''Steady On'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter

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 known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early ...

, released on October 17, 1989 by

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 ...

. In addition to launching Colvin's career the album won the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 33rd Grammy Awards in February 1991. ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' calls the album, "a must have for anyone who loves acoustic music created in the grand tradition of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

and

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 ...

." Notable guest appearances include

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The album reached 111 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1989. The title track was released as a single and in 1990 reached 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Track listing

Arrangement ideas were contributed by

T-Bone Wolk Tom "T-Bone" Wolk (December 24, 1951 – February 28, 2010) was an American musician and bassist for the music duo Daryl Hall & John Oates and a member of the ''Saturday Night Live'' house band. Life and career Wolk was born and raised in Yon ...

and Phil Galdston on "Diamond in the Rough" and

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1 ...

on "Another Long One".

Personnel

;Musicians *

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 ...

– tambourine * Michael Blair – drums, percussion *

– lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, background vocals * Charles Curtis – cello * Steve Gaboury – keyboards, drum programming *

– piano *

Lucy Kaplansky Lucy Kaplansky (born February 16, 1960) is an American Folk music, folk musician based in New York City. Kaplansky has a PhD in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University and plays guitar, mandolin, and piano. Life and career Kaplansky was or ...

– background vocals *

John Leventhal John Leventhal (born December 18, 1952) is a musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has produced albums for William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Michelle Branch, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Rodne ...

– guitar, bass, mandolin, keyboards, tambourine, background vocals, drum programming *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– guitar, dobro, high-strung guitar * Dennis McDermott – drums *

Rick Marotta Richard Thomas Marotta (born January 7, 1948) is an American drummer and percussionist. He has appeared on recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Ste ...

– drums * Bob Riley – guitar, keyboards, drum programming * Bob Telson – organ *

Soozie Tyrell Soozie Tyrell (born May 4, 1957), formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist, guitarist, and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band and formerly The Sessions Band. Biography Tyrell wa ...

– fiddle, background vocals *

– background vocals on "Diamond in the Rough" *

– guitar, bass, accordion ;Production *

– co-producer, engineer * Paul Angelli – assistant engineer * Kris Brauninger – assistant engineer * Carol Chen – art direction * Ronald K. Fierstein – executive producer * Phil Galdston – assistant arranger * Kevin Halpin – engineer * Geoff Keehn – engineer * Kevin Killen – mixing * Phil Klum – assistant engineer *

– co-producer *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering * Marcus Miller – assistant engineer * UE Nastasi – assistant engineer * Frank Ockenfels – photography * Mark Partis – engineer * Malcolm Pollack – engineer * David Sanborn – assistant arranger, arrangement collaboration * Ted Spencer – engineer * Dary Sulich – assistant engineer

Charts

Release history

References

External links

"Rock on the Net: Shawn Colvin"
a timeline of Colvin's releases, awards {{Authority control 1989 debut albums Shawn Colvin albums Albums produced by John Leventhal Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Steve Addabbo