Shawn Colvin

Biography

Shawna Lee "Shawn" Colvin (born January 10, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career performing in several folk and rock bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s before touring with Suzanne Vega in 1988, which landed her a recording contract with Columbia Records. Her debut studio album Steady On×Steady OnOctober 1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Steady On4:592Diamond in the Rough5:033Shotgun Down the Avalanche5:024Stranded4:035Another Long One3:466Cry Like an Angel4:527Something to Believe In4:128The Story3:599Ricochet in Time3:1110The Dead of the Night5:03 (1989) received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her subsequent albums Fat City×Fat City27 October 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Polaroids5:542Tennessee4:223Tenderness on the Block5:054Round of Blues4:485Monopoly4:266Orion in the Sky6:387Climb On (A Back That's Strong)4:168Set the Prairie on Fire7:019Object of My Affection3:5310Kill the Messenger4:3711I Don't Know Why4:37 (1992) and Cover Girl×Cover Girl23 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic3:172(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night3:373One Cool Remove3:194Satin Sheets3:105There’s a Rugged Road3:436Killing the Blues3:477Window to the World5:158Someday4:109Twilight2:5710If These Walls Could Speak3:0611This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)4:0212You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go4:1113Ol’ 553:47 (1994) yielded her two additional Grammy nominations before Colvin's fourth studio album A Few Small Repairs×A Few Small Repairs26 August 1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Sunny Came Home4:252Get Out of This House4:153The Facts About Jimmy5:244You and the Mona Lisa4:065Trouble4:186I Want It Back4:577If I Were Brave3:128Wichita Skyline3:39984,000 Different Delusions4:0210Suicide Alley5:3111New Thing Now3:4012Nothin' on Me3:56 (1996) saw the large success of the single "Sunny Came Home×Sunny Came Home1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Sunny Came Home4:252What I Get Paid For3:243Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic3:174Steady On5:015Round of Blues4:45", which received the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Colvin's career also gained a following in the 1990s after she performed during all three original iterations of the Lilith Fair music festival. Following the release of her fifth studio album Whole New You×Whole New You27 March 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1A Matter of Minutes5:072Whole New You4:023Nothing Like You3:144Anywhere You Go3:355Bonefields4:296Another Plane Went Down5:367Bound to You3:348Roger Wilco3:569Mr. Levon4:0810One Small Year4:0911I'll Say I'm Sorry Now2:22 (2001), Colvin signed with Nonesuch Records for her next two studio albums These Four Walls×These Four Walls12 September 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Fill Me Up3:412These Four Walls2:573Tuff Kid3:094Summer Dress4:225Cinnamon Road3:516Venetian Blue3:487The Bird3:118I’m Gone2:539Let It Slide4:1710Even Here We Are2:4511So Good to See You3:4412That Don’t Worry Me Now3:4113Words2:33 (2006) and All Fall Down×All Fall Down4 June 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1All Fall Down3:502American Jerusalem5:153Knowing What I Know Now3:254Seven Times the Charm4:265Anne of the Thousand Days4:266The Neon Lights of the Saints2:557Change Is on the Way3:178I Don't Know You3:329Fall of Rome3:5410Up on That Hill3:4511On My Own3:01 (2012), both of which saw continued success. Her most recent studio releases include Uncovered (2015) and The Starlighter (2018). William Morrow published Colvin's memoir Diamond in the Rough in 2012 to a positive reception.

Early life

Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and spent her youth in Carbondale, Illinois, and London, Ontario, Canada. She is the second of four children. She learned to play guitar at the age of 10 and grew up listening to her father's collection of music, which included artists such as Pete Seeger and the Kingston Trio.

Career

Her first paid gig came just after she started college at Southern Illinois University. Colvin performed at local venues in Carbondale and later formed a band. For six months, they expanded their fanbase throughout Illinois. During this time, Colvin struggled with alcohol and other drugs. She later formed Dixie Diesels, a country-swing group. Colvin relocated to Austin, Texas, with the group and then entered "the folk circuit in and around Berkeley, California", before straining her vocal cords and taking a sabbatical at the age of 24.
Colvin relocated to New York City, joining the Buddy Miller Band in 1980 and later became involved in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village.
While participating in off-Broadway shows such as Pump Boys and Dinettes, she was featured in Fast Folk magazine, and in 1987, producer Steve Addabbo hired her to sing backup vocals on the song "Luka" by Suzanne Vega.
After touring with Vega, Colvin signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and released her debut album Steady On×Steady OnOctober 1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Steady On4:592Diamond in the Rough5:033Shotgun Down the Avalanche5:024Stranded4:035Another Long One3:466Cry Like an Angel4:527Something to Believe In4:128The Story3:599Ricochet in Time3:1110The Dead of the Night5:03 in 1989. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Colvin's second album Fat City×Fat City27 October 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Polaroids5:542Tennessee4:223Tenderness on the Block5:054Round of Blues4:485Monopoly4:266Orion in the Sky6:387Climb On (A Back That's Strong)4:168Set the Prairie on Fire7:019Object of My Affection3:5310Kill the Messenger4:3711I Don't Know Why4:37 was released in 1992 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Her song "I Don't Know Why×I Don't Know Why1993 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1I Don't Know Why (edit)3:562Polaroids (live version)6:293Cry Like an Angel (live version)4:294The Dead of the Night5:04" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female Pop Vocal category. In 1993, she moved back to Austin and, in 1994, released the album Cover Girl×Cover Girl23 August 1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic3:172(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night3:373One Cool Remove3:194Satin Sheets3:105There’s a Rugged Road3:436Killing the Blues3:477Window to the World5:158Someday4:109Twilight2:5710If These Walls Could Speak3:0611This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)4:0212You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go4:1113Ol’ 553:47. In 1995, Colvin released her album Live 88 a collection of live recordings from 1988.

