & Concerts

Here’s everything queer that just happened at the 67th Grammy Awards

LGBTQ megastars among winners, performers

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Screen grabs from Entertainment Weekly/Youtube

The 67th Grammy Awards featured debut performances by LGBTQ megastars Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Doechii — all of whom also won awards at Sunday’s awards ceremony, making the gay sons and thot daughters of the queer and trans world rejoice. 

Though Roan was the only queer artist to take home one of the “Big Four” awards — Best New Artist, Doechii, Carpenter, Charlie XCX, Billie Eilish, and Lady Gaga were also all nominated for one or more of the “Big Four.”

Carpenter, Roan, and Doechii also shocked audiences with their debut performances, showing us what it really means to be out and loud. 


Doechii

The self-proclaimed swamp princess from Florida took home a well-deserved win for Best Rap Album (“Alligator Bites Never Heal”). 

She stunned audiences with her performance and her speech, dedicating her win to Black women everywhere. Only two other women have won the award — Lauryn Hill and Cardi B since the category was introduced in 1989. 

“I know there are so many Black women out there that are watching me right now and I want to tell you: You can do it. Anything is possible,” said Doechii during her acceptance speech.  

Chappell Roan

Roan won the Best New Artist award, prompting her to whip out her notebook and deliver a speech about her struggles with the healthcare industry after getting dropped by her first record label radicalized her. 

On the carpet, she served looks on the red carpet while delivering Jean Paul Gaultier vintage realness and thanking the trans girlies who made her who she is today. 

“Trans people have always existed and they will forever exist. They will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away and [they] have to be protected more than anything because I would not be here without trans girls,” said Roan on the red carpet. 

She also served during her debut Grammys performance, turning Crypto.com Arena into the Pink Pony Club while dedicating the performance to Los Angeles — the city that embraced her when she wanted to break into the industry. She used her acceptance speech as her opportunity to shine a light on her journey toward becoming the icon she is today — and to no one’s surprise, it didn’t come easy to her. 

Roan opened up about her struggles with healthcare and being dropped as an artist in L.A., leaving her without health coverage and scrambling for solutions. Seems like the healthcare system has radicalized yet another one. 

St. Vincent 

St. Vincent revealed that she has a wife and daughter during her acceptance speeches, thanking them after winning three Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album (“All Born Screaming”), Best Alternative Music Performance (“Flea”), and Best Rock Song (“Broken Man”). 

During her red carpet interview, reporters asked Clark about the shocking news about her mentioning her wife and daughter, she responded “Most people were [unaware]. It’s young, so we’ve kept it under wraps.” The reporter then continued his line of questioning, meanwhile intrusive thoughts quickly got ahold of Clark, prompting her to interrupt the reporter to clarify that she meant the child is young, not the person in the relationship she’s in. 

Girl, you’re good.

Sabrina Carpenter 

Though Carpenter didn’t win any of the “Big Four” categories, she did win Best Pop Vocal Album for (“Short n’ Sweet”) and Best Pop Solo Performance for (“Espresso”).

According to E!, Carpenter’s acceptance speech was apparently censored, cutting her off after she said: “Thank you, holy sh*t, bye!”

The pop star was nominated for Record of the Year (“Espresso”), Song of the Year (“Please, Please, Please”), Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album (“Short n’ Sweet”), Album of the Year (“Short n’ Sweet”), Best Remixed Recording (“Espresso – Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix”), Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (“Short n’ Sweet”) — all within her first year as a record-releasing musician. 

Charli XCX

Charlie XCX truly brought the brat energy to the Grammys with her performance of (“Van Dutch”), also taking home the wins for Best Dance/Pop Recording for (“Van Dutch”) and Best Dance/Electronic Album for (“Brat”). 

Lady Gaga 

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Gaga used her acceptance speech to advocate for trans people stating that we all need love and to be uplifted.

“Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love. Thank you,” said Gaga.

No, thank you mother. 

Last, but not least

It is also worth noting that our tried and true ally, Alicia Keys used her moment on the Grammys stage to advocate for the restoration of DEI initiatives. 

“This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices,” said Keys. “We’ve seen on this stage talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds, with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift — and the more voices, the more powerful the sound.”

