Shawn Colvin
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| Shawn Colvin | |
|---|---|
 Colvin in June 2008 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | January 10, 1956 Vermillion, South Dakota, United States |
| Origin | Carbondale, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Rock, contemporary folk |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | Columbia (1989-2004) Nonesuch (2005-present) |
| Website | www.shawncolvin.com |
Shawn Colvin (born January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician.
Contents |
[edit] Childhood and early career
Shawn was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age of 10. Her first public concert was at age 15 at the Southern Illinois University campus. Shawn cites Joni Mitchell as a primary influence on her music, and her initial performances reflected that.
[edit] Career
[edit] Music
Shawn began working in the music scene in earnest in the late 1970s, first in Austin, Texas and then nationally. She moved to New York City in 1980, where she became involved with the Fast Folk cooperative in Greenwich Village.[1]
She met music partner John Leventhal during this time; Leventhal became Colvin's producer on several albums. Colvin often lends her talent to contemporaries in the music business; she can be heard singing the backing vocals on the Suzanne Vega hit, "Luka". Vega returned the favor, singing backup on Colvin's "Diamond In The Rough", from her debut album, Steady On. Early in their careers, Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter formed a friendship that led to their frequently guesting on one-another's recordings: Colvin lent her vocals to Carpenter's 1992 recordings "The Hard Way" and "Come On Come On", and Mary Chapin returned the favor on Colvin's "Climb On a Back That's Strong", from Colvin's Fat City album. She also contributed in the studio and onstage to several Bruce Hornsby songs.
Colvin spent a short time in 1987-1988 with the North Carolina-based experimental string band the Red Clay Ramblers.
In 1988, Colvin was asked to perform a "trio" concert with fellow folk singer/songwriters Cheryl Wheeler and Mary Chapin Carpenter. The three performed two consecutive nights to critical acclaim at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. During these performances, Colvin performed several songs which appeared on her first two albums. The performances were recorded at the soundboard, but they were never released officially.[citation needed]
Colvin also has connections with singer/songwriters Julie Miller and Buddy Miller. Shawn became involved musically with the Millers when all three were working in Austin in the late 1970s/early '80s. Shawn provided backing vocals on Julie's first three solo albums (now out of print) released in 1990, 1991 and 1993.
Colvin's first several albums did not sell in substantial numbers, although she won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording for her debut album, Steady On (1990). After several albums of original work, Colvin released Cover Girl, a collection of cover versions. During this period, she also toured as Richard Thompson's opening act and back-up singer. She also sang "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" with Ernie on Sesame Street, Ernie sang when Colvin said "hi" to him.
Colvin experienced breakthrough success with A Few Small Repairs in October 1996. The single "Sunny Came Home" reached the US Top Ten, and won Grammy Awards for Song and Record of the Year. She has released several subsequent albums which were nominated for Grammys, and she has also released a greatest hits album and a collection of Christmas music.
Colvin was the guest vocal artist on the Lisa Loeb single "Falling in Love". She performed at various Lilith Fair music festivals. Colvin's song "Nothin' on Me" served as the theme song to the Brooke Shields situation comedy Suddenly Susan. She also has been featured on the live music show Austin City Limits and played at the 2003 Austin City Limits Music Festival. She appeared in a 2001 tribute to Joni Mitchell that was broadcast on TNT.
Colvin appeared on The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (Bobfest) - October 16, 1992, at the Madison Square Garden, NYC. She performed "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" with Rosanne Cash and Mary-Chapin Carpenter. She was part of the group of artists who performed "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Both performances (including a picture of her) can be found on "Bob Dylan - The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration" (Columbia 4740000 2)
Colvin appeared on Live from Abbey Road, which aired on Channel 4 in the UK and the Sundance Channel in the USA. Her live session recorded at Abbey Road Studios was shown on an episode with Nerina Pallot, The Zutons and Ray LaMontagne.
Colvin has recorded "Hold On To The Good Things" in 2002 that was played during the ending credits of Stuart Little 2. She also recorded "A Great Big World" which was played in The Little Bear Movie.
In 2007, Colvin released a single titled "Crazy", a cover of the Gnarls Barkley song.
Colvin released a 15-song Live collection on June 23, 2009 on Nonesuch [1]. The album was recorded live in San Francisco during a three-night stint at Yoshi's in July 2008.
[edit] Television and film
Colvin made a few appearances on the comedy series The Larry Sanders Show, in the episodes "The Young Intern" (where she performed an acoustic version of "Polaroids") and "The New Writer" (where she performed an acoustic version of "Get Out of This House"). Colvin also ended the final episode of The Larry Sanders Show with an acoustic cover of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?".
She has made two guest appearances on animated comedy series The Simpsons as Rachel Jordan, lead singer for Christian rock band Kovenant (not related to the Norwegian black metal rock band The Kovenant). She first appeared in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", where Rachel wins widower Ned Flanders' heart. Later, in the episode "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", Ned dates Rachel, only to scare her off when he tries to turn her into a version of his deceased wife Maude. The two promptly get back together at the end of the same episode. She has not been mentioned in the series since then.
Colvin played country music legend Kitty Wells in a role in Crazy, a film that features a number of contemporary artists as music stars of the past.
Colvin's rendition of "Viva Las Vegas" can be heard during the closing credits of the Coen Brothers film, The Big Lebowski.
