Shawn Colvin began performing on stage with her Martin D-28 long before
the term singer-songwriter became an accepted part of the language
of music critics. Her core fans, who knew her beguiling poetry from
the years she spent incessantly touring the U.S., were drawn into larger
venues to hear their heroine play after the 1989 release of Steady
On, her debut CD, which was created with the help of co-writer and
producer John Leventhal. Steady On was bursting with strong tracks,
the intense pulse of Colvin’s guitar, and soothing vocals framing the
dichotomy of her sometimes devastating, sometimes hopeful message. The
CD won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording and jump-started
her international career.
Colvin’s subsequent recordings, Fat City, Live 88, and Cover
Girl, garnered her ever wider recognition, and she again scaled
the music charts in 1997 when the single "Sunny Came Home," from A
Few Small Repairs, won Grammy awards for both Record of the Year
and Song of the Year. Several tracks from the CD dominated AAA-format
radio, and the record was a platinum seller.
After the seasonal recording Holiday Songs and Lullabies (1998),
Colvin teamed up once again with Leventhal for Whole New You.
The new release is more layered with instrumentation than her previous
recordings, but the songs are pure Colvin, consistent with the best
of her past work. You hear the same intimate sense of story that permeates
her lyrics and the same focused, sincere melodic and vocal style.
Although Colvin is typically modest about her musical accomplishments,
her evocative vocals, considerable songwriting talents, and percussive
guitar playing have influenced a generation of musicians. Her right-hand
muting, pull-offs, hammer-ons, and varied fingerpicking techniques do
more than just set up the song structure and support her vocals. And
she often uses alternate tunings (including dropped D and variations
of open G and open D) to create fuller sonic palettes.
Her live shows have taken on a lighter tone in recent years, with Colvin
relaxing into her stage act. She is disarming, funny, and often brutally
honest about herself, making her life, not others, the brunt of whatever
jokes she spins off between songs (and occasionally in the middle of
a song).
I caught up with Colvin just after the release of Whole New You
and before the start of her solo U.K. and U.S. summer tours. We talked
about her songwriting, guitar playing, and performances and about how
the new record took shape.
How has your playing style evolved over the years?
Colvin I don’t know if I’ve learned
all that much in the last ten years in terms of different tunings or
more complicated picking styles. But experience has paid off in terms
of having a feel for the instrument, relaxing with it, and being more
dynamic. I’m a more comfortable player.
When you talk about being more dynamic, are you talking about volume
or energy?
Colvin I was thinking of volume. But
the amount of energy applies, too. What’s fun is that a song you do
one way when it’s new can become very different after you’ve done it
for a while. A very energetic song can eventually become subdued and
vice-versa.
You’ve always been known for your right-hand technique, your muting
and rhythmic playing. Has that changed over time?
Colvin I think it’s probably less
pronounced. That seemed to be my little signature in the beginning,
something distinctive. It evolved because I played alone so much. Putting
enough rhythm in the right hand made it sound like more was going on
than just a voice and a strumming guitar. I don’t think about it as
much now. In fact, it’s kind of fun to play things more wide open. There’s
a song on the last record, "Wichita Skyline," where I put as little
percussion in as possible and just keep it extremely open.
What other new guitar techniques are you using now?
Colvin I love playing the guitar.
I’m crazy about the acoustic guitar and I sleep with it by my bed, but
I really have more to say about the process of writing than the actual
specifics of being a good player or having a good guitar. It’s sort
of my partner, and we need each other. I probably don’t have the knowledge
that people would expect me to have about guitar. I practiced for years
(obviously I had to learn to do what I did), and I was a student of
a lot of people. But in a way, it’s really an intuitive process—the
entire musical thing.
How does your co-writing process with John Leventhal work? Does
he give you a basic musical structure over which you write a melody
and lyrics?
Colvin Most of the time he has much
more than that laid down. He defines things in a production sense. That
leaves a lot of room for me to come up with a way to play it on guitar
that’s really mine.
He’s thinking about production and you’re thinking about guitar?
Colvin He hears the whole picture
and has a way of demoing that up that I just don’t have the tools to
do. So I generally get a fuller piece of music that I then have to break
down, and that’s true with this record, too. Like "Whole New You," you
just wouldn’t think of that song as an acoustic guitar song, yet I do
it by myself. So I had the opportunity to strip that song down and make
something different out of it.
Were you involved during the production of the tracks on the new
record?
Colvin I was there for a lot of it.
I was there for all the mix, but I wasn’t there for the mastering. On
my first record, I was paying great attention to every note. I don’t
think the record would have turned out all that much differently if
I’d been able to walk away here and there. It’s valuable to walk away
and come back with fresh ears to what the other person is doing. A trust
has evolved between John and me, and I can walk away now. So I’m not
there for every shaker hit. I can come in after some work has been done
for a day and say, "That instrument really helped that part" or "That
didn’t need to be there." John loves as many ideas as he can come up
with. Simplicity is important sometimes, and I guess I serve that function.
You’re not credited in the CD liner notes for playing guitar on
the tracks. Did you play on any of them?
