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 pr ...

-winning song " Sunny Came Home".

Early life

Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and spent her youth in

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson and Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". The city developed from 1853 because of the stimulation of railroad construction into the ...

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 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, notabl ...

and the Kingston Trio.

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 seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, 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 E ...

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 Band in 1980 and later became involved in the '' Fast Folk'' 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 An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

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 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 th ...

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

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

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''. 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 Repairs'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin. It was released on October 1, 1996 by Columbia Records. Background ''A Few Small Repairs'' is a concept album about divorce, as Colvin's marriage was e ...

'' and in 1997, her single " Sunny Came Home" 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 pre ...

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, which featured contributions by Patty Griffin and 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 album ...

'', which was recorded at the jazz club Yoshi's 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 Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...

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 wit ...

and Jakob Dylan. Colvin published her memoir ''Diamond in the Rough'' in 2012. In 2016 she recorded an album with

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music ...

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 List of best-selling music artists, best-sell ...

, Béla Fleck, Edwin McCain, Shawn Mullins,

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 and collaborated with

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

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 ''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'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 that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, 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 C ...

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

Other awards

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Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

, Top Adult Top 40 Track , , - , rowspan=2, 1998 ,

APRA Music Awards The APRA Music Awards in Australia are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters, and publishers who have achieved outstanding success in sales and airplay performan ...

, Most Performed Foreign Work , , - , MVPA Awards , Best Adult Contemporary Video , , - , 1999 , ASCAP Pop Music Awards , Most Performed Song , , - , 2001 , Video Premiere Awards , Best Original Song , "Great Big World" , , - , 2016 , Americana Music Honors & Awards , Americana Trailblazer Award , Herself ,

Discography

Albums

* '' Steady On'' (1989) * '' Fat City'' (1992) * '' Cover Girl'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Holiday Songs and Lullabies'' (1998) * '' Whole New You'' (2001) * '' These Four Walls'' (2006) * '' All Fall Down'' (2012) * '' Uncovered'' (2015) * '' Colvin and Earle'' with

(2016) * '' The Starlighter'' (2018) * ''Steady On (30th Anniversary Acoustic Edition)'' (2019)

Compilation albums

* '' Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection'' (2004) * '' The Best of Shawn Colvin'' (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