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Lucy Kaplansky
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Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago bars, but barely out of high school, she left for New York City, finding a fertile community of songwriters and performers - Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others, where she fit right in. With a flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone's favorite singing partner, but most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. Then suddenly she dropped out of the music scene.
Convinced her calling was in another direction, Lucy Kaplansky left music to pursue a doctorate in Psychology. After completing her degree, she began working at a New York hospital with chronically mentally ill adults, and started a private practice. Yet Lucy was often pulled back into the studio by her friends, many of whom now had record label contracts and wanted her to sing on their albums. She appeared on Colvin's Grammy-winning "Steady On", on Nanci Griffith's "Lone Star State of Mind" and "Little Love Affairs", and on four of John Gorka's albums. She also landed soundtrack credits, singing with Suzanne Vega on "Pretty in Pink" and Nanci Griffith on "The Firm". She earned several commercial credits as well, including The Heartbeat of America for Chevrolet.
In no time Shawn Colvin, itching to produce a record, hooked up with Lucy, went into the studio, and it all came together. When Lucy's solo tapes were heard by Bob Feldman, president of Red House Records, he signed her to Red House Records. Red House released "The Tide" in 1994 to rave reviews, and within six months Lucy signed with a major booking agency and began touring so much she had to leave her two psychologist positions behind.
Both "The Tide" and "Flesh and Bone" (her second release) received significant radio airplay, and turned in impressive appearances on the Gavin Report's Americana and A3 charts (reaching the top 10 and top 20 respectively), as well as earning Honorable Mention Indie Awards from the Association for Independent Music (AFIM). She was featured on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition," Mountain Stage, West Coast Live, Acoustic Cafe, and Vin Scelsa's "Idiot's Delight." Lucy also contributed her story to a unique new book, SOLO: Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words, which includes some of the best known women on the music scene today: Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and others.
She can be heard on recently-released albums by Nanci Griffith and John Gorka, and she combined her talent with those of Dar Williams and Richard Shindell into a "folk supergroup" of sorts called Cry Cry Cry. The three decided to record some of their favorite songs written by other artists. The resulting album, Cry Cry Cry, was called by The New Yorker "a collection of lovely harmonizing and pure emotion," and was given an "A" rating by Entertainment Weekly. A national tour of sold-out concerts by the trio has served to introduce Lucy's luminous voice to a new expanse of eager listeners.
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Over the Hills The most personal recording to date by New York City singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky and certainly the most accomplished and realized album in her remarkable catalog. Rediscovering her musical roots, Lucy returns to a more acoustic sound that is influenced by the music she first fell in love with--folk and classic country. The release contains a stunning range of material, from stories about family--those that have gone before and follow after, of lives lived and roads traveled--to a compelling collection of classic songs by other writers, performed with Lucy's distinctive interpretive sensibility. Over the Hills is Lucy's story and her reflection upon her times, connecting to universal themes of love, joy, loss and dreams for the future. From the album's opening song "Manhattan Moon" about her joy in motherhood to "Today's the Day" about saying goodbye to her dying father, Lucy's new songs are utterly personal and deeply moving. CD Price: $14.97  |
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The Red Thread The red thread, in Chinese legend, is the tie that binds us together - to our friends, our families, all the important people in our lives. It's an appropriate title for Lucy Kaplansky's latest album, which explores those themes through six original songs and four well-chosen covers. The title song on "The Red Thread" is a masterful meditation on familial love through the generations, inspired by her adoption of a daughter from China. The cover songs represent a who's-who of the finest contemporary singer-songwriters: Bill Morrissey, James McMurtry, Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, and the late Dave Carter. CD Price: $14.97 |
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Ten Year Night Produced by Ben Wittman, with nine original songs (penned by Lucy and husband Rick Litvin) and one cover song ("Somewhere Out There" by Steve Earle). It features performances by guests like Larry Campbell, Duke Levine, Richard Shindell, John Gorka, and Jennifer Kimball. CD Price: $14.97 |
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Every Single Day A quiet, atmospheric, and even mysterious recording. With drummer Ben Wittman's production with lots of reverbed guitar and moody percussion layers, Kaplansky sings of sins of the flesh and soul, all the existential doubts suggested by sex, cities, and (as on the heartbreaking "Song for Molly") senility. CD Price: $14.97 |
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Flesh and Bone Produced by Anton Sanko, this recording features guest appearances by John Gorka and Richard Shindell. It was voted number 3 in the top ten recordings of 1996 by Folkvote. It also contains an outstanding "hidden" track (played by "rewinding" from the start of Track 1). CD Price: $14.97 |
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The Tide Produced by Shawn Colvin (except for one song produced by Anton Sanko, and one co-produced by Shawn and Anton). This recording includes guest appearances by Shawn and Richard Shindell. CD Price: $14.97 |