Performer Notes

Personnel includes: Mary Chapin Carpenter (vocals, acoustic guitar); John Jennings (acoustic & electric guitars, acoustic & electric baritone guitars, piano, organ, synthesizer, fretted & fretless basses, percussion, background vocals); Benmont Tench (piano, electric piano, organ); Bob Glaub (bass); Dave Mattacks (drums, tambourine); Harry Stinson (drums, cowbell); Shawn Colvin, Kim Richey (background vocals).
Producers: Mary-Chapin Carpenter, John Jennings.
Recorded at Bias Studios, Springfield, Virginia.
"Let Me Into Your Heart" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Personnel: Mary Chapin Carpenter (guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals); John Jennings (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lap steel guitar, piano, synthesizer, bass guitar, fretless bass, background vocals); Duke Levine (electric guitar, mandola); Kim Miller, Joan Singer, Vickie Yanics (violin); Marcio Botelho (cello); Jon Carroll (accordion, piano, background vocals); Pete Barrenbregge (tenor saxophone); Rich Haering (trumpet); Benmont Tench (piano, electric piano, organ); Harry Stinson (drums, cowbells, bells); Dave Mattacks (drums, tambourine); Robbie MacGruder, Robbie Magruder (drums); J.T. Brown, Shawn Colvin, Kim Richey (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Bob Dawson.
Recording information: Bias Recording Company, Springfield, VA.
Photographer: Caroline Greyshock.
Preoccupied with the big questions--who are we, why are we here, and what the hell do we do now--Mary-Chapin Carpenter struggles to find her own PLACE IN THE WORLD and in the process touches on the things that bind us all together. Bridging the gap between contemporary country, pop and post-Joni Mitchell folk, Carpenter's music is an adult-alternative radio programmer's dream. She crosses over to all of the above audiences, as well as the caught-in-the-middle, baby-boomer nation for which she speaks so eloquently in songs like "Hero In Your Own Hometown" and the title tune. "Hero" is a summing up of how far she and her generation have come; "A Place In The World" wonders where they will go next.
Not that Carpenter over-intellectualizes. She's equally capable of spinning out a simple, infectious pop tune like "I Want To Be Your Girlfriend" or an uptempo rocker like "Keeping The Faith." Whether longing for escape in "What If We Went To Italy" or celebrating newfound love in "Let Me Into Your Heart," Mary-Chapin Carpenter's well-crafted compositions and straight-ahead vocal style make it clear that even if she has yet to find her PLACE IN THE WORLD, she knows all the right places to look.

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (10/25/96, p.113) - "...She rocks out; she and longtime producer John Jennings craft ear-catching hooks; and she has full control of a burnished, instantly identifiable contralto..."

Q (12/96, p.122) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Her sure, clear voice and evocative storytelling give her records an appeal that reaches far beyond the traditional country crowd....When she rocks, there is a playful air....When she slows the tempo, Carpenter is spellbinding..."

Album: A Place in the World
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Keeping the Faith
2)	Hero in Your Own Hometown
3)	I Can See It Now
4)	I Want to Be Your Girlfriend
5)	Let Me into Your Heart
6)	What If We Went to Italy
7)	That's Real
8)	Ideas Are Like Stars
9)	Naked to the Eye
10)	Sudden Gift of Fate
11)	Better to Dream of You, The
12)	Place in the World, A

Album: A Place in the World
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Keeping the Faith
2)	Hero in Your Own Hometown
3)	I Can See It Now
4)	I Want to Be Your Girlfriend
5)	Let Me into Your Heart
6)	What If We Went to Italy
7)	That's Real
8)	Ideas Are Like Stars
9)	Naked to the Eye
10)	Sudden Gift of Fate
11)	Better to Dream of You, The
12)	Place in the World, A