In 1996, Colvin released her album A Few Small Repairs×A Few Small Repairs26 August 1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Sunny Came Home4:252Get Out of This House4:153The Facts About Jimmy5:244You and the Mona Lisa4:065Trouble4:186I Want It Back4:577If I Were Brave3:128Wichita Skyline3:39984,000 Different Delusions4:0210Suicide Alley5:3111New Thing Now3:4012Nothin' on Me3:56 and, in 1997, her single "Sunny Came Home×Sunny Came Home1997 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Sunny Came Home4:252What I Get Paid For3:243Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic3:174Steady On5:015Round of Blues4:45" spent four weeks at the number one spot on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song won the 1998 Grammy Awards for both Song and Record of the Year. Colvin released the album Holiday Songs and Lullabies×Holiday Songs and Lullabies27 October 1998 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1In the Bleak Mid-Winter4:052Christmas Time Is Here2:383Now the Day Is Over1:474Rocking2:335Windy Nights3:106All Through the Night2:057Love Came Down at Christmas3:048Silent Night3:229All the Pretty Li’l Horses1:4310Little Road to Bethlehem2:5211Seal Lullaby2:0512Evening Is a Little Boy / The Night Will Never Stay3:0913The Christ Child’s Lullaby2:2314Close Your Eyes1:39 in 1998 and in 2001 released another album called Whole New You×Whole New You27 March 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1A Matter of Minutes5:072Whole New You4:023Nothing Like You3:144Anywhere You Go3:355Bonefields4:296Another Plane Went Down5:367Bound to You3:348Roger Wilco3:569Mr. Levon4:0810One Small Year4:0911I'll Say I'm Sorry Now2:22. In 2004, she released a compilation of past songs called, Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection×Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection22 November 2004 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Steady On4:572Diamond in the Rough5:013Shotgun Down the Avalanche5:024Round of Blues4:445Polaroids5:496I Don’t Know Why4:397Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic3:188This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)4:039Sunny Came Home4:2510You and the Mona Lisa4:0711Get Out of This House4:1712The Facts About Jimmy5:2413Whole New You4:0214A Matter of Minutes5:0915I’ll Be Back3:41.
In 2006, Colvin left Columbia Records and released a 15-song album called These Four Walls×These Four Walls12 September 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Fill Me Up3:412These Four Walls2:573Tuff Kid3:094Summer Dress4:225Cinnamon Road3:516Venetian Blue3:487The Bird3:118I’m Gone2:539Let It Slide4:1710Even Here We Are2:4511So Good to See You3:4412That Don’t Worry Me Now3:4113Words2:33 on her new label, Nonesuch Records, which featured contributions by Patty Griffin and Teddy Thompson. In 2009 she released Live, which was recorded at the jazz club Yoshi's in Oakland, California.
Colvin's eighth studio album, All Fall Down×All Fall Down4 June 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1All Fall Down3:502American Jerusalem5:153Knowing What I Know Now3:254Seven Times the Charm4:265Anne of the Thousand Days4:266The Neon Lights of the Saints2:557Change Is on the Way3:178I Don't Know You3:329Fall of Rome3:5410Up on That Hill3:4511On My Own3:01, was released in 2012 and was produced by Buddy Miller at his home studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The album featured guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Jakob Dylan. Colvin published her memoir Diamond in the Rough in 2012. In 2016, she recorded an album with Steve Earle called Colvin and Earle. A Few Small Repairs was reissued in 2017, including its first pressing on vinyl, for its 20th anniversary.
Colvin has made vocal contributions to songs by James Taylor, Béla Fleck, Edwin McCain, Shawn Mullins, Elliott Murphy and Bruce Hornsby, and collaborated with Sting on the song "One Day She'll Love Me". She recorded as a duet the title track to Curtis Stigers' 1995 album "Time Was". Colvin voiced Rachel Jordan, Ned Flanders' love interest after Maude is killed, in the Simpsons episodes "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" and "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", and lent her vocals to Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1992 recordings "The Hard Way" and "Come On Come On".

Acting

Colvin has appeared in several films and television shows, including the films Grace of My Heart, Heartbreakers and Crazy as well as television shows The Larry Sanders Show, Suddenly Susan, The Simpsons, Fame L.A., The L Word and Baywatch.

Personal life

Colvin has been married twice, first to Simon Tassano in 1993 whom she divorced in 1995 and to photographer Mario Erwin, whom she married in 1997 and divorced in 2002. She gave birth to a daughter in July 1998.
Colvin has taken part in several triathlons.
Colvin says she has struggled on and off with depression, alcoholism and anxiety. She wrote about these struggles in her 2012 memoir Diamond in the Rough, published by HarperCollins.