Shawn Colvin and Marc Cohn

Growing up on a musical diet of the likes of Peter Seeger and the Kingston Trio, Shawn Colvin learned to play the guitar at the age of 10. Having been raised in London, Ontario, Canada, and Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., to pursue her music Colvin moved to Austin, Texas and joined the Western swing band the Dixie Diesels. The singer subsequently joined both the Illinois and Berkeley, California folk circuits before taking a hiatus to allow her strained voice to repair itself.

In 1980 Colvin moved to New York City and became a member of the Buddy Miller Band, which after Buddy Miller’s departure became, The Shawn Colvin Band. By this time Colvin was becoming a recognised and respected folk singer aided by her involvement in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village. After contributing to off-broadway shows including “Diamond Studs” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes”, and featuring in Fast Folk magazine, producer Steve Addabbo enlisted her vocals talents to sing backup to the Suzanne Vega song “Luka”.

Colvin subsequently began a fruitful working relationship with John Leventhal, who together produced a live tape, which earned the attention of Columbia Records. With major label backing the singer released her debut album “Steady On” in 1989. The album, with backup vocals provided by Suzanne Vega, was well-received and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Colvin’s sophomore album, “Fat City”, arrived in 1992, featuring more distinguishable pop sensibilities. Like its predecessor the album earned strong reviews and spawned the Grammy-nominated single “I Don’t Know Why”.

The signer’s third full-length “Cover Girl”, a collection of cover songs including the likes of Bob Dylan, Dave Byrne and Tom Waits, was marked by Colvin’s move back to Austin, Texas in 1994. After the release of “Live 88”, a collection of live recordings from 1988, the singer began work on her 1996 breakthrough album. “A Few Small Repairs” was issued by Columbia in 1996 to a host of favourable reviews. A concept album documenting the breakdown of her marriage, “A Few Small Repairs” peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the adult contemporary smash hit “Sunny Came Home”. The single was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1997 Grammy Awards and topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

“Holiday Songs and Lullabies” arrived in 1998 as Colvin became a mother, followed by the full-length “Whole New You” in 2001, and the 15-year anniversary compilation “Ploaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection” in 2004. After making the move to the Nonesuch label in 2006, Colvin released her seventh studio album “These Four Walls”, featuring contributions from Patti Griffin and Teddy Thompson. “All Fall Down” followed in 2012 with guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Jakob Dylan, and once again earned strong reviews from the musical press.

Born in the severely un-rock and roll settings of Cleveland, Ohio, Marc Cohn has a backstory that would put steel in anyone’s soul. His mother died when he was two years old and his father passed when he was twelve, so he found solace in music, writing songs while learning to play guitar by the time he was in junior high school. By the time he reached college he’d diversified into playing the piano as well, and after he transferred from the Oberlin College of his native Ohio to the University of California, Los Angeles, he started playing solo shows around the campus’ local coffee houses.

Once he started to pick up a strong reputation in L.A, he moved to New York City to try and make a career out of music. At first he worked as a demo artist, taking songs by everyone from Jerry Webb to Leiber and Stoller and recording them to be shopped around record labels, before taking a job as a backing vocalist. He tooled around behind the scenes of the music industry, appearing as a singer on various records including an album of songs from Starlight Express in 1987, but in 1989 he found a more dignified gig as Tracy Chapman’s backing pianist. It was while performing with her that a demo CD of his piano playing, voice and songs fell into the hands of Atlantic Records, resulting in a contract with them soon afterwards.

No-one could have foreseen just how successful Cohn would become. His debut single “Walking In Memphis”, was released in 1991 and was an absolute smash hit, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Propelled by the success of “Walking In Memphis”, his self-titled debut album was certified Gold within a year of its release and he netted the Best New Artist award at the following year’s Grammy Awards. In terms of commercial success this arguably set Cohn for life, as he never reached those heights again, but who would? He saw out the rest of the year releasing acclaimed albums to a devoted fanbase, and even had the mighty Cher cover “Walking In Memphis” for a single in 1995.

Cohn’s story turned horrific in 2005 after he was shot in the head during an attempted carjacking, in Denver, Colorado. Astonishingly, the bullet struck him in the temple and didn’t penetrate his skull, so he was hospitalised for a night and released the next day. He’s released two new studio albums since the event and remains the poster boy for the best kind of one hit wonder. He has his one hit that everyone knows and loves, but there is also a lot to love in everything released after his time near the top of the charts. Also, now that he’s in his fourth decade performing, few people can put on a live show of his calibre. For that, Mark Cohn comes highly recommended.