Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning song "

Sunny Came Home "Sunny Came Home" is a folk-rock song by American musician Shawn Colvin. It is the opening track on her 1996 concept album, ''A Few Small Repairs'', and was released as a CD and cassette single on June 24, 1997. In the United Kingdom, the song ...

Early life

Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in

Vermillion, South Dakota Vermillion ( lkt, Waséoyuze; "The Place Where Vermilion is Obtained") is a city in and the county seat of Clay County. It is in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, United States, and is the state's 12th-largest city. According to the 2020 ...

, and spent her youth in Carbondale, Illinois and

London, Ontario, Canada London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Tham ...

. 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 Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and

the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

Career

Her first paid gig came just after she started college at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. 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 drug and alcohol use. She later formed Dixie Diesels, a country-swing group. Colvin relocated to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, with the group and then entered "the folk circuit in and around

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

Koster, Rick (2000)
Texas Music
'' First St. Martin's Griffin, page 219, retrieved May 25, 2012 before straining her

vocal cords In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speec ...

and taking a sabbatical at the age of 24. Colvin relocated to New York City, joining the

Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Miller is married to and has recorded with singer-songwriter Julie Miller ...

Band in 1980 and later became involved in the ''

Fast Folk ''Fast Folk Musical Magazine'' (originally known as ''The CooP'') was a combination magazine and record album published from February 1982 to 1997. The magazine acted as a songwriter/performer cooperative, and was an outlet for singer-songwriters ...

'' cooperative of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. While participating in off-Broadway shows such as ''

Pump Boys and Dinettes ''Pump Boys and Dinettes'' is a musical written by a performance group of the same name. The group, Pump Boys and Dinettes, consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. The members directed and star ...

'' she was featured in ''Fast Folk'' magazine, and in 1987, producer

Steve Addabbo Steve Addabbo is a record producer, songwriter and audio engineer who helped launch the careers of Suzanne Vega and Shawn Colvin. He had a vital hand in Vega's hit single, " Luka" and Colvin's album '' Steady On''. Career He has produced and/or ...

hired her to sing backup vocals on the song "

Luka Luka may refer to: People * Luka (given name), a South Slavic masculine given name cognate of Luke, and a Japanese given name * Luka (singer), stage name of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Karina Santos de Lima (born 1979) * Luka Keʻelik ...

" by

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered the ...

. After touring with Vega, Colvin signed a recording contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and released her debut album '' Steady On'' in 1989. The album won a

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1991 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. As ...

.Woodstra, Chri
Shawn Colvin Biography
All Music, retrieved May 25, 2012 Colvin's second album '' Fat City'' was released in 1992 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Her song "I Don't Know Why" 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 A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a maga ...

''. 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'' and in 1997, her single "

" spent four weeks at the number one spot on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song won the 1998

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for both Song and Record of the Year. Colvin released the album ''Holiday Songs and Lullabies'' in 1998 and in 2001 released another album called ''Whole New You''. In 2004, she released a compilation of past songs called, ''Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection''. In 2006, Colvin left Columbia Records and released a 15-song album called ''These Four Walls'' on her new label,

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, No ...

, which featured contributions by

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patrici She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ha ...

and

Teddy Thompson Teddy Thompson (born 19 February 1976) is an English folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson. He released his first album in 2000. Biography Teddy Thompson ...

. In 2009 she released ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'', which was recorded at the jazz club

Yoshi's Yoshi's (also known as Yoshi's Jazz Club and Yoshi's Oakland) is a nightclub located in Jack London Square in Oakland, California, United States. The venue originally opened in 1972 as a restaurant in Berkeley, later moving to Claremont Avenu ...

in Oakland, California. ShawnColvinNovember20

Colvin's eighth studio album, ''All Fall Down'', 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 Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

and

Jakob Dylan Jakob Luke Dylan (born December 9, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band the Wallflowers. Born in New York City to musician Bob Dylan and model Sara Lownds, Dylan be ...

