Roots of Shawn Colvin

Willis Alan Ramsey is an American singer/songwriter, a cult legend among fans of Americana and Texas country. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Dallas, Texas. Ramsey graduated from Highland Park High School in 1969, and was a prominent baritone in the school's Lads and Lassies Choir. In his senior year, he played a leading role in the musical Carousel. He released the critically acclaimed album Willis Alan Ramsey in 1972 on the Shelter label. The album included "Muskrat Candlelight" which was covered by America in 1973 and by Captain & Tennille in 1976.

Peter Seeger was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, especially their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, workers' rights, counterculture, environmental causes, and ending the Vietnam War.

The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. It rose to international popularity fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records and helped alter the direction of popular music in the U.S.

John Harrold Craigie III is an American singer-songwriter and storyteller. Hailed as a "Modern-Day Troubadour" in the style of Woody Guthrie, Craigie's comedic storytelling style has been compared to Mitch Hedberg, while his music and commitment to living on the road has drawn comparisons to Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger.

Judith Lynne Sill was an American singer-songwriter and composer. She was influenced by Bach, and wrote lyrics drawing on Christian themes of rapture and redemption.