I realized I was writing about getting sober, about coming alive, about claiming myself and uncovering these gifts that had been obscured by both outside and internal forces, about this veil of confusion and dysfunction and addiction being peeled away, bit by bit. Shawn Colvin had found her voice. From age ten, Shawn Colvin was determined to make a life in music-a decision that influenced every choice she would make. In 1997, two decades after she started, she got her big break. Like the troubled would-be arsonist and survivor of her smash hit ''Sunny Came Home'', Colvin knows a thing or two about heartache - and setting fires. ''Diamond in the Rough'' recounts this passionate young musician's coming - of - age from prairie small-town South Dakota to bar sets in Austin and New York City to the world stage at the Grammys. ''Diamond in the Rough'' captures her years touring cross-country in vans full of boys, falling in and out of love; making music of all genres with lifelong friends; meeting heroes like Joni Mitchell; becoming addicted and staying sober, weathering divorce and raising a daughter-and learning to channel those experiences into song.Through its pages, we witness the maturation of a woman finding her voice, and learning to care for a child as well as herself. With the rich lyricism, wit, frankness, and deep empathy that have characterized her songs and inspired audiences worldwide, Colvin's memoir looks back over a rich lifetime of highs and lows with stunning insight and candor.