Nonesuch Records has just released the new Shawn Colvin album, All Fall Down. A collection of 11 songs, All Fall Down is Colvin's eighth studio album and the first to be produced by her longtime friend and cohort Buddy Miller (Robert Plant, Solomon Burke). Recorded in Nashville, with a group of stellar musicians, All Fall Down features performances by Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Jakob Dylan, Bill Frisell,Viktor Krauss, Brian Blade, Stuart Duncan, and Julie Miller, among others.
All Fall Down follows the Grammy Award winner's 2009 Nonesuch solo acoustic set, Shawn Colvin Live, and her acclaimed 2006 studio record,These Four Walls, about which the Washington Post said: "As with Colvin's earlier work, the songs are easy to love, with smooth surfaces to glide along if one merely wishes to skim the top. But the emotions fueling the lyrics are more complex and more mature than anything she's offered previously. The image of a middle-aged woman laid bare in These Four Walls isn't one for the industry. It's one for the ages."
The new album was recorded in Miller's home studio, and each song is deeply personal to Colvin, who describes All Fall Down as "an album about loss but also about redemption and resolution." The release of All Fall Down comes on the same date as William Morrow/HarperCollins publishes her memoir, Diamond in the Rough, which insightfully and candidly looks back over a rich lifetime of highs and lows. The wit, lyricism, and empathy found in the book are traits that have long characterized Colvin's songwriting and her live performances.
Colvin wrote or co-wrote eight of the album's 11 tracks. "Change Is on the Way" was co-written with Colvin's Three Girls and Their Buddy (the touring group of Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin and Colvin) partner Patty Griffin, and "Seven Times the Charm" shares writing credits with Jakob Dylan and longtime Colvin collaborator John Leventhal, who also co-wrote "All Fall Down," "Knowing What I Know Now," and "The Neon Light of the Saints," which was written specifically for HBO's New Orleans drama Treme and will be featured in an upcoming episode. (Colvin was a guest star on the show last year.) Bill Frisell penned "Anne of the Thousand Days" with Colvin, and Viktor Krauss co-wrote "I Don't Know You" with her.
In the 22 years since the release of her debut album, Colvin has won three Grammy awards, released nine albums, maintained a non-stop national and international touring schedule, had her songs featured in major motion pictures, written a memoir, and created a remarkable canon of work.
Tune-in to KSUT Friday at noon to listen to the full album - and be prepared for Shawn Colvin trivia at 12:30 and your chance to win free lunch from Zia Taqueria.
