Shawn Colvin Covers Waits and Springsteen On New Album

Colvin Tougher Than the Rest

Singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin not only has written some great songs, but she is a wonderful interpreter of songs written by others. In addition to mixing covers with her originals on some albums, she also released an all-covers album in 1994 called Cover Girl. This month, she is releasing a new album of covers, Uncovered (2015). The album, her first since 2012’s All Fall Down, features songs written by a wide-range of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Graham Nash, Robert Earl Keen Jr., and Paul Simon. Colvin has already released videos for her covers of songs by Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen.

On the new album, Colvin covers Tom Waits on “Hold On,” which appeared on Waits’s Grammy-winning Mule Variations (1999). Check out Colvin’s coer.

Colvin also tackles a song from Springsteen’s 1987 Tunnel of Love album, “Tougher Than the Rest.” Chimesfreedom previously wrote about the song as one of the highlights of Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love album, and Colvin takes a quieter acoustic approach to the song. Check it out.

Colvin’s album Uncovered goes on sale on September 25, and she will begin a new tour with Don Henley starting October 3.

What is your favorite Shawn Colvin cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Tougher Than the Rest
  • “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Short Review)
  • What Becomes of All the Little Boys?
  • Colvin & Earle: “Ruby Tuesday”
  • Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle Join Forces
  • Love, Sex, Death, and Springsteen’s “Sha La La”
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)