Shawn Colvin

After long and mostly under-the-radar beginnings, Colvin scored a Top 10 in 1997 hit with her revenge tale "Sunny Came Home,” a song that dovetailed with the era’s newfound interest in female empowerment and Lilith Fair-friendly folk-rock. By the end of the ’90s, though, Lilith Fair had ended for good, and radio replaced Lisa Loeb and Meredith Brooks with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, creating a climate where a middle-aged singer-songwriter like Colvin stood no chance of scoring a follow-up hit. Colvin has spent much of the past decade on the road, and although she hasn’t duplicated her previous commercial success, she’s released a pair of well-received new albums, including 2006’s These Four Walls on Nonesuch Records, a label that’s found its niche harboring singer-songwriters who have passed their radio expiration date. Colvin tops an 8 p.m. bill at the Turner Hall Ballroom tonight with Garrison Starr.