Lucy Kaplansky

 A truly gifted performer with a bag full of enchanting songs

Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago folk music clubs as a teenager. Then, barely out of high school, she took off for New York City, where she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers—Suzanne Vega, Steve Forbert, The Roches, and others. With a beautiful flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone’s favorite singing partner, but most often, she found herself singing in 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 Clinical Psychology. Upon completing her degree, Dr. Kaplansky took a job at a New York hospital working with chronically mentally ill adults and 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” and on Nanci Griffith’s “Lone Star State of Mind” and “Little Love Affairs.” She also landed soundtrack credits, singing with Suzanne Vega on “Pretty in Pink” and Griffith on “The Firm” and several commercial credits as well. 

Then Shawn Colvin—who was itching to produce a record—hooked up with Lucy, her ex-singing partner. They went into the studio, and suddenly, Lucy was back in the music business. She signed with Red House Records 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 and began touring so much it required leaving her two psychologist positions behind. 

Lucy’s second album, Flesh and Bone (1996), emphasized her development as a gifted songsmith. Then Lucy’s success took flight with back-to-back hit albums Ten Year Night (1999) and Every Single Day (2001). Both received the AFIM (Association For Independent Music) award for Best Pop Album of the Year. The Red Thread (2004) weaves together themes of motherhood, home, and the family with stunning production. Over the Hills (2007) and Reunion (2012) explore universal themes of love, joy, loss, and dreams for the future through reflections on family. Everyday Street (2018) is a stunning collection of songs weaving stories of joy, friendship, family, loss, and discovery. Her most recent album, Last Days of Summer (2022), is “utterly beautiful and affecting...songs from her life that have resonance in ours” (Scott Simon, NPR). 

In 1998, Lucy teamed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form the supergroup Cry Cry Cry 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 Entertainment Weekly gave an “A” rating--was an astonishing success in stores and on radio. The trio’s national tour of sold-out concerts introduced Lucy’s luminous voice to a new