The Calling is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter, released by Zoë Records on March 6, 2007. Carpenter had previously been on Columbia Nashville; this album was her first release on a new label, as well as her first studio album since 2004's Between Here and Gone. Like her previous release, she wrote every song on the album, which went to No. 10 on the BillboardTop Country Albums chart.
Two singles were released, On With the Song and It Must Have Happened, but neither charted on the BillboardHot Country Songs.
Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album 4-out-of-5-stars and said: "Time will tell, of course, but in The Calling, Carpenter may have her finest moment yet; it also feels like an artistic rebirth. These songs come from her marrow and the conviction she sings them with proves it. Carpenter and her co-producer Matt Rollings should be awfully proud of this one."
