Hometown Girl  Hometown Girl is the debut album from American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. It was released on July 30, 1987 (see 1987 in country music) on Columbia Records. The album did not produce any chart singles. It was produced by John Jennings, except for the track "Come On Home", which was produced by Steve Buckingham. Vik Iyengar of Allmusic gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating out of five, saying that although "her songwriting skills are apparent" on the album, it did not contain as many "rollicking" tunes as Carpenter's following albums. "The Washington Post" gave it a more favorable review, praising the songs that Carpenter wrote. Initially, Carpenter intended to include the John Stewart song "Runaway Train" on this album. Her version did not make the final cut, and was instead recorded by Rosanne Cash on her 1987 album "King's Record Shop". All songs written by Mary Chapin Carpenter unless noted. As listed in liner notes.