Conversation so far:
what country label was interested in carpenter?
Columbia.
did carpenter sign with columbia records?
Columbia began promoting Carpenter as a "country" artist that she found a wider audience.
what was the name of her first record with columbia?
first album, "Hometown Girl.

Question: what year did she release her first album with columbia?
Self-contained rewrite: what year did Mary Chapin Carpenter release her first album with columbia records?