Shawn Colvin and KT Tunstall
Three-time Grammy Award winner Shawn Colvin and BRIT Award winner KT Tunstall are ready to tell a story of their own design, connecting to fans with authenticity and vulnerability.
The two singer-songwriters will come together on stage at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater with songs from their vast catalogs and even some covers. Tonight, Tunstall said they’ll be hitting all of their favorites together, and plan to start off with an unexpected song — so Chautauquans will have to hear what it is for themselves when they go.
Tunstall leans more alternative and folk rock, while Colvin is more Americana folk; they said the juxtaposition adds layers to their performance. Tunstall described her sound as very energetic, upbeat, with kind of a crossover rhythm, while Colvin described her sound as folk and confessional. Both vocalists and guitarists, tonight they’ll collaborate on each others’ songs, with Tunstall even picking up the bass for some of the show.
“We have a lot of mutual respect and admiration for each other. KT is a great musician and songwriter; I really like her as a person and we just got along the first time we met,” Colvin said. “We talked about performing together for years. It just took a long time for our schedules to align.”
Tunstall considers herself “very lucky” to know at a young age where her interests lay; at just 4 years old, she asked for her own piano — despite coming from a family that didn’t really listen to music, she said. She went from piano to flute, and flute to guitar where she really found her instrument.
In the spirit of trying new things, Tunstall acted professionally for a period as a child, but realized she didn’t want to be saying someone else’s words and being told how to do it. There’s an autonomy in pursuing music, she said, that she finds cool.
Colvin knew at a young age that she was a musician as well; she was “born into music. I always loved it,” she said. “I sang from an early age — I just couldn’t help it — and played piano starting at 6 years old. My father taught me to play guitar at 10 and that was the key to the kingdom; I would hide in my room and just learn.”
One of the most wonderful things about music, Tunstall said, is that it’s a beautiful way to bring people together, Tunstall said. She and Colvin never have a set “script” when they perform together, and they have a lot of fun on stage.
“(Performing) feels like a really great purpose, particularly now, of providing some joy and some positivity,” Tunstall said. “I also think that playing live is a real heart-opener for people; people are put in a state of hope and optimism because of music. Shawn and I both love the opportunity to bring together people from any background, any political viewpoint, any kind of life experience or label. You can get all of those people in a room together, and they’re all there because there’s something they have in common, which is enjoying music.”
Colvin said she doesn’t sing about politics, but she considers her style something of “personal politics,” centered around relationships and feelings. It’s a rewarding way of writing, she said, in that “something has been created and you’ve worked through something — usually, on some level, it’s very personal.”
Anything can inspire Colvin to create — she said she takes it as it comes. Her song “Shotgun Down The Avalanche,” for example, came from a conversation she overheard while walking in New York City; a girl said to her mother: “Oh mother, don’t have an avalanche.” It inspired a whole song.
For Tunstall, a delightful side effect of being a successful musician is the ability to see the world — that’s always been a goal of hers, and she said she’s always had “wanderlust.” Japan, South America and New Zealand stick out to her.
“It’s just staggering how much of the planet I’ve managed to see because of playing music,” she said.
When she plays for an audience, Tunstall said, one of the most valuable parts of the experience is providing “a bit of respite from all the bullshit that’s going on outside of the world; it’s just about the music, telling stories, and enjoying each other’s company.” There’s so much more to music, she said, than just the satisfaction of writing and creating. There’s power in the performing, and in the listening.
“You’re actually contributing to something a bit more cosmic when you’re sharing your own very personal truth,” Tunstall said. “It only works … when you’re vulnerable in your writing. … Music is very healing.”
She even describes writing music as a form of therapy.
“Art is therapy. Art is for me personally — and I know for Shawn — it’s the soundtrack to us … navigating life. You realize that many of your fans have been, or are, or will go through exactly the same things as you; and so there’s these songs that feel like they’re written for them. It’s extremely connected.”
For Tunstall, singing what’s on her heart and making people happy doesn’t feel like a job. The messiness that can come from authenticity is worth the chaos it brings, and she and Colvin love it all the more for that.
“Both of us don’t subscribe to mistakes, and so we really lean into those moments where the unexpected happens — love a bit of chaos,” Tunstall said. “I just feel very lucky.”
