Folk Quote by Shawn Colvin

“I'm a touring musician. I don't watch the charts. I had the kind of success I'd hoped for. I won Grammys for a folk record, and that was magic.” quote by Shawn Colvin — Download Open image

“I'm a touring musician. I don't watch the charts. I had the kind of success I'd hoped for. I won Grammys for a folk record, and that was magic.”

Shawn Colvin

About This Quote

Source Interview: Music magazine feature, 2015

Success is personal; awards are magical but not the sole measure of achievement.

In simple terms: Success is personal, not just awards.

Key Takeaway

Define success on your own terms.

Themes

art success personal fulfillment music industry

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

album releases
live performances
songwriting
industry recognition

Key Concepts

self‑definition career satisfaction

Questions to Reflect On

What does success look like for you?
How do you balance personal joy with public acclaim?

A Different Perspective

May undervalue external validation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.6 out of 5 (7 ratings)

Folk Folk Record Grammys Folk Kind Magic Music Record Magic Success Touring Touring Musician Watch

More by Shawn Colvin

With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' That's the litmus test. If…

Shawn Colvin

Image

It's really fun to listen to other people and be an accompanist.

Shawn Colvin

Image

Physically, I'm healthy as a horse, always held up. But in the mental illness department, I got my share. It's just what I got.

Shawn Colvin

Image

There were bars that began to have acoustic musicians play, it was 1970: Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, America, The Eagles, all that kind of…

Shawn Colvin

Image

I always wanted to be a songwriter, and it took a while.

Shawn Colvin

Image

You say in life, mistakes are many. How come you never admit to any?

Shawn Colvin

Image

I was a cover artist for years. I didn't start writing songs until I was in my mid-twenties. I wrote them with John Leventhal,…

Shawn Colvin

Image

I can perform easily; I don't mind getting up in front of people at all. I've always sung and felt confident about that, and…

Shawn Colvin

Image

I don't support Trump. We'll put that right out there.

Shawn Colvin

Image

I'm not a go-out-with-a-band artist. I'm an intimate, storytelling folk artist. It guides the writing and makes for a concert that I'm proud of.

Shawn Colvin

Image

This world's a blessing and a beast everyday.

Shawn Colvin

Image

I consider myself as a singer first, but something that really helped me come into my own is that there's not a separation between…

Shawn Colvin

Image

The past is stronger than my will to forgive forgive you, or myself, I don't know.

Shawn Colvin

Image

I wasn't creative when I was depressed. When my depression got treated, I was creative again.

Shawn Colvin

Image

I've had a prolonged adolescence, like a lot of my generation.

Shawn Colvin

Image

Explore all 46 Shawn Colvin quotes

More Folk quotes

I was in high school and I had an independent album out, and we kept sending that out, and I was doing shows. No…

Tyler Hilton

Image

The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.

Sam Hinton

Image

Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…

Al Stewart

Image

You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.

Terry Pratchett

Image

I was very engaged by the folk music movement.Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary. And then I sort of discovered world music,…

Jill Stein

Image

What do folk always say about Arsenal? They can pass you to death.

Charlie Adam

Image

Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…

P. J. O'Rourke

Image

We Brits are law abiding folk. We pride ourselves on our natural tendency to form an orderly queue rather than a scrum.

Nick Boles

Image

“They change what they do not like,’ said Jessold, referring to the singers. ‘And they do not like what they cannot remember. That accounts…

Wesley Stace

Image

I'm really sick of anthems. Every song has to be a very big singalong thing - it feels very Eighties. There are a lot…

Oscar Isaac

Image

I think the perception of audiences that love folk and country is they're perceived to be more closed-minded than they really are.

Trixie Mattel

Image

Today's folk song is rock and roll. Although it happened to emanate from America, that's not really important in the end because we wrote…

John Lennon

Image

In my early life, I was a professional folk singer. I used to sing on the national television and radio in Canada. Nobody knows…

Mary Gordon

Image

I love the U.K. folk scene. In the States, nobody knows what to do with me. There's still a very narrow definition of Americana.

Rhiannon Giddens

Image

I've always thought about myself as somewhat of a folk musician. I just write words. I don't think I'm even a musician. I don't…

Cass McCombs

Image

Browse all 441 Folk quotes

Folk Quote by Shawn Colvin

About This Quote

Related quotes

More by Shawn Colvin

More Folk quotes