Just when you think soulful storytelling in music — the type pioneered by such legendary performers as Woody Guthrie — is long past, along comes the “Freedom Sings” program and presentation of the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech in Music Award.
if you go
‘Freedom Sings’
» Where: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
» When: Tuesday (6:30 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. program)
» Info: General admission $25; Press Pass member $20. Proceeds go to First Amendment education. newseum.org
When five-time Grammy Award winner Mary Chapin Carpenter, who grew up in the Washington area, receives the award Tuesday before what will surely be a capacity audience at the Newseum, she will be among an elite few recipients. “I am really surprised and honored,” said Carpenter, whose latest album, “The Age of Miracles,” will be released the day she receives the award. “I keep thinking, ‘Are they sure it’s for me?’ I’m not trying to be overly humble; it just came out of nowhere, and I’m so stunned by it.”
It’s easy to understand why Carpenter is a bit overwhelmed by the honor from the Newseum’s First Amendment Center and the Americana Music Association.
Past recipients were legendary artists Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, Judy Collins, Charlie Daniels and Steve Earle.
“Chapin is one of those artists that doesn’t [write and record] a song to sell out Wolf Trap,” said Americana Music Association Executive Director Jed Hilly. “She wrote the best song she could to tell the story the way she wanted to tell it, and she never relented.”
Advocating for such Americana artists and promoting public awareness of the genre — whose work might not necessarily meet with commercial success — is the very goal of the association, Hilly said.
Partnering for the first time with the Newseum’s First Amendment Center underscores the mission of both organizations to give voice to those who otherwise would not be heard.
“While we seek to raise public awareness for the First Amendment … we recognized there is an entire generation we are not reaching” with lectures and other formal programs, said Ken Paulson, president and chief operating officer of the Newseum and the First Amendment Center. “That’s why we reached out to our friends in the musical industry.”
The “Freedom Sings” program has several ongoing facets that will include bringing nationally known performers to the Newseum’s Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters for discussions and performances to further promote free speech and the First Amendment.
“With this we have two main goals,” Paulson said. “We want to recognize artists of distinction and use their music to provoke thought and raise awareness. We also want to fill the museum with people who love Mary Chapin Carpenter and the First Amendment.”
Past honoree Judy Collins and association supporters Rodney Crowell and Eric Brace will perform at the event.
“This community [of Americana artists] is rather small, and I want to do what I can to help in defining it,” Crowell said. “It is contributing to our culture … and Chapin is an old friend of mine. I completely admire her.”
As does Collins, who said Carpenter not only embodies the spirit of the award in her own work but inspires others to continue the tradition.
“She’s an amazing artist. Her scope of writing … has really affected a lot of other writers,” said Collins, whose album “Paradise” will be released in June. “Just her work is certainly reason enough for the award, but she’s also done so much for American music in general by encouraging a lot of young writers.”
