Shawn Colvin’s unique but deeply rooted vocal style and penetrating lyrics helped make her one of the most distinctive artists to emerge from the ’80s folk scene. Born in South Dakota in 1956, Colvin came up on folk music and began performing professionally while attending university in Illinois. By the ’80s, she was living and working in New York City, and she became a presence on the folk circuit. A gifted harmony singer, she sang on Suzanne Vega’s 1987 breakout hit, “Luka”, which boosted Colvin’s profile. She soon got a deal with Columbia and released her first album, the Grammy-winning Steady On, in 1989. Colvin earned a great critical reputation, but her first three albums didn’t make much commercial impact. It was the foreboding but infectious single “Sunny Came Home” from 1996’s A Few Small Repairs that finally put Colvin on the pop charts: the song became a Top 10 hit in the U.S. and the album eventually went platinum. Since then, she’s followed her muse wherever it’s led her, whether cutting a duo album with Steve Earle, releasing covers records and holiday albums or turning out sharply observed original tunes.