Shooting Straight in the Dark in Bloomington, MN

Although
Mary Chapin Carpenter
's second album yielded two Top Ten hits, it was the release of 1990's
Shooting Straight in the Dark
that confirmed her talents as an artist who could easily stage a crossover without relinquishing her
country
roots. With an even stronger infusion of
folk
and
pop
,
Carpenter
opened herself up to a wider market, taking the
Cajun
-tinged
"Down at the Twist and Shout"
(with the help of
Beausoleil
) to number two on the
charts, a song that also netted her a Grammy for best
vocal performance by a female. Both
"You Win Again"
Gene Vincent
's
"Right Now"
were also released as singles, expanding
's exposure even more so, but the other tracks from the album also reveal her lyrical strength and attentive songwriting prowess.
"Halley Came to Jackson"
is a wonderful tale about a small town's fascination with and misconception about
Halley
's comet back in 1910, while tracks such as
"What You Didn't Say"
"When She's Gone"
are also fresh-sounding
efforts that shine a light on her delicate but hearty singing style.
gets some help from
Shawn Colvin
on a few of the cuts and, because their collaboration worked so well, she and a number of other artists appeared on her next album and on 1994's
Stones in the Road
, expanding her material to an even greater extent.
was indeed a breakthrough album for
, not only in a commercial sense but at a personal level as well, and its progressive repercussions helped in making 1992's
Come on Come On
an even stronger effort, spawning a myriad of hit singles. ~ Mike DeGagne