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Music & Concerts

Gay Men’s Chorus starting the year with a cabaret

‘Postcards’ to be performed at CAMP Rehoboth

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The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington performs 'Postcards' in Rehoboth Beach, Del. on Jan. 18. (Photos courtesy of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington)

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform “Postcards,” a cabaret, on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:00p.m. and 8:00p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth Elkins-Archibald Atrium. 

In this performance, the choir will share hilarious and heart-warming stories and songs about the travel adventures they’ve had and hope to have. Songs include “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Streets of Dublin,” “Magic To Do,” “Home,” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased on Camp Rehoboth’s website.

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Music & Concerts

WMC’s ‘Comfort and Joy’ fuses drama, well-being, light

Soloist describes production as ‘reverent and beautiful’

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Opal Clyburn-Miller (Photo courtesy Clyburn-Miller)

‘Comfort and Joy’
Washington Master Chorale
Sunday, Dec. 22, 5 p.m.
Church of the Epiphany
1317 G St., N.W.
washingtonmasterchorale.org

With its warmth and unfettered imagination, it’s no surprise that the Washington Master Chorale’s enduringly popular winter program remains a holiday favorite. 

This December the Washington Master Chorale (WMC), helmed by out artistic director Thomas Colohan presents “Comfort and Joy” a selection of British and American works like “Lute-Book Lullaby,” “I Saw Three Ships,” “Puer Natus” by Samuel Scheidt and “Hosanna to the Son of David” by Orlando Gibbons. 

In addition to these Christmas classics, WMC will perform 2022 Florence Price Commission Winner Mason Bynes’s “Ephiphanytide” and Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Northern Lights,” the firsthand accounts of arctic explorers Charles Francis Hall and Fridtjof Nansen and their experiences surrounding the fabled aurora borealis.

Described as “reverent and beautiful” by “Northern Lights” tenor soloist Opal Clyburn-Miller, “Comfort and Joy” fuses drama and well-being, and the import of light. 

And as an artist who uses they/them pronouns, Clyburn-Miller says where classical music is concerned, “it seems people are put in their boxes and that’s where they stay.” They add, “there’s been some progress. It’s pretty much a traditional art form.” 

With regard to their career, Clyburn-Miller, the Baltimore based Peabody Conservatory student, says the work usually comes through word of mouth: “You show up, you’re a good colleague and people want to work with you again.”

The solo piece, according to Colohan, is perfect for Clyburn-Miller. The soloist says in response: “Maybe I have the imagination to think of what Northern Lights might look like in Eastern Europe. I’ve never been that far north but I can put myself in that sense of wonder and astonishment.”

But the gig hasn’t been entirely without its tests. The lyrics are in Latvian, a new language for the meticulous singer.

“It’s been a bit tricky getting the Latvian down,” they say. “Usually in my singing experience, it’s been German, Italian and French, and I’m familiar with Spanish and some Hungarian and Russian, but this is entirely new.”

A perfect chorale venue requires easy parking; good acoustics; a concert level Steinway, and an excellent organ; a sanctuary wide enough to accommodate a 50-person chorale; and audience friendly loos, says Colohan. 

The Church of Epiphany meets most if not all of these requirements.  

Raised Catholic in Richmond, Colohan came out at Ohio’s progressive Oberlin Conservatory. Around this time, he remembers visiting Washington for a music educator’s conference and partying at JR.’s, Badlands, and other bars. He says, “I saw that D.C. had a huge population of clean-cut gay boys. That journey which started with me being gay, prompted me to ask questions.” 

As WMC artistic director since 2009, Colohan, who lives with his partner in Silver Spring, became increasingly interested in secular poetry and literature, especially the ways in which it intersects with chorale music. For him, that became the heart of the art form. 

“My secular approach is wider than some. I’m like the curator of the museum going down to the basement to bring some stuff up. You cannot hear the music if we don’t sing it.”

He’s remained conservative as an aesthetic but not an ethos. “I can wear a blazer and not be crazy right wing. Spiritually speaking, I’m Zen Buddhist now.”

A lot of the concert is about darkness and light. Colohan says, “In ancient times when the world became darker, the days leading to the solstice were scary and then on the 22nd they saw that days were getting longer and it was lighter.”

“Comfort and Joy” closes with a candle lit chorale memorably singing “Silent Night.”  

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