Mary Chapin Carpenter Recognized for Work Promoting Free Speech

Mary Chapin Carpenter will be honored on April 27 during “Freedom Sings,” an event celebrating the power of free speech at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Carpenter will receive the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech in Music Award from the Newseum’s First Amendment Center and the Americana Music Association. The award recognizes artists who have used their work to raise awareness and promote free speech through their music and other efforts.

Past recipients of the award include Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, Judy Collins, Charlie Daniels and Steve Earle.

“Mary Chapin Carpenter is clearly comfortable in the marketplace of ideas,” said Ken Paulson, president and chief operating officer of the Newseum and the First Amendment Center. “Her career has been one of absolute integrity. She has consistently written and performed songs that take a stand and reflect the human condition, while her activism outside of her art has also effected real change for real people.”  Paulson noted that “from early recordings like 'He Thinks He’ll Keep Her' to the self-reflection of 'A Place In The World' to the powerful perspective of 'Houston' and 'On With the Song,' she has used the power of free expression to craft statements of substance and emotion.”
 
“Freedom Sings” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. EST in the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C.
 
“Freedom Sings” will include a conversation with Carpenter about her music and career and will feature guest musical performances by Grammy Award-winning artists Judy Collins and Rodney Crowell.

Tickets for the performance are $25 ($20 for Newseum and Americana Music Association members) and are on sale now at www.newseum.org and at the Newseum’s ticket desk. Proceeds from event tickets support First Amendment education and the work of the Americana Music Association.
 
On April 27, Carpenter will release her new album, The Age of Miracles, on Zoe/Rounder Records. On Thursday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m., she will perform at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.