{"id":10994,"date":"2016-06-20T05:30:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T09:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=10994"},"modified":"2016-06-10T13:04:13","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T17:04:13","slug":"colvin-earle-embracing-spontaneity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/20\/colvin-earle-embracing-spontaneity\/","title":{"rendered":"Colvin & Earle: Embracing Spontaneity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"colvin_earle\"Though they both have thriving and creatively satisfying musical careers of their own, singer\/songwriter\/musicians Steve Earle<\/strong> and Shawn Colvin<\/strong> recently decided to work together on an album; Colvin & Earle<\/i> will be released June 10. The longtime friends have also scheduled a tour in support of the album: kicking off June 4 in Pueblo, the tour will take the duo to 32 venues in about 15 weeks.<\/p>\n

Teaming up was Colvin’s idea. About four years ago, she did some duo gigs with Mary Chapin Carpenter<\/strong>. \u201cI had a great time,\u201d Colvin says. \u201cAfter that was over and we returned to our solo careers, I started to think of who else would be a good pairing.\u201d She had long been an admirer of Steve Earle’s songwriting, which she discovered on hearing his 1986 debut album Guitar Town<\/i>. \u201c Steve can write very seemingly simple songs, but they’re often much more complicated than they appear to be,\u201d Colvin says. She asked Earle if he would be interested in collaborating, and he quickly agreed.<\/p>\n

By necessity, the project would have to be brief, Colvin says, \u201cbecause we all have our own work to do.\u201d In fact the entire Colvin & Earle<\/i> album was recorded in about ten days. \u201cIt was very<\/i> impromptu, very ‘live,’\u201d Colvin says. Spontaneity was highly valued during the sessions; that’s a quality that Colvin says she’s only developed over time.<\/p>\n

On her first 2 or 3 records, Colvin says that \u201cwe put ourselves under the microscope. We wanted perfection; we wanted everything to be just right. I think it worked to a degree, but those records were not that spontaneous.\u201d These days Colvin believes that \u201cwhen you can play and sing, there’s no reason not<\/i> to be spontaneous. I learned that the mistakes are sometimes as important as the perfect moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new album features ten songs: six co-written by the duo, and four covers. \u201cWe consciously wrote every song and learned every cover, just the two of us playing in a room,\u201d Colvin says. \u201cAnd it worked that way. We made sure that each song could be dynamic enough, full enough, or not-full-enough, depending on the needs of the song.\u201d<\/p>\n