The first time Mary Chapin Carpenter met Joan Baez it was a fluke – an accidental run-in in the school music room that proved magical when the pair began harmonizing while playing twin pianos.
That was when Carpenter was 16 years old. Now, decades later, the powerhouse pair is uniting again, and along with the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, to form the group Four Voices.
They are set to perform on stage Friday at the New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford.
After the chance meeting decades ago, Carpenter rushed back to her room at her Connecticut boarding school and called her mom.
“I think I just met Joan Baez and she sang harmony with me,” Carpenter recalled saying. “You did not,” her mother responded.
Since then, Carpenter has gone on to win five Grammy Awards. Baez even requested to cover one of Carpenter’s own songs. The pair linked up 25 years ago for the first Four Voices show, then at a benefit for Baez’s Humanitas organization.
Still, Carpenter is continually in awe of the iconic folk singer.
“I am here on tour with Joan, but I am always going to be my 16-year-old self around her,” she said.
Four Voices is making 10 stops on this tour. At a time of dysfunction in politics and Washington, D.C., the emphasis is on making a connection with audiences.
“Everybody in these troubled times are seeking a sense of we’re not alone and I feel like that is really present, that feeling is really there,” Carpenter said.
But the group also wanted to make sure the sets aren’t too heavily packed with topical songs. At a recent performance, Saliers had just finished a song that speaks to being positive in hard political times when she launched into one about a “dysfunctional relationship,” Carpenter said.
“We’re so excited to be playing together for the people,” she said. “It’s been a joy and it’s humbling that the audiences have been so beautiful.”
Doors open for the show at 6 p.m. and will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $39.75 to $89.75. To purchase, call 293-4700 or visit banknhpavilion.com.