bigcoolguy.com

Shawn Colvin plays reasonably upbeat folk with pop and country tinges. I've spent a long time avoiding admitting that I like anything remotely country but it is getting difficult to avoid - my collection is full of stuff with a country influences. I first saw Colvin opening for John Hiatt at the Anaheim House of Blues on 17 August 2006 and enjoyed her performance, possibly more than I enjoyed Hiatt's. The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music recommended Fat City, an early album (1992), as probably the best place to start listening to her music, so I picked up a copy.

Although one of Shawn Colvin's biggest influences is Joni Mitchell, the songwriting and playing Fat City reminds me of a very good John Hiatt album. I'm a pretty big John Hiatt fan - see, I just can't escape that country tinge! Either way, it's a nice mix of influences - basically good folk music backed by a full band. Thoughtful lyrics too...

This is a really good album. Actually, one of the nice things about this album is that nothing really stands out. It is consistently good. Polaroids and Round Of Blues are great songs, and I really like Set The Prairie On Fire... but it is nice and consistent.

I'll eventually add more of Shawn Colvin's albums to my collection. I just have to figure out which. Fat City received Grammy nomination for "Best Contemporary Folk Recording". Cover Girl received a similar nomination but the followup A Few Small Repairs was nominated for "Best Pop Album". Now there's an interesting choice...