Shawn Colvin
Photo: Frank Ockenfels

Whole New You, Shawn Colvin's first album since 1996's A Few Small Repairs, takes on some topics that are new territory for her, including motherhood and her move to Austin, Texas. But one big topic is left unexplored on the new album: There is no song about Ol' Dirty Bastard.

"I decided to leave that one off," she said wryly on Wednesday of the 1998 Grammy Awards incident that found the Wu-Tang Clan's loose cannon bum-rushing the stage as she accepted the Song of the Year Award for "Sunny Came Home." "[That incident is] better left alone." Regardless, the lush Whole New You, which was released on March 27, is probably most impacted by her relationship with her 2-year-old daughter. The opening, gentle "Matter of Minutes" and the apologetic lullaby "I'll Say I'm Sorry Now" are where her parenthood is manifested most clearly.

Of the latter tune, in which a parent apologizes to her child in advance for shortcomings, Colvin said, "Parents should say they're sorry more often than they do, so let it begin with me." Other inspirations for songs on the record are altogether more morbid. "Another Plane Went Down," for instance, was conceived when Colvin was watching a news broadcast about the aftermath of a plane crash. "Everyone has a fascination with [plane crashes]. To me, the song is a metaphor about the things we fear and that are out of our control. It was written very quickly and in a stream-of-consciousness way." "Roger Wilco," which uses military imagery to express the need to escape, was written in a similar metaphoric style with longtime collaborator/producer John Leventhal and Edie Brickell of New Bohemians fame, although Colvin said she's never met Brickell. "John played guitar on her last record. While he was in the studio, they collaborated on that song, which was a small idea that they didn't take very far: It was John playing the guitar, and she sung [the phrase] 'roger wilco.' "It was one of the things he played for me [at the beginning of sessions for Whole New You], and I just took the cue and free-associated. Then, using military imagery, I developed this character that was trying to get out of something." Austin music mainstay Charlie Sexton sings harmony on the song; James Taylor does the same on "Bonefields." Colvin recorded basic tracks in Manhattan, then did overdubs back in Austin. "Most of the musicians lived in New York," she said. "When I started my career, I lived in New York, and that's where my roots are, as far as the people I work with." Colvin said she and Leventhal "homed in on sounds for songs that we liked the best, and then, instead of listening to things individually, you start to listen to the songs one after the other, and then you begin to perceive a sound. Maybe halfway through the project, we realized a more lush, less spare sound than on the previous record." Colvin and Leventhal's partnership is altogether more harmonious than it was when they recorded her first album, 1989's Steady On. "It was close to 20 years ago that we started to go out with one another," she said, "and [it lasted for] five or six years. By the time we made Steady On, we had broken up. It was tough. We were driven to it; we worked on those songs very hard. He needed to be a part of that record. ... "A few years later, I called him and said, 'Do you want to see if we can write again?' That was tough, too: I felt like I had to be prepared for him to say no. ... [But] he readily agreed. And it was improved! We got along, we're good friends and we picked up right where we left off, as far as the music went." Leventhal, who is now married to Rosanne Cash, was back on board for A Few Small Repairs and Whole New You. "That was obviously the thing in our relationship that was supposed to remain intact," Colvin said. "And I'll always feel lucky that we got to go back to it." So Colvin has reconciled with her musical collaborator, has a daughter and has moved to Austin. Not everything has changed, though. She is still described and marketed as a folk artist. "It used to bug me, because I thought it would imply to people that the music had no edge to it. I used to say, 'U2's a bigger folk act than me: They write about issues, and all I do is write about boyfriends!' " But, she adds, folk music is "basically a term for acoustic music, and I still don't think it particularly applies. But I don't care anymore. I've been fortunate enough to get the music out there, and if people don't know what I do by now, then they won't. I just feel like it's clear who I am, so I don't know what place I have in 2001; apparently, not much of one. "But people are always going to crave honest, melodic music to some degree," she said. "And I have a loyal bunch of fans that like what I do. You're not going to find me five years from now with a sound that no one can stand anymore."

• Shawn Colvin

The 8th annual Tibet House Benefit took place at New York City's Carnegie Hall on Monday night, and featured performances from R.E.M., Patti Smith, Phish's Trey Anastasio, Shawn Colvin, Philip Glass, Cibo Matto with Sean Lennon, Tibetan musician Nawang Khechog and Tibetan dance troupe Chaksam-Pa.

• Cibo Matto
• Shawn Colvin
• Phish
• R.E.M.

The Indigo Girls will soon be making the rounds with a string of high-profile politically active shows beginning this week when they share the bill with Shawn Colvin.

The Indigos will team up with Colvin to play a Voters For Choice concert in Dallas on Thursday to mark the 25 year anniversary of Roe V. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to choose to have abortions.

Then, next Monday the Indigos will play the Slam 2 show in New York City, protesting Philip Morris Tobacco's Woman Thing record label. They'll join folksinger Leslie Nuchow, who organized last year's original "Virginia Slams" concert.

