[3] She learned to play guitar at the age of 10[2] and grew up listening to her father's collection of music, which included artists such as Pete Seeger and the Kingston Trio.

Colvin relocated to Austin, Texas, with the group and then entered "the folk circuit in and around Berkeley, California",[5] before straining her vocal cords and taking a sabbatical at the age of 24.

[6] Colvin relocated to New York City, joining the Buddy Miller Band in 1980[3] and later became involved in the Fast Folk cooperative of Greenwich Village.

[7] While participating in off-Broadway shows such as Pump Boys and Dinettes,[2] she was featured in Fast Folk magazine, and in 1987, producer Steve Addabbo hired her to sing backup vocals on the song "Luka" by Suzanne Vega.

[2] Colvin's second album Fat City was released in 1992 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.

[8] In 1996, Colvin released her album A Few Small Repairs and, in 1997, her single "Sunny Came Home" spent four weeks at the number one spot on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The album featured guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Jakob Dylan.

Colvin voiced Rachel Jordan, Ned Flanders' love interest after Maude is killed, in the Simpsons episodes "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" and "I'm Goin' to Praiseland",[19] and lent her vocals to Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1992 recordings "The Hard Way" and "Come On Come On".