Shawn Colvin - University of Calgary 1993

 From the vaults: found this unpublished review of Shawn Colvin at the University of Calgary in 1993 when I was on a trip in western Canada. There were two handwritten versions and a typewritten which may have been submitted for publication. It remained unpublished until now. 

Looking fragile under heavy lidded eyes Shawn Colvin takes to the stage to face a boisterous audience at the University of Calgary. She leans on the band for the opening couple of numbers while she finds her level and then picks her way through her repertoire delighting the audience with selections from the albums Fat City and Steady On. The up-tempo 'Round of Blues' gives way to the delicate 'Shotgun Down the Avalanche' as she silences an initially noisy crowd with her skill.

Years of club dates have not only taught Colvin how to capture an audiences attention it has also seen her develop into a fine guitar picker. she is ably assisted by her band, particularly the excellent Steuart Smith formerly sideman to both Rodney Crowell and Roseanne Cash. His playing is unobtrusive but you're always aware that he is doing more than just playing guitar. T-Bone Wolk is a revelation. For some time I'd been under the delusion that T-Bone Wolk was the bass plying pseudonym of T-Bone Burnett. This delusion is nixed when a tall be-hatted Texan* with a Hofner bass arrived on stage and proceeded to play the most melodic bass I've ever heard - truly sublime!

In recognition that she is playing in Canada Colvin includes a couple of Canadian friendly covers in the Band's 'Look out Cleveland' and 'Restless Heart' by Steve Earle - though a Texan Earle is something of a star in Canada. The reaction more than suggests that the audience appreciates her consideration and when it finally comes time to call it a night the shouts for more are certainly for real.

Shawn Colvin has something very special in the combination of songs, voice and music which live she builds slowly, almost stealthily until you're hooked and you don't want her to stop. Wonderful.

*Postscript: above is what I wrote at the time word for word including the continuing T-Bone Wolk delusion - he was not a Texan (T-Bone Burnett is a tall Texan) but from Yonkers, New York. I saw Shawn Colvin live one more time in 1994 in Edinburgh at La Belle Angele. Same sublime and at times fragile performance. I think that performance prompted me to marshal the thoughts I'd scribbled down on her Calgary performance into a presentable review. I turned down the chance to meet her afterwards. I still hold Fat City and Steady On as two of my favourite albums. 

  https://shawncolvin.com/