. 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 James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

Edwin McCain Edwin Cole McCain (born January 20, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His songs " I'll Be" (1998) and "I Could Not Ask for More" (1999) were radio top-40 hits in the U.S., and five of his albums have reached the ''Billboard ...

Shawn Mullins Shawn Mullins (born March 8, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter who specializes in folk rock, instrumental rock, adult alternative, and Americana music. His 1998 single "Lullaby", hit number one on the Adult Top 40 and was nominated for a Gr ...

Elliott Murphy Elliott James Murphy (born March 16, 1949) is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, record producer and journalist living in Paris. Biography Elliott Murphy was born in Rockville Centre, New York, grew up in Garden City, Long Island ...

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

and collaborated with Sting on the song "One Day She'll Love Me". She recorded as a duet the title track to

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

1995 album "Time Was". Colvin voiced Rachel Jordan, Ned Flanders' love interest after Maude is killed, in the

Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, a ...

episode "

Alone Again, Natura-Diddily "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" is the fourteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American television series ''The Simpsons'', and marks the final regular appearance of the character Maude Flanders. In the episode, she is killed in an acciden ...

" on February 13, 2000. and lent her vocals to

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

's 1992 recordings, " The Hard Way" and "

Come On Come On ''Come On Come On'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Mary Chapin Carpenter. Seven of its tracks became ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles hits in 1992, 1993, and 1994. They were, chronologically, "I Feel Lucky" at #4, "N ...

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 daughter, Caledonia, in July 1998. Colvin has taken part in several

triathlons A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

. Colvin says she has struggled on and off with depression,

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

. She wrote about these struggles in her 2012 memoir ''Diamond in the Rough'', published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

Other awards

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" , , - , Billboard Music Awards , Top Adult Top 40 Track , , - , rowspan=2, 1998 , APRA Music Awards , Most Performed Foreign Work , , - , MVPA Awards , Best Adult Contemporary Video , , - , 1999 ,

ASCAP Pop Music Awards The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, Most Performed Song , , - , 2001 , Video Premiere Awards , Best Original Song , "Great Big World" , , - , 2016 ,

Americana Music Honors & Awards The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Ac ...

, Americana Trailblazer Award , Herself ,

Discography

Albums

* '' Steady On'' (1989) * '' Fat City'' (1992) * ''

'' (1994) * '' A Few Small Repairs'' (1996) * '' Holiday Songs and Lullabies'' (1998) * ''

Whole New You ''Whole New You'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin, released in 2001 by Columbia Records. It was her first new release in over four years." Whole New You, ''Allmusic''. Accessed January 20, 2007. "Musical trac ...

'' (2001) * '' These Four Walls'' (2006) * '' All Fall Down'' (2012) * '' Uncovered'' (2015) * '' Colvin and Earle'' with Steve Earle (2016) * '' The Starlighter'' (2018) * ''Steady On (30th Anniversary Acoustic Edition)'' (2019)

Compilation albums

* '' Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection'' (2004) * ''

The Best of Shawn Colvin ''The Best of Shawn Colvin'' is a compilation album by Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best kno ...

'' (2010) * ''Playlist: The Very Best Of Shawn Colvin'' (2012)

Live albums

* '' Live '88'' (1995) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Lockdown: Live From Arlyn Studios'' (2021)

DVDs

* ''Music in High Places – Live in Bora Bora'' (2002) * ''Polaroids: A Video Collection'' (2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colvin, Shawn 1956 births American women singer-songwriters American folk singers Fast Folk artists Grammy Award winners Living people Musicians from London, Ontario People from Vermillion, South Dakota Musicians from Austin, Texas People from Carbondale, Illinois Singer-songwriters from Illinois 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Texas Guitarists from South Dakota 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers Columbia Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Fantasy Records artists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Singer-songwriters from South Dakota Jazz musicians from South Dakota