Buffalo Rising Online

Jan 22nd 2007, 12:57am By Gabrielle Bouliane

Three-time Grammy-award winner and folk artist Shawn Colvin is coming to the Tralf Music Hall, with special guest Noa Bursie, this Tuesday evening. Colvin is promoting her ninth album in her nearly thirty-year career, These Four Walls. "I'm very proud of this record," Colvin says. "You put your head down and do the work and, when all is said and done, you see what you've come up with. I remember when I finally had a CD with twelve of these tracks, when I could just listen to them all together, and I realized, this is better than I thought it could be. I've been doing this a long time and it's great to feel like I'm doing my best work now."

Colvin is one of those rare performers, like Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, or her youthful idol Joni Mitchell, who has been able to grow up alongside her audience and mature into her role as singer and songwriter. If you're a fan of intellgent, moving lyrics, well-crafted melodies, and a charming stage presence, this is a show you won't want to miss.

Tralf Music Hall, 622 Main Street, Buffalo, 14202, 716.851.8725. http://www.tralfmusichall.com/, Doors at 7 PM, 8 PM. $39.50 /$42, 18+, http://www.shawncolvin.com

Despite her talent and years of hard work, it wasn't an easy path for her to find. Colvin's first several albums were met with critical acclaim, but did not sell in substantial numbers. After several albums of original work, Colvin released "Cover Girl", a collection of cover songs, but the work was a departure for her and was not well received. She experienced breakthrough success with A Few Small Repairs in October of 1996. The single "Sunny Came Home" reached the US Top Ten, and won Grammy Awards for Song and Record of the Year. Since then, she has released several subsequent albums that were nominated for Grammys, has released a greatest-hits album and a collection of Christmas music, and even had a few appearances on the Simpsons.

"Summer Dress" could be a veiled recounting of the picaresque route Colvin herself took to hard-earned solo stardom, from her South Dakota birthplace to the Southern Illinois college town where she was raised, to the bars and clubs of Boston and New York City, where she first attracted a following. These Four Walls is very much an album of shared experiences, common epiphanies. Colvin is one of those rare performers, like Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, or her youthful idol Joni Mitchell, who has been able to grow up alongside her audience and mature into her role as singer and songwriter. "I don't go into writing a song thinking I'm going to speak for anyone other than myself," Colvin once told the Los Angeles Times. "[But] I do try to impart some wisdom without that touchy-feely kind of thing. People have told me how much they can relate to what's happening in these songs, so I think some experiences are shared ones."