SHAWN COLVIN Biography - Musicians

 
 

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SHAWN COLVIN

Name: Shawn Colvin                                                                       
Born: 10 January 1956 Vermillion, South Dakota, United States                           
                                                                                         
Shawn Colvin (born January 10, 1956 in Vermillion, South Dakota) is a Grammy             
Award-winning musician.                                                                 
                                                                                         
Colvin's 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 University of           
Illinois campus. Colvin cites Joni Mitchell as a primary influence on her music,         
and her initial performances closely mirrored Mitchell's inflections and guitar         
tunings.                                                                                 
                                                                                         
Colvin began working in the music scene in earnest in the late 1970s, first in           
Austin, Texas and then nationally. She met music partner John Leventhal during           
this time; Leventhal would go on to be 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". Colvin, again can be heard singing backing vocals on           
Mary Chapin Carpenter's, "The Hard Way" and "Come On Come On" and Mary Chapin           
returns 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 on-stage to several Bruce           
Hornsby songs.                                                                           
                                                                                         
Colvin's first several albums were met with critical acclaim, but did not sell           
in substantial numbers. After several albums of original work, Colvin released "Cover   
Girl", a collection of cover songs, but the work was a departure for her and was         
not well received. During this period, she also toured as Richard Thompson's             
opening act and back-up singer.                                                         
                                                                                         
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. (During her acceptance speech, however, she was             
interrupted by Ol' Dirty Bastard.) She has released several subsequent albums           
that were nominated for Grammys, and has also released a greatest-hits album and         
a collection of Christmas music.                                                         
                                                                                         
She was the guest vocal artist on the Lisa Loeb single "'Falling in Love" as             
well as appearing 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 also appeared in a             
tribute to her idol Joni Mitchell in 2001 that was broadcast on the cable               
network TNT.                                                                             
                                                                                         
Shawn made two memorable appearances on 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 The Simpsons as Rachel Jordan, lead singer         
for a Christian rock band. She first appears in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily",           
where Rachel wins Ned Flanders' heart after the untimely death of his wife,             
Maude. 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 Maude. The two             
promptly get back together at the end of the same episode, though she hasn't             
been mentioned in the series since.                                                     
                                                                                         
Shawn 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.                                                                             
                                                                                         
In 2007, Shawn released a single entitled "Crazy", a cover of the Gnarls Barkley         
song.                                                                                   
                                                                                         
She can be heard on Chris Botti's tune All Would Envy written by Sting.