Colvin Yeah, I just didn’t credit
any of them. I didn’t give myself credit on this CD for any instruments
because I didn’t feel like what I did was anything that someone else
couldn’t have done. The guitar playing on this CD was just not my focus
this time. Like on "Nothing Like You," which is the totally acoustic
guitar–based song on the record, it’s not me playing the guitar. I can
play that now, and it sounds just like the record. If you look at the
first couple of records, I spent a lot of time playing those songs live
before they got recorded, so I knew what I was doing. I could have spent
some time learning the songs on the new record better so I could be
the one to play them (rather than John), but I didn’t want to spend
the time doing it. Now I can play them fine.
How did you feel about the production on Whole New You, compared
to previous CDs you’ve released?
Colvin It is a lush sounding record.
We didn’t go in with that intention. The last record was sparer, and
that’s where I tend to like to go. But I still felt like every song
sounded and felt right, even though I would take a step back and go,
"Wow, this has got a lot of stuff on it."
Did you use a lot of alternate tunings on the new CD?
Colvin I did on quite a few songs.
The ones that are in alternate tunings are all pretty much in G tuning
with a C in the bass (C G D G B D). That’s become a favorite. "Roger
Wilco" is in that. ["Matter of Minutes" was recorded in a variation
of that tuning, but with the B string dropped down a half step to Bb,
and capoed on the first fret.] "Whole New You" is in standard tuning,
but the guitar is tuned down a half step, which was just some wild hair
of John’s. He probably had a guitar that was already tuned down.
Do you explore new tunings when you get a chance?
Colvin I mess around, but I usually
start with something I know and then change it from a major key to a
minor, or something like that. I like to know where I’m at so I can
get back to it. If it’s too outrageous I have to keep a record of it,
and I’m not the best record keeper. My friend Mary Chapin Carpenter
showed me the value of just changing one string. If you pick the right
key and change one string, you can actually get a neat effect. You don’t
have to change the whole tuning of the guitar to do something interesting.
When you were out on tour last year with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne,
and Bruce Hornsby, you all played as a band, doing some of each of your
songs. What was your focus as a guitar player in that kind of band configuration?
Colvin The first thing I think of
in a situation like that, like when I toured with Richard Thompson,
is to retune the guitar. If somebody else is playing acoustic guitar,
you’re generally going to come up with something that can sound cool.
There’s one song in particular I can think of—one of Jackson’s songs
called "The Next Voice You Hear." I retuned to some droney thing (either
open G or open D) and really didn’t play anything on the verses, only
on this great chorus that opens up. It really sounded great. I felt
I added something.
In your shows, you talk and joke around with your audience quite
a bit. Do you approach performance differently than you did years ago?
Colvin It’s been a natural evolution.
I used to be reticent to talk at all, and somehow I started taking chances
with talking in an unscripted way—and for the most part it was a good
idea. It keeps shows interesting for me, and people seem to enjoy it.
I’ve definitely gone too far, but I’m not interested in having a well-scripted
show.
I think some people can do that really well, like Lyle Lovett. I’ve
toured with Lyle, and he did about the same show every night. He said
very little, and when he did say something, it was perfect for him.
He’s so dry. You just hang on his every word. If he gave away too much,
it would be no good. He did the same songs night after night, and I
was riveted. I watched every single show that he did, and I can’t say
that about everybody. So what works for one doesn’t necessarily work
for another.
I don’t particularly want to pose up there. I feel much better about
the music and much better about where the set can go if I just wing
it a little bit and get to know the audience. Sometimes it bombs. Sometimes
I can’t break the ice. Then I try to be provocative and say something
gross that will break the ice. Most of the time it works. It loosens
me up and makes me feel comfortable. It makes me feel like they’re seeing
something besides just the songs.
Do you have plans for a live album?
Colvin There’s a project out there
somewhere that has to do with a lot of outtakes—not necessarily album
outtakes, but just songs that have gone by the wayside.
How do you see your place in the music scene these days?
Colvin This business is only interesting
to me to a certain point. If it’s not an emotional, growing experience
for me, I don’t want to do it. You have to let the trends be what they
are and believe in people’s need for whatever it is you might be trying
to say.
You’ve said the songs on the new album were harder to write, being
a new mother and having a lot to deal with including following up a
platinum, Grammy-winning album. Do you feel like it’ll get easier again?
Colvin I think it’ll be easier again.
Writing’s never been the easiest thing I’ve done. With this last record,
there was a combination of pressure: needing to do it and hopefully
having it [sell] as well as the last one. It was hard not to think about
those things. And then having Callie, [her daughter], put me in a position
of having to work harder at it. But when I’m feeling less pressure and
I’m more comfortable with my life, I have a pretty good time.
DISCOGRAPHY
Whole New You, Columbia 69889 (2001).
Holiday Songs and Lullabies, Columbia 69550 (1998).
A Few Small Repairs, Columbia 67119 (1996).
Live ’88, Plump 5901 (1995).
Cover Girl, Columbia 57875 (1994).
Fat City, Columbia 47122 (1992).
Steady On, Columbia 45209 (1989).
Excerpted
from Acoustic
Guitar magazine, September 2001, No. 106.
That
issue also contained a transcription of the Colvin's "Nothing Like
You," a story remembering fingerstyle pioneer John Fahey, and a
feature about guitars in the classroom.
