Shawn Colvin – Live – 2009 – CD review
It takes a special breed of performer to be able to pull off a solo acoustic show in front of a large audience. When you strip away all the spectacle of a full live production (which usually include lights, band, sound reinforcement, etc.) and bring it all down to just an acoustic guitar and vocal, today’s typical singer/songwriter might not be able to keep an audience engaged for a full set of songs. Can you imagine any of the auto-tuned pop princesses on the radio these days having the cajones to stand in front of a packed crowd with just an acoustic guitar and no backup dancers, light show or a bank of computers to rely on? Something like that takes some old-fashioned talent in order to keep a crowd’s attention for more than a couple songs especially in this day and age of ADD. An artist like Shawn Colvin would be one that I’d place on the short list of performers who can successfully pull of a solo show like that. As a matter of fact, Colvin has recently released a 15-song live album simply titled Live that’s a perfect example of what it takes to do a live acoustic show.
In my opinion, Colvin brings three things to the table that keeps audiences enthralled. First off, she’s got a fantastic voice that is capable of conveying such a wide range of emotions. She’s got great control and her expert use of dynamics really shines through in this setting. Second, Colvin is a fantastic guitar player. Obviously, it takes more than just simple strumming to keep people’s interest and Colvin utilizes a variety of techniques that ultimately keeps each song fresh and unique. She also uses various alternate guitar tunings that pleasantly augment her sound with richness and depth. What surprised me when first seeing her live is the fact that she changes her tunings on-the-fly which can be very difficult to do while all eyes are waiting and watching. Other artists in a live setting usually bring along several guitars that are already tuned differently for convenience but Colvin is such a veteran of the stage, she simply changes tunings as she goes. Impressive, indeed!
and lastly, Colvin has written some strong material over the years. Her confessional-style lyrics have touched many and are so unique compared to the cliche-ridden manufactured fluff on the radio these days. Where else are you going to hear heart-breaking lines like -
“I can pack myself up in a matter of minutes, leave you all far behind. All of my old world and all the things in it are hard to find, if they ever were mine…”
or
“..wished hard enough to hurt, drove fast enough to catch the moon but I must have been dreamin’ again ’cause there’s nothing around the bend except for that flat fine line, the Wichita skyline…”
Colvin is truly a gifted artist and the new CD is just another testament to her talent and her work.
Personal favorites off the disc include – “A Matter of Minutes” (hits me down deep as a parent of young kids), “Tennessee” (I absolutely love the jazz-flavored chord she plays during the chorus), “Wichita Skyline” (love that signature percussive playing she does on the guitar), “Diamond in the Rough” and “This Must Be the Place” (I absolutely love her take on this Talking Heads tune).
retroGrade: A
Shawn Colvin – Live
Produced by Shawn Colvin and John Leventhal
Released: June 2009
Label: Nonesuch Records
Official website: ShawnColvin.com
TrackList:
1 Polaroids 5:05
2 A Matter of Minutes 4:31
3 Shotgun Down the Avalanche 4:01
4 Twilight 3:07
5 Trouble 3:55
6 Tennessee 4:01
7 Nothing Like You 3:38
8 Sunny Came Home 4:10
9 Fill Me Up 3:28
10 Wichita Skyline 3:42
11 I’m Gone 3:25
12 Ricochet in Time 4:10
13 Diamond in the Rough 4:04
14 Crazy 4:18
15 This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) 4:44
upcoming Live dates:
Sat 08/15/09 Oakland, CA Downtown Oakland
Fri 08/21/09 Saint Croix Falls, WI St. Croix Festival Theatre
Sat 08/22/09 Lisle, IL Morton Arboretum
Fri 09/04/09 Santa Fe, NM The Santa Fe Opera
Thu 09/24/09 Norfolk, CT Infinity Hall
Fri 09/25/09 Bay Shore, NY YMCA Boulton Ctr. For The Perf. Arts
Sat 09/26/09 Montclair, NJ Outpost In The Burbs
Wed 10/07/09 San Diego, CA Anthology
Thu 10/08/09 San Diego, CA Anthology
Fri 10/09/09 San Diego, CA Anthology
Sat 10/10/09 Scottsdale, AZ el Pedregal At The Boulders
Mon 10/12/09 San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s SF
Tue 10/13/09 San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s SF
Wed 10/14/09 San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s SF
Thu 10/15/09 San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s SF
Fri 10/23/09 Traverse City, MI Traverse City Opera House
Sat 10/24/09 Skokie, IL Centre East
Mon 11/02/09 New York, NY City Winery
Tue 11/03/09 New York, NY City Winery
Wed 11/04/09 New York, NY City Winery
Fri 11/06/09 Barre, VT Barre Opera House
Sat 11/07/09 Portland, ME One Longfellow Square
Fri 11/20/09 Salisbury, MA Tupelo Music Hall
Sat 11/21/09 Londonderry, NH Tupelo Music Hall
Thu 03/04/10 Greenville, SC Peace Center Concert Hall
Fri 03/05/10 Birmingham, AL Jemison Concert Hall
Fri 03/19/10 Albany, NY Hart Theatre @ The Egg
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nice review Dan. Shawn’s These Four Walls still gets regular rotation at my house. I’ll probably pick the new one up on my next trip to Border’s.
aawww. no ‘Round of Blues’? that’s my all time favorite by her. the song never gets old for me.