Shawn Colvin's life began, she says, when she first heard the Beatles. And after sleeping with a guitar at the end of her bed throughout her youth it's no wonder that she has made her living playing music. She has won three Grammys and been nominated for seven others, which has helped to alleviate the sting from the "trite and sugary" comment her poetry once received from a fifth grade English teacher. When she is not on the road she resides in Austin, Tex., with her daughter and is, as she describes it, a "soccer mom." Morrow will publish her memoir, Diamond in the Rough, on June 5, 2012.
On your nightstand now:
Bob Dylan in America by Sean Wilentz.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Little House on the Prairie. I come from eastern South Dakota, flat as can be. But I probably would have loved this book anyway. It reminds me of going camping with my family when I was young. The simplicity of entertaining oneself with nature and music and campfires. Only we didn't have Jack, the dog.
Your top five authors:
Harper Lee, Mark Twain, Stokes Howell, Sylvia Plath, Ernest Hemingway.
Book you've faked reading:
Crime and Punishment. I attempted to read this book in my 20s when I was trying to impress a guy I had a crush on. He was very well read. It worked.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Just Kids by Patti Smith. I was devastated by the elegance and beauty of this memoir about music, art, struggling in New York City--themes I'd included in mine. But this is the book I aspire to write someday. Beautiful.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Life by Keith Richards. The cover said it all.
Book that changed your life:
"For the Roses" songbook by Joni Mitchell. Musicians frequently put out songbooks with piano arrangements and guitar tablature. With this one, though, Joni revealed the tunings she used for each song. Up until that moment it had been near impossible to figure out what she was playing. This book was like a key to the kingdom.
Favorite line from a book:
"Let's hang ourselves immediately!" --from Waiting for Godot. Or "Hey, Boo." --from To Kill a Mockingbird.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
On the Road. I remember this one speaking to me in a language I wanted to learn. I'd like to think that eventually, in a way, I did.
Enter to win a copy of Shawn Colvin's memoir Diamond in the Rough, along with a signed bookplate and copy of her new album, All Fall Down.