Profile

She started out singing in Chicago bars. Then, barely out of high school, Lucy Kaplansky took off for New York City. There she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers—Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others—where she fit right in. With a beautiful flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone's favorite singing partner, but most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. People envisioned big things for them; in fact, The New York Times said it was "easy to predict stardom for her." But then Lucy dropped it all.

Convinced that her calling was in another direction, Lucy left the musical fast track to pursue a doctorate in Psychology. Upon completing her degree, Dr. Kaplansky took a job at a New York hospital working with chronically mentally ill adults, and also started a private practice. Yet she continued to sing. Lucy was often pulled back into the studio by her friends, (who now had contracts with record labels) wanting her to sing on their albums. She harmonized 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 with Griffith on "The Firm," and several commercial credits as well—including "The Heartbeat of America" for Chevrolet.

Then Shawn Colvin—who was itching to produce a record—hooked up with Lucy, her ex-singing partner. They went into the studio, and it all came together. When Lucy's solo tapes got into the hands of Bob Feldman, president of Red House Records, he was blown away. Suddenly, Lucy was back in the music business. She signed with Red House and started playing gigs. Red House released "The Tide" in 1994 to rave reviews, and within six months Lucy signed with a major booking agency—Fleming Tamulevich & Associates—and began touring so much it required leaving her two psychologist positions behind.

Lucy's second album, "Flesh and Bone" (1996), was produced by Anton Sanko (producer of Suzanne Vega's "Days of Open Hand"), and it clearly showed a performer and songwriter stepping into her own. Some of Lucy's favorite singing partners joined her in the studio, including Jennifer Kimball (formerly of The Story), Richard Shindell, and John Gorka. Where "The Tide" had showcased Lucy's formidable interpretive skills, "Flesh and Bone" emphasized her development as a gifted songsmith. The album is graced with eight absorbing original songs, as well as four sharp covers.

After releasing "The Tide," Lucy's success took flight with back-to-back hit albums "Ten Year Night" and "Every Single Day." Both received the AFIM award (Association For Independent Music) for best pop album of the year. Lucy's rising popularity has led to appearances on the CBS Morning Show, NPR's Weekend and Morning Editions, 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, Sarah McLachlan and others. She was also featured in Lipshtick, a collection of essays by NPR commentator Gwen Macsai, published in the fall of 1999. All this while maintaining the busiest of tour schedules covering the U.S. and Europe.

Kaplansky's voice continues to remain in high demand by her peers. She can be heard on albums by Bryan Ferry, Nanci Griffith, John Gorka and on the Greg Brown tribute album Going Driftless (also appearing: Ani Difranco, Iris Dement, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gillian Welch, Eliza Gikyson and others). She teamed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form supergroup Cry Cry Cry, the three choosing to celebrate the amazing revitalization in contemporary songwriting, and recorded some of their favorite songs written by other artists. The resulting album, "Cry Cry Cry" (which The New Yorker dubbed "a collection of lovely harmonizing and pure emotion," and to which Entertainment Weekly gave an "A" rating), has been an astonishing success in stores and on radio. A national tour of sold-out concerts by the trio served to introduce Lucy's luminous voice to a new expanse of eager listeners.

Lucy's latest offering, "The Red Thread," follows the commercial and critical hit "Every Single Day" (released on 9-11-2001) and marks Lucy's tenth year (and fifth album) on Red House. The Red Thread's beautiful production and world class backing are immediately evident with harmony vocals by Jonatha Brooke, Richard Shindell, Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka, production and drums by Ben Wittman (The Story), guitarists Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter) and Jon Herington (Steely Dan), bass player Zev Katz (Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Rosanne Cash) and others. The resulting sound from these gifted musicians is an artful fusion of rock, folk, country and pop that compliments Kaplansky's velvet-lined low-register vocals in perfect measure. The power and texture in her voice are matched by the imagery and emotion of her lyrics and melodies. All this, done with a knack for leading listeners straight to the heart of a song, leaving them wanting more.

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