Mary Chapin Carpenter grew up with a love of contemporary pop hits, although her mother's Woody Guthrie and Judy Collins records gave her some interest in country/folk music. She spent her time at home with her guitar, and her father encouraged her to perform. By 1986, she was a local star. She released her debut album, Hometown Girl, in 1987, but it was her 1989 album, State of the Heart, that delivered four Top 20 hits, including "Never Had It So Good" and "Quittin' Time." In 1990, she followed it with the eloquent Shooting Straight in the Dark, which featured the breezy hit "Down at the Twist and Shout." However, her career hit its commercial zenith in 1992 when Come On Come On sold five million copies. The seven Top 20 hits from that album included: "I Feel Lucky," "Passionate Kisses," "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" and "I Take My Chances." Finally, with the 1994 album Stones in the Road, Carpenter earned her only No. 1, "Shut Up and Kiss Me." The album Between Here and Gone arrived in 2004, and The Calling was issued in 2007. A new studio album, The Age of Miracles, appeared early in 2010. Carpenter followed it in the summer of 2012 with Ashes and Roses, an entirely self-penned collection that she co-produced. She dropped the album The Things That We Are Made Of in 2016. Mary Chapin Carpenter continues to hit the road and perform.