(Album ©1989, Columbia Records)
As mentioned previously, college was a time of lots of 
musical discovery for me, as I would assume it is for most people. Lots of new people from different parts of the country with different influences and backgrounds, and lots of local music scenes, to share. Having my roommate, Steve, was a godsend in this regard, not only because he brought so many interesting bands to my attention from his pre-college years, but also because he was on the UVM concert bureau. That was the group responsible for booking all the music shows on campus – they were the concert promoters. So I got to see or work crew for a bunch of shows that I might have otherwise ignored because my roomie was working so hard to promote them.
One of those was Shawn Colvin solo in the school’s chapel, the Ira Allen Chapel, on March 2, 1991. She was touring colleges in support of this album, Steady On, which had been released way back in the fall of 1989. I had just heard of her weeks earlier, while I was on the air at my first paid radio disc jockey gig – a short-lived station in Stowe with a “Mix” format of pop and adult contemporary music that was very popular at the time, though it just ended up being dull. We were playing “Diamond in the Rough” from the record and it sounded interesting, so when Steve asked if I wanted to go, I said yes and wandered up the street. I stood in the back for the whole show and was absolutely gobsmacked.
Her voice was beautiful and haunting and the lyrics were so, so good. I remember specifically taking notice of “Diamond in the Rough,” “Cry Like An Angel,” “The Dead of the Night,” and especially “Shotgun Down the Avalanche.” Whoa – what great songs. My memory is that she also played a Dylan cover, though I can’t remember which one. I remember she told a story about having been at the Grammys (where she won Best Contemporary Folk Album) and seeing Dylan all drugged up, and how strange that was. It was a great show, and I fell for her music that night.
I stayed in Burlington for another 14 months after I graduated, bartending and deejaying, now at the much cooler classic rock station, 106.7 WIZN – the Wizard of Rock. Then, in the summer of 1993, I drove across the country going to baseball games in every town I could get to. When that was done, I went back to Minneapolis, where Steve was from. Unfortunately, he moved away to attend graduate school in California within days of my arrival. His family and some of his friends from childhood took me in and were so supportive of me as I tried to get comfortable in the midwest. It was a tough winter though. I was adrift – working at a Blockbuster Video store and really just hiding out, spinning my wheels despite the new friends and extended families who made me feel so welcome. Why I never tried to get a job in radio there, or even bartending, is beyond me. I had friends but still felt intensely alone. It was cold and dark all winter, and the CD I listened to the most was Steady On.
The album has a great sound to go with great songs – very solitary, though there are other instruments accompanying Shawn’s voice and guitar. Perhaps it was the use of echo that made the sad songs resonate “aloneness” more than they might have otherwise. And the positive upbeat songs had a haunting quality, helped by lush backing vocals and wistful electric guitar lines woven through the songs. It all affected me just so – it was like a soundtrack to my life in that moment. While I was there, she released her second album, Fat City, which was more positive and bright.
I had little use for that record while in Minneapolis, but once I got back to Burlington in April of 1993, I found the magic in that record as well. That one has my other favorite song of hers, “Polaroids,” but “Shotgun Down the Avalanche” remains forever my favorite of her songs, a reminder of a time I needed to get through, a kind of penance for nothing in particular, except maybe my lack of direction. I love this album more today than I did then. Give it a listen – preferably on a cold night when you’re by yourself with nothing in particular to do.
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