In 2008, she donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.
Colvin appeared in a Season 2 episode of The L Word, "Land Ahoy," as herself.
On HBO's show Treme, Colvin appeared as herself in performance in New Orleans at the House of Blues in the second season's episode #4: "Santa Claus, Do You Ever Get the Blues?".
[edit] Awards and recognition
- Grammy Awards
- 1991: Best Contemporary Folk Album — Steady On
- 1998: Record of the Year — "Sunny Came Home"
- 1998: Song of the Year — "Sunny Came Home"
- Grammy Nominations
- 1994: Best Contemporary Folk Recording — Fat City
- 1994: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance — "I Don't Know Why"
- 1995: Best Contemporary Folk Album — Cover Girl
- 1997: Best Pop Album — A Few Small Repairs
- 1997: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance — "Get Out of This House"
- 1998: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance — "Sunny Came Home"
- 2009: Best Contemporary Folk Recording - "Shawn Colvin Live"
- Video Premiere Award Nomination
- 2001: Best Original Song - "Great Big World" (The Little Bear Movie) [2]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [2] |
AUS [3] |
NZ [4] |
UK [5] |
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| Steady On |
|
111 | — | — | — | ||||
| Fat City |
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142 | — | — | — | ||||
| Cover Girl |
|
48 | — | — | 67 | ||||
| A Few Small Repairs |
|
39 | 48 | 24 | 100 | ||||
| Holiday Songs and Lullabies |
|
181 | — | — | — | ||||
| Whole New You |
|
101 | — | — | 122 | ||||
| These Four Walls |
|
109 | — | — | 104 | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
[edit] Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Live '88 |
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| Live |
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[edit] Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection |
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] |
US AC [8] |
US Alt [9] |
US Adult [10] |
CAN [11] |
UK [12] |
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| 1990 | "Steady On" | — | 30 | 23 | — | — | — | Steady on | |
| "Diamond in the Rough" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1992 | "Round of Blues" | — | — | 25 | — | — | 73 | Fat City | |
| "Climb on (A Back That's Strong)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "I Don't Know Why" | — | — | — | — | 59 | 62 | ||
| 1994 | "Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic" | — | — | — | — | — | 65 | Cover Girl | |
| 1995 | "One Cool Remove" (with Mary Chapin Carpenter) | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | ||
| "I Don't Know Why" (re-release) | — | — | — | — | — | 52 | Fat City | ||
| 1997 | "Get Out of This House" | — | — | — | — | — | 70 | A Few Small Repairs | |
| "Sunny Came Home" | 7 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 29 | |||
| "You and Mona Lisa" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1998 | "Nothin' on Me" | — | — | — | 24 | 25 | — | ||
| 2001 | "Whole New You" | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | Whole New You | |
| "Bound to You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2006 | "Fill Me Up" | — | — | — | — | — | — | These Four Walls | |
| 2007 | "Crazy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album song | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
[edit] Other contributions
- One Fine Day (film) Track 5: "Someone Like You" - (CD) - Sony - 1996
- Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours]' Track 7: "The Chain" — (CD) — Atlantic Records — 1998
- Elmopalooza! Track 6: "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" (with Ernie) — (CD) — Sony Wonder — 1998
- Armageddon Track 6: "When the rainbow comes" — (CD) — 1998
- Runaway Bride Track 8: "Never Saw Blue Like That Before" — (CD) — Sony — 1999
- Serendipity Track 7: "When You Know" — (CD) — Sony — 2001
- 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin - Broadcasts Vol.10 Track 7: "Not a Drop of Rain" — (CD) — 2002
- WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air Performances Track 3: "Whole New You" — (CD) — 2002
- Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins Track 5: "Secret Gardens" — (CD) — Wildflower — 2008
- Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Outbound - Track 3: "A Moment So Close" (Vocals) - (CD) - 2000
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hochman, Steve. "A Folk Stylist Hangs on to Intimacy Artist: Shawn Colvin.", Los Angeles Times, November 26, 1989. Accessed June 5, 2009.
- ^ "Shawn Colvin Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/shawn-colvin/chart-history/4336?f=305&g=Albums. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". Hung Medien. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?cat=a&search=Shawn+Colvin. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?cat=a&search=Shawn+Colvin. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Chart Log UK: Chris C. - CZR". The Official Charts Company. http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_C.HTM. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "American album certifications – Shawn Colvin – A Few Small Repairs". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22A+Few+Small+Repairs%22. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
- ^ "Shawn Colvin Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/shawn-colvin/chart-history/4336. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Shawn Colvin Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/shawn-colvin/chart-history/4336?f=341&g=Singles. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Shawn Colvin Album & Song Chart History - Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/shawn-colvin/chart-history/4336?f=377&g=Singles. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Shawn Colvin Album & Song Chart History - Adult Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/shawn-colvin/chart-history/4336?f=343&g=Singles. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Top Singles". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=0uunpaitnl9sa5s2vm3g33mr46&q1=Shawn+Colvin&q2=Top+Singles&interval=20. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ "Chart Stats - Shawn Colvin". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6938. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- These Four Walls
- Shawn Colvin at the Internet Movie Database
- Rock On the Net Artist page
- Yahoo Music Artist page
- VH1 Artist page
- Public radio special (2-hr), produced by Paul Ingles, rock historian
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