Carlene Carter has been releasing music for almost four decades. Daughter of June Carter and Carl Smith, and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash, her most recent album Carter Girl (Rounder Records), pays homage to her own musical lineage, consisting of songs culled from the Carter Family songbook as well as Carlene Carter originals. Carter Girl, produced by Don Was, features guest artists Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Kris Kristofferson and Elizabeth Cook. The album’s repertoire serves as the cornerstone of her one-woman live set. After attending a 2015 Plain Spoken Tour performance, Jeffrey Lee Puckett of the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote, “The Carter Family was ground zero for country music as we know it, and Carter carried the weight of that immense legacy with an easy grace and rich humanity.”
“Opening act Carter delivered a captivating set that was full of storytelling and her rich, penetrating voice,” commented Randy Cordova of the Arizona Republic last year. “Though the mood of her songs was often darkly somber – ‘Lonesome Valley 2003’ is about the death of her mother, June Carter Cash – Carter’s sass and molasses-and-honey delivery is like the aural equivalent of a warm hug.”
Carter and Mellencamp have a rich history of working together. Carlene was involved in Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a touring musical co-written by Stephen King and Mellencamp, and produced by T-Bone Burnett. Ghost Brothers tunes, including “Tear This Cabin Down” and “Away from This World,” have been performed as Carter/Mellencamp duets in past Plain Spoken Tour dates.
Kicking off on April 1 in Tulsa, OK at the Brady Theater and concluding on April 23 in Albany, NY, with over a dozen Midwest and east coast dates in between, the 2016 Plain Spoken Tour will give audiences the chance to see and hear Carlene Carter, whom the Portland Oregonian’s Jeff Baker describes best as “a spirited member of the First Family of American music who can fire up an older audience with nothing but talent, sassy stories, acoustic guitar and piano.”
Tickets for all Plain Spoken Tour dates are currently on sale.
2016 Plain Spoken Tour
ALL DATES WITH CARLENE CARTER AND JOHN MELLENCAMP
1-Apr Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
2-Apr Thackerville, OK WinStar World Casino
4-Apr Springfield, MO Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts
5-Apr Davenport, IA Adler Theatre
7-Apr Duluth, MN DECC Symphony Hall
9-Apr Lawrence, KS Lied Center of Kansas
10-Apr Springfield, IL Sangamon Auditorium
12-Apr Muncie, IN Emens Auditorium
13-Apr Huntington, WV Keith Albee Theater
15-Apr Mount Pleasant, MI Soaring Eagle Casino
16-Apr Wheeling, WV Capitol Theatre
17-Apr Erie, PA Warner Theatre
19-Apr Hartford, CT The Bushnell Performing Arts Center
20-Apr Portland, ME Merrill Auditorium
22-Apr Rochester, NY Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre
23-Apr Albany, NY Palace Theatre