THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9410140062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
FOOD AND MUSIC were on Shawn Colvin's mind when she called from Belgium to talk about her new album, ``Cover Girl.''
``I had that idea right when I got signed,'' she said of the disc's concept, which finds the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter offering versions of 12 favorites from the pens of others. ``I told Columbia that anytime they wanted to do it, I would, 'cause I thought I really had a pretty cool repertoire of cover songs, both recognizable and unrecognizable.''
Colvin, who plays Chrysler Hall tonight, broke off to consider the room-service meal that had just been delivered.
``This hotel's known for its mashed potatoes,'' she explained a moment later, ``so I ordered the mashed potatoes, and they say, `Mashed potatoes?' and I say yes, and they bring me french fries. The language barrier.''
Anyway, for ``Cover Girl,'' Colvin selected more than half again the number of songs that made it to the record.
``It was kind of a feel-it-out kind of thing. I picked 20 (songs) or something like that, and recorded 18. Some were just obvious losers. Like, (the Band's) `Acadian Driftwood' is not a loser song, but T-Bone (Wolk) was playing accordion, and we hadn't rehearsed, and it just sank into total chaos. So that eliminated itself, although I did put another Band song on the album - `Twilight.' ''
The album's roots are in the days when Colvin would play five hours a night in coffee houses. Her gender-transposed reading of the Police's ``Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,'' the first single, was born then.
Her ongoing search for ``new'' material more recently led to Steve Earle's ``Someday,'' also included on ``Cover Girl.'' She made a connection between her upbringing in tiny Vermillion, S.D., and that of the song's small-town protagonist.
``I really related to what he was sayin'. I changed the line about being `a little bit small,' because clearly it wouldn't make sense for me to be playing football (as the character's brother does). But it's a pretty common feeling there, waiting around for something.''
In addition to the dozen tracks on ``Cover Girl,'' Colvin duets with Loudon Wainwright III on Richard Thompson's ``A Heart Needs a Home'' on the new Thompson tribute album ``Beat the Retreat.'' She seems to be a great admirer of her fellow troubadours.
``Well, yeah, and this is a simple way to show it. You know, I think any decent musician is probably a big fan of a lot of people.''
How does she feel about having her own songs, in turn, mean so much to listeners, as those of her models do to her? Did she ever expect such acceptance?
``Probably not. You know, I mean - I hope. Yeah. Yeah. I suppose I hoped so. You can't really be sure you're gonna be embraced like that. That's just a dream come true. I'll never take it in totally. But I don't suppose most artists get to the point where they feel, `My work is as good as. . . ' ''
Still, Colvin's songs have, in turn, started to receive nods from other quarters. Singer/fiddler Alison Krauss released a high-octane take on Colvin's ``I Don't Know Why'' on 1992's ``Every Time We Say Goodbye.''
``We were just trading songs,'' Colvin says of a recent joint appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, ``and (Krauss') band was there, and we started out doing my (slower) version, then we kicked into her version, and people just lost it.'' MEMO: CONCERT FACTS
Who: Shawn Colvin with David Gray
When: 8 p.m. tonight
Where: Chrysler Hall, Norfolk
Tickets: $18.50 and $22.50; to order, call 671-8100.
Call: 441-2163. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
...Shawn Colvin...
by CNB