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Music | 10/29/2009 |
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Singing for Sky Lake
Shawn Colvin plays Bearsville this Sunday as benefit for Rosendale meditation center |
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by Bob Margolis
Shawn Colvin is far beyond her labeled persona: singer/songwriter. Yes, she does both those things; but how many can leave a listener blissed out, whether from an original composition or a well-chosen cover tune? Her records have found critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase who have responded to her offerings from her pen or interpretations (Cover Girl). She is also a mother, fan of odd guitar tunings, and over the phone seems like the hip woman one develops a crush on, yet is cool with having her as a pal. She plays an intimate solo gig at the Bearsville this Sunday, November 1 to benefit Sky Lake Lodge, the Shambhala Buddhist resort in Rosendale.
"I have really good friends there, and I am always happy to be asked to play benefits for causes like this one," explained the 53-year-old Austin resident. Playing for something beyond one's own self is a welcome antidote for the loneliness of the road, which in Colvin's case is aided by just her road manager. "It's funny, I just called [bassist] Larry Klein to see if he wanted to come out and join me!"
She doesn't sound like she is longing for anything on her new live record, which captures Colvin in fine form over a week of dates at Yoshi's in San Francisco. Yes, the voice is great, the tunes well-constructed. But what also comes across is her formidable skill on a new-model Martin. "I actually have gotten recognition as being a good guitarist - I would say I'm a good accompanist - which when solo is half the battle, right?"
Her career, she said, has had a nice trajectory, including a Top Ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Sunny Came Home" in 1997, three Grammy Awards and a tune, "Never Saw Blue like That," showcased in the 1999 movie Runaway Bride.
Colvin is very much at ease these days. Music was once her "lifeline" growing up in Illinois. Later, in New York, it became her dream. But these days? These days it's just fun.
Colvin picked up the guitar when she was 10 to escape from her "provincial '50s family," she said. She was a creative, anxious, depressed kid who rebelled against her parents, experimenting with boys, marijuana and alcohol. ("Tuff Kid," off her 2006 album These Four Walls, reflects elements of her upbringing.) "My parents really did the best they could," Colvin said. "I was just a wild child. I just wanted out of the house at a very young age."
Her formal guitar training came in the form of lessons with a college student who taught her Joni Mitchell's alternate guitar tunings. "I was crazy about Joni," Colvin said. She was also so desperate to leave home that she graduated from high school a year early. By the 1980s, Colvin was playing in New York, a part of the Village folk scene. She also turned to alcohol and struggled with depression. Music, for her then, was a "dramatic escape mechanism." But unlike the stereotypical alcoholic artist whose craft is fed by his addiction, Colvin kicked her habit at age 27 - mostly out of pride, she said. She didn't like the idea of people thinking, "'What the hell happened to her?'...I got my priorities more in order," she said.
She began writing music and getting serious. She was 33 when Steady On was released, and she won her first Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
As if making a new record isn't enough, look for a book of Colvin's often-funny stories told from the stage. Harper Collins will be publishing her first monograph of this sort in 2010.
Doors open this Sunday, November 1 at 7 p.m.; the Bearsville Theater show starts at 8 p.m. Golden Circle seats (first three rows on the floor and first two rows in the balcony) are $45; other reserved seats $30; standing room $20. To order, call (845) 679-4406.
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© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
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