The Calling (Mary Chapin Carpenter album)

The Calling
Studio album by Mary Chapin Carpenter
Released	March 6, 2007
Genre	Country
Label	Zoë
Producer	Mary Chapin Carpenter Matt Rollings
Mary Chapin Carpenter chronology
Between Here and Gone (2004) The Calling (2007) Come Darkness, Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas (2008)

The Calling is the ninth studio album released from country music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter. It is the follow-up album to her 2004 album, Between Here and Gone. The Calling was released on March 6, 2007 on Zoë Records. Carpenter had previously been on Columbia Nashville, this being her first release after leaving Columbia. Like her previous album, she wrote every track on the album.

From the album, two singles were released. "On With the Song" and "It Must Have Happened", were released, but neither of which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Although Carpenter hasn't had a charting single since 2001s "Simple Life", The Calling reached its peak of #10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(77/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
BBC Music	(mixed)[4]
The Boston Globe	(positive)[5]
Hot Press	(favorable)[6]
Paste	(6/10)[1][7]
The Phoenix	[8]
PopMatters	[9]

Thom Jurek of Allmusic said "Time will tell, of course, but in The Calling, Carpenter may have her finest moment yet; it also feels like an artistic rebirth. These songs come from her marrow and the conviction she sings them with proves it. Carpenter and her co-producer Matt Rollings should be awfully proud of this one." The album was also given 4 stars out of 5.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

1. "The Calling" - 4:17
2. "We're All Right" - 3:47
3. "Twilight" - 4:30
4. "It Must Have Happened" - 4:05
5. "On and on It Goes" - 4:20
6. "Your Life Story" - 4:20
7. "Houston" - 5:45
8. "Leaving Song" - 4:02
9. "On With the Song" - 3:58
10. "Closer and Closer Apart" - 4:31
11. "Here I Am" - 4:17
12. "Why Shouldn't We" - 5:04
13. "Bright Morning Star" - 4:55

Production

• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Matt Rollings - producers
• Chuck Ainlay - engineer, mixing
• Scott Kidd - engineer
• Bob Ludwig - mastering

Personnel

• Mary Chapin Carpenter - vocals, acoustic guitar
• Eric Darken - percussion, vibraphone
• John Jennings - dulcimer, electric guitar, baritone guitar, background vocals
• Russ Kunkel - drums, percussion, cajon
• Dean Parks - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar
• Matt Rollings - Hammond organ, piano, accordion
• Glenn Worf - bass guitar

Chart performance

Album

Singles

All singles failed to chart

References

External links

• The Calling at Metacritic