I think the thing that has made it possible for me to write personal songs and sing them year after year is the sensibility for good writing. Just opening your veins all over the paper is not necessarily going to be interesting. I wanted to speak to people.

In 1993 Shawn Colvin moved back to the city of Austin and in 1994 released the album Cover Girl a collection of cover songs. The song "I Don't Know Why" was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female Pop Vocal category. She learned to play guitar at the age of 10 and grew up listening to her father's collection of music which included artists such as Peter Seeger and the Kingston Trio.