It was amazing to me and rather disheartening to find that even friends and acquaintances that I had considered music mavens had no idea who Shawn Colvin is. Every time I excitedly told of my plans to cover her one-woman show at the House of Blues in Hollywood, they would throw their heads back in contemplation and after a moment’s hesitation, say, “Oh, yeah, I love that guy!” And then I, trying not to bruise their egos, would delicately say, “Well, actually, Shawn Colvin is a female folk singer.”  “You know Sunny Came Home?”  Still no recognition, just a shake of their heads. “She won the Grammy for Record of the Year in ‘98?” Silence. Despite seven CD’s and countless soundtracks, Shawn Colvin and her considerable talent have been largely ignored by the media rendering her material and her name unrecognizable to millions. With that in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to formally introduce you to one of my favorite singer-songwriters.

The House of Blues is by far the best venue in Hollywood to see a live show. Not only are all the shows general admission, but the room itself is small enough to allow even those shy barflies hanging in the back of the club to see the act up close and personal. On this night in particular the intimacy of the room was absolutely appropriate and in the end, crucial to the effectiveness of the performer. I had seen Shawn for the first time just last year at the Roxy in support of her last studio album, “Whole New You” backed up by a full band and a female back-up singer. Though I enjoyed the rapport she had with her longtime songwriting collaborator and sometime producer John Leventhal who played lead guitar that night, it wasn’t until the band retired for a song and left Shawn on stage alone with her guitar, that the room shrank in the presence of that clear voice and her intelligent, mature lyrics took shape. Unencumbered by electric guitars and pounding drums, each sarcastic phrase became a bitter piece of scorn that we could taste, each sweetly sung note rang heavy with the irony of the exquisite beauty she had somehow found in earthly pain. At that moment, I realized that there are times when even a talented band such as hers can detract from a performance and become a hindrance to the kind of intimacy that such intricate songwriting requires of its audience.

This night, however, much to my surprise would be a solo act. I was absolutely thrilled when Shawn walked out on a nearly empty stage and took her place on a wooden stool directly in front of the adoring crowd with nothing between her and her fans but a few feet, a mic stand and an acoustic guitar. Simplicity was the catchword for the evening. Even the “light show” was little more than one white spotlight that remained focused on her upper torso the entire night. At first, the experienced performer seemed almost shy and kept her head tilted down and her eyes on her guitar as she began her first song. Her guitar playing was so incredibly beautiful and full, and the movement of her hands so economical, it seemed impossible that the woman before me could be emitting this sound. Finally, she raised her head and began to sing in her flawless mezzo-soprano voice, its tone even richer than the recordings I know so well. The set itself consisted mainly of songs from her most commercially successful album, A Few Small Repairs including the moody and cynical “Facts About Jimmy” and the resigned “Wichita Skyline.” About three songs into the set, in reference to her obvious lack of banter with the audience, Shawn smirked, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Sometimes, I have a lot to say and sometimes there’s just nothin’.” In response to this admission, a couple of fans yelled out questions that they had obviously been waiting to ask and Shawn completely opened up. As a master storyteller, Shawn’s accounts of her four year-old daughter’s first visit to Disneyland were both endearing and hilarious and lightened the mood considerably so that when she finally began to play the next song, there was an overwhelming feeling of camaraderie between the performer and her audience. Near the end of her set, I was struck by the stark contrast of this hushed room where each listener stood in stunned silence while outside just a few hundred feet away, thousands of clubbers and tourists noisily buzzed up and down the Sunset Strip completely oblivious to what they were missing.

In the end, Shawn granted the enthralled audience five encores, each one giving one more fan a chance to hear their favorite song performed live. Whether you are a fan of folk-pop music or not, I would strongly urge every open-minded music lover to go see Shawn Colvin perform live at least once in their lifetime. In these musical Dark Ages littered with “American Idols” and pre-fab, pre-pubescent Britney’s, singer-songwriters of Shawn Colvin’s ilk are exceedingly rare.

-Mindy Pye