Finally on May 8, the Indigos and Shawn Colvin will be in Austin, Texas to play a benefit for Mexico's Zapatista rebels, who are also a favorite cause of Rage Against The Machine.

• Shawn Colvin
• The Indigo Girls

If you happened to miss the groundbreaking Lilith Fair tour last summer, you can now sample it on a CD. Two, to be exact.

"Lilith Fair: A Celebration Of Women In Music" will be out on April 28 as a double live CD. On the album will be performances from Lisa Loeb, Paula Cole, Meredith Brooks, Shawn Colvin, The Indigo Girls, Tracy Bonham, Suzanne Vega, Victoria Williams, Emmylou Harris, and Fair founder, Sarah McLachlan, with more artists still to be announced.

Cole, Colvin, and The Indigo Girls will be back for Lilith '98, along with Missy Elliott, Erykah Badu, and Sinead O'Connor.

Lilith is casting its net wider this year. Our colleagues at MTV Radio interviewed Olivia Newton-John regarding the re-release of "Grease" on March 27. During the interview the Aussie singer said that she was approached to perform at this summer's Lilith (there is no word yet on whether Newton-John will actually play any dates). Lilith Fair starts June 19 in Portland, OR.

We'll keep you posted.

• Sarah McLachlan
• Lisa Loeb
• Paula Cole
• Meredith Brooks
• Shawn Colvin

It proved to be a long Grammy night for artists who went into the evening with a lot of nominations as Puff Daddy, Paula Cole and Babyface saw their combined 22 nominations result in only four awards.

Nominated for seven honors, Puffy wound up with two awards, one for Best Rap Album for "No Way Out" and another for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be Missing You." Meanwhile, Babyface's eight nominations lead to one award for producer of the year. Cole was only able to convert one of her seven nominations into a statuette as she wound up walking away with the awards for Best New Artist.

Instead the night belonged to Bob Dylan and R. Kelly, who turned out to be the evening's top winners with three awards apiece.

Dylan's "Time Out Of Mind" earned the legendary performer nods for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Folk Album, while he also won Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Cold Irons Bound."

R. Kelly managed to turn his "Space Jam" hit "I Believe I Can Fly" into a multiple Grammy score as he walked off with Best R&B Song, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television (for a list of the night's winners, see "Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Chemical Brothers, Radiohead, Tool On List Of Grammy Winners").

In the night's top category, Record of the Year, honors went to Shawn Colvin's "Sunny Came Home," which also earned the title of Song of the Year.

Of course, the true measure of any awards ceremony seems to be how many surprises pop up, and Wednesday night boasted its share. Early in the evening, Wu-Tang Clan's Ol' Dirty Bastard rushed the podium, pre-empting a Shawn Colvin acceptance speech so that he could rant about his group, and his new clothes (see Wu-Tang's O.D.B. Bumrushes Grammy Podium"). The move seemed to immediately overshadow the impromptu performance of Wyclef Jean's "Gone 'Til November" that he and Erykah Badu had performed before handing out the award.

O.D.B. wasn't the only uninvited guest in stage Wednesday night. While Bob Dylan performed his song "Love Sick", a man took the stage and offered some sort of interpretive dance behind the performer while shirtless with the words "Soy Bomb" painted on his chest.

Those moves made an earlier moment, when a moving piece of the stage set dinged songstress and presenter Vanessa Williams, seem rather tame.

The awards announcements also brought a few mild surprises if not flat out shockers. Jamiroquai knocked off heavy duty competition like the Rolling Stones, Hanson, Fleetwood Mac and No Doubt to pick up Best Pop Performance by a Group. Later, a duet featuring John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison toppled tracks by Barbara Streisand with Celine Dion and Babyface with Stevie Wonder for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. And James Taylor's Best Pop Album victory over Cole, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan, Jamiroquai and Fleetwood Mac turned a number of heads as well.

Many of those gracing Grammys' stage this year took the time to thank some rather unlikely muses to their art. Solo rap winner Will Smith, who took the stage with sidekick DJ Jazzy Jeff, called Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. "prophets" when picking up his statuette. Meanwhile, R&B album winner Erykah Badu told onlookers "I represent artists often unheard" and went on to thank cite "my mama, my son, George Clinton, Stevie Wonder" as the people who made her work possible. And when picking up her award for Best New Artist, Paula Cole chose to thank inspiration Al Green, but not Peter Gabriel, the artist who Cole started with as a back-up singer.

Perhaps most surprisingly of all is the fact that most of the evening's performers seemed to actually be singing instead of lip-synching, but despite all the performers who were invited to the stage, the evening may be best remembered for those who weren't... but came anyway.

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

• Shawn Colvin
• Bob Dylan
• R. Kelly

Here's a partial list of Wednesday's winners:

• Record Of The Year - "Sunny Came Home," Shawn Colvin
• Best Pop Album - "Hourglass," James Taylor
• Best New Artist - Paula Cole
• Album Of The Year - "Time Out Mind," Bob Dylan
• Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals - "Don't Look Back," John Lee Hooker With Van Morrison
• Best Male R&B Vocal Performance - "I Believe I Can Fly," R. Kelly
• Song Of The Year - "Sunny Came Home," Shawn Colvin
• Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals - "Virtual Insanity," Jamiroquai
• Best R&B Album - "Baduizm," Erykah Badu
• Best Solo Rap Performance - "Men In Black," Will Smith
• Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group - "I'll Be Missing You," Puff Daddy & Faith Evans Featuring 112
• Best Rap Album - "No Way Out," Puff Daddy & The Family
• Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical - Babyface
• Remixer Of The Year - Frankie Knuckles
• Best Short Form Music Video - "Got 'Till It's Gone," Janet Jackson
• Best Long Form Music Video - "Jagged Little Pill, Live," Alanis Morissette
• Best Female R&B Vocal Performance - "On & On," Erykah Badu
• Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal - "No Diggity," Blackstreet
• Best R&B Song - R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," R. Kelly, songwriter
• Best Female Pop Vocal Performance - "Building A Mystery," Sarah McLachlan
• Best Pop Instrumental Performance - "Last Dance," Sarah McLachlan
• Best Spoken Comedy Album - "Roll With The New," Chris Rock
• Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television - R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," R. Kelly, songwriter
• Best Pop/Rock Contemporary Gospel Album - "Much Afraid," Jars Of Clay
• Best Gospel Album by a Chior or Chorus - "God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation," God's Property
• Best Dance Recording - Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder
• Best Male Pop Vocal Performance - Elton John, "Candle in the Wind"
• Best Contemporary Folk Album - "Time Out Of Mind," Bob Dylan
• Best Female Rock Vocal Performance - "Criminal," Fiona Apple
• Best Male Rock Vocal Performance - "Cold Irons Bound," Bob Dylan
• Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal - "One Headlight," The Wallflowers
• Best Hard Rock Performance - "The End Is The Beginning Is The End," The Smashing Pumpkins
• Best Metal Performance - "Aenema," Tool
• Best Rock Instrumental Performance - "Block Rockin' Beats," The Chemical Brothers
• Best Rock Song - "One Headlight," The Wallflowers
• Best Rock Album - "Blue Moon Swamp," John Fogerty
• Best Alternative Music Performance - "OK Computer," Radiohead

For more Grammy news, check out the MTV News Grammy Archive.

• Bob Dylan
• Fiona Apple
• The Chemical Brothers
• Radiohead
• Shawn Colvin

August 28 [16:00 EDT] -- Sheryl Crow, Joan Osborne, and Shawn Colvin are the headliners for a series of concerts beginning Friday that will benefit a number of women's groups.

The shows, which will aid rape support centers, Planned Parenthood, and the fight against breast cancer among other charities, will all be staged at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and can be accessed via the Internet at www.fembot.com.

Joan Osborne kicks off the series on Friday, and Shawn Colvin and Duncan Sheik follow suit on Sunday. Finally, Sheryl Crow, Wilco, and Michael Penn bring the series to a close on Friday, September 5, and all the webcasts beginning at 11 p.m. Eastern time.

• Shawn Colvin
• Sheryl Crow
• Joan Osborne

May 22 [14:00 EDT] -- Before Grammy winner Shawn Colvin heads out with Jewel, Sheryl Crow, the Cardigans, and others on the Lilith Fair tour, she'll be heading out on her own for a batch of shows.

Colvin will play a batch of dates through June and mid-July before teaming up with bassist Larry Klein and guitarist Steuart Smith for her summer "Trio" tour. Colvin will finally hook up with Sarah McLachlan's Lilith festival tour on August 12 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Colvin, who was doing the female folk-rock thing a decade before Jewel made it chart-friendly, will be at the following locales in support of her "A Few Small Repairs" album before joining Lilith Fair:

• 6/14 - Jacksonville, OR @ Britt Pavilion
• 6/15 - Boise, ID @ Morrison Center
• 6/17 - Saratoga, CA @ Villa Montalvo
• 6/18 - Sacramento, CA @ Radisson Grove
• 6/19 - Telluride, CO @ Telluride Festival
• 6/20 - Telluride, CO @ Telluride Festival
• 6/21 - Telluride, CO @ Telluride Festival
• 6/22 - Telluride, CO @ Telluride Festival
• 6/27 - London, UK @ Shephard's Bush Empire
• 6/28 - North London, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
• 6/29 - Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia
• 6/30 - Glasgow, Scotland @ The Arches
• 7/13 - Winter Park, CO @ American Music Fest
• 7/30 - Portland, ME @ Merrill Auditorium
• 7/31 - Hyannis, MA @ Cape Cod Melody Tent
• 8/1 - Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
• 8/2 - Boston, MA @ Harbor Lights
• 8/3 - Vienna, VA @ Wolf Trap

• Shawn Colvin