Shawn Colvin

  • Carbondale, IL
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  • Rock
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  • 1970
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About Shawn Colvin


Shawn Colvin is one of the leading lights of the so-called "new folk movement" that began in the late '80s. Although she grew out of the somewhat limited "woman with a guitar" school, she kept the form fresh with a diverse approach, avoiding the genre's clichéd sentiments and all-too-often formulaic arrangements in favor of a more personal, pop-influenced style. Colvin's debut record won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1991, but it was her 1997 single, "Sunny Came Home," that firmly catapulted her into the mainstream. Although she never revisited that commercial peak again, Colvin still commanded a broad, loyal following into the subsequent decades.

Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, on January 10, 1956. By the age of ten, she had discovered a passion for music and taught herself guitar. After moving twice -- first to London, Ontario, and then to Carbondale, Illinois -- Colvin formed the Shawn Colvin Band, a hard rock outfit whose high-energy demands soon strained her voice. She relocated to Austin, Texas, where she joined the Western swing band the Dixie Diesels and sang with the band until nodes forced a temporary retirement at age 24. In 1983, she moved to New York, where she found a home in the city's singer/songwriter scene and built a following in the surrounding area.

Throughout the '80s, Colvin worked her way up the folk circuit, also appearing in off-Broadway shows such as Pump Boys and Dinettes, Diamond Studs, and Lie of the Mind. Her work also appeared in Fast Folk magazine, and she got her first break in 1987 singing backup on Suzanne Vega's hit song "Luka." By the following year, she had found a songwriting partner in John Leventhal, who began providing melodies for Colvin's lyrics. A live tape sold at Colvin's shows (Live '88) attracted the attention of Columbia Records, who signed her the same year in the wake of success from such like-minded performers as Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, and the Indigo Girls.

Steady On, released in 1989, won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Colvin's 1992 sophomore effort, the more pop-oriented Fat City, earned her two more nominations -- Best Contemporary Folk Recording and Best Female Pop Vocal for the single "I Don't Know Why" -- as well as considerable critical praise and a growing crossover audience. In addition, "I Don't Know Why" became a big adult contemporary hit. Cover Girl, an album of cover songs, met with mixed reviews and modest sales in 1994, but Colvin again earned a nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

In late 1996, Colvin released A Few Small Repairs, having written the album during the midst of a painful divorce. A Few Small Repairs slowly became a hit over the course of 1997, due in part to the success of "Sunny Came Home" on the pop charts. In 1998, "Sunny Came Home" won two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and A Few Small Repairs became her first album to reach platinum status. Holiday Songs and Lullabies followed that autumn.

During the new millennium, Colvin contributed vocals to songs by Béla Fleck, Edwin McCain, James Taylor, and Shawn Mullins. She also collaborated with Sting on "One Day She'll Love Me," the theme song for Disney's The Emperor's New Groove. She returned to the solo format with 2001's Whole New You and, in 2004, summarized the first 15 years of her recording career with the compilation Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection. A companion home video was also issued. Two years later, Colvin came out with another album, her debut for the Nonesuch label, entitled These Four Walls. It featured guest performances from Patty Griffin and Teddy Thompson, among others. While touring through San Francisco in support of the album, Colvin recorded material from her three-night residency at Yoshi's, which she released in 2009 as the concert album Live. Colvin's eighth studio album, 2012's All Fall Down, was produced by Buddy Miller and recorded in Nashville at Miller's home studio, and featured guest spots from Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Jakob Dylan, and others. ~ Chris Woodstra, Rovi

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Photos

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  • Shawn Colvin stops for photos on the red carpet at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 31, 2010.
    Shawn Colvin
    Shawn Colvin stops for photos on the red carpet at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 31, 2010.
    Jason Merritt/Getty Images
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News

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  • Shawn Colvin
    Help Austin Help Haiti to Feature Robert Earl Keen, Shawn Colvin, Flatlanders, Many More
    Paste
    Austin, Texas, will play host to the "Help Austin Help Haiti" benefit concert for the victims of last week's tragic earthquake. The show happens this ...
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  • Shawn Colvin
    Shawn Colvin
    American Songwriter
    You may remember Shawn Colvin as the folksy singer-songwriter who had a few hits through the '90s, like "Sonny Came Home" and "I Don't Know Why." On h...
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Tour Dates

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  • Jun 1 Saturday
    Franklin, TN, US Liberty Hall at the Factory
    Buy Ticket
  • Jul 6 Saturday
    Amagansett, NY, US The Stephen Talkhouse
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  • Aug 1 Thursday
    Boone, NC, US Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts
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  • Aug 9 Friday
    Athens, GA, US Athens Botanical Gardens
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  • Aug 9 Friday
    Atlanta, GA, US Atlanta Botanical Garden
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  • Aug 10 Saturday
    Vienna, VA, US Filene Center, Wolf Trap
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  • Aug 21 Wednesday
    Denver, CO, US Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street
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  • Aug 22 Thursday
    Boulder, CO, US Chautauqua Auditorium
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Discography

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  • All Fall Down (2012)
    Shawn Colvin
    All Fall Down (2012)
    Nonesuch
  • Live (2009)
    Shawn Colvin
    Live (2009)
    Nonesuch
  • These Four Walls (2006)
    Shawn Colvin
    These Four Walls (2006)
    Nonesuch
  • Whole New You (2001)
    Shawn Colvin
    Whole New You (2001)
    Columbia
  • Holiday Songs and Lullabies (1998)
    Shawn Colvin
    Holiday Songs and Lullabies (1998)
    Columbia
  • A Few Small Repairs (1996)
    Shawn Colvin
    A Few Small Repairs (1996)
    Columbia
  • Live '88 (1995)
    Shawn Colvin
    Live '88 (1995)
    Plump Records
  • Cover Girl (1994)
    Shawn Colvin
    Cover Girl (1994)
    Columbia
  • Fat City (1992)
    Shawn Colvin
    Fat City (1992)
    Columbia
  • Steady On (1989)
    Shawn Colvin
    Steady On (1989)
    Columbia
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