Diamond in the Rough

April 16, 2012
Named for the breakthrough hit on her first Grammy Award–winning album of 1989 (Steady On) this charming, modest memoir tracks songwriter Colvin’s roots solidly in the Midwest and the determination to pursue the folksy, acoustic-guitar style that suited her. Born on the South Dakota prairie in 1956, she grew up singing in the church, moving around from Vermillion, S.D., to Carbondale, Ill., as her father pursued graduate studies in psychology and her mother eventually got a law degree. Seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show galvanized her small world, and while prone to panic attacks and dread of school, she found that learning to play guitar, singing and songwriting, and sewing her own clothes were the only ways to motivate her. The 1970s blew in, and with it the magical folk songwriting of Judy Collins, James Taylor, and Joni Mitchell, among others; once graduated from high school, Colvin fronted bands from Austin, Tex., to New York City, and was nearly derailed by drinking until she went sober in 1983. By sticking with the community of folk writers and singers, such as those congregating at Cambridge, Mass.’s Passim coffeehouse, she toured as a backup singer for Suzanne Vega, whose managers introduced Colvin’s original songs to Columbia Records—and she was signed. Colvin chronicles an impressive array of accompanists and backup, two husbands, and myriad awards such as her gold record with the 1997 hit “Sunny Came Home,” all the while maintaining a low-key, sweet humility that is truly endearing. Agent: David Vigliano.

April 15, 2012
A chatty, but only occasionally enlightening, life story from the confessional singer-songwriter. Three-time Grammy winner Colvin's life has long been a source for her songs, but it wears thin in her memoir. She's frank about the many ups and downs of her personal life and career, where the slow climb to commercial and critical success meant overcoming a series of personal disasters: alcoholism, anorexia, clinical depression, panic disorder and numerous broken romances. In perspective, it's an inspiring story, as Colvin spent years of paying dues and saw her first album, Steady On, win a Grammy. She has overcome a lot, and is apparently content with her life as a respected singer and devoted mother. Unfortunately, the book too often bogs down into the territory of many numbing addiction chronicles, padded with daily affirmations, mad shopping binges and the usual dreary details of life on the road. At times, the book feels like a therapeutic chore. For patient readers and close listeners of her music, there is some payoff when Colvin discusses her songs and the writing process: how "Diamond in the Rough" put her in the odd position of co-writing "a song with someone about breaking up with that someone" or how "if you can get one good line or verse right at the beginning, the song will be set up well for you." Also: "the act of performing a new song in front of people is the ultimate bullshit detector." Ultimately, there's too much "Of Meds and Men" and too little of the music that made Colvin popular.

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