Shawn Colvin

Growing up on a musical diet of the likes of Peter Seeger and the Kingston Trio, Shawn Colvin learned to play the guitar at the age of 10. Having been raised in London, Ontario, Canada, and Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., to pursue her music Colvin moved to Austin, Texas and joined the Western swing band the Dixie Diesels. The singer subsequently joined both the Illinois and Berkeley, California folk circuits before taking a hiatus to allow her strained voice to repair itself.

In 1980 Colvin moved to New York City and became a member of the Buddy Miller Band, which after Buddy Miller’s departure became, The Shawn Colvin Band. By this time Colvin was becoming a recognised and respected folk singer aided by her involvement in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village. After contributing to off-broadway shows including “Diamond Studs” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes”, and featuring in Fast Folk magazine, producer Steve Addabbo enlisted her vocals talents to sing backup to the Suzanne Vega song “Luka”.

Colvin subsequently began a fruitful working relationship with John Leventhal, who together produced a live tape, which earned the attention of Columbia Records. With major label backing the singer released her debut album “Steady On” in 1989. The album, with backup vocals provided by Suzanne Vega, was well-received and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Colvin’s sophomore album, “Fat City”, arrived in 1992, featuring more distinguishable pop sensibilities. Like its predecessor the album earned strong reviews and spawned the Grammy-nominated single “I Don’t Know Why”.

The signer’s third full-length “Cover Girl”, a collection of cover songs including the likes of Bob Dylan, Dave Byrne and Tom Waits, was marked by Colvin’s move back to Austin, Texas in 1994. After the release of “Live 88”, a collection of live recordings from 1988, the singer began work on her 1996 breakthrough album. “A Few Small Repairs” was issued by Columbia in 1996 to a host of favourable reviews. A concept album documenting the breakdown of her marriage, “A Few Small Repairs” peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the adult contemporary smash hit “Sunny Came Home”. The single was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1997 Grammy Awards and topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

“Holiday Songs and Lullabies” arrived in 1998 as Colvin became a mother, followed by the full-length “Whole New You” in 2001, and the 15-year anniversary compilation “Ploaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection” in 2004. After making the move to the Nonesuch label in 2006, Colvin released her seventh studio album “These Four Walls”, featuring contributions from Patti Griffin and Teddy Thompson. “All Fall Down” followed in 2012 with guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Jakob Dylan, and once again earned strong reviews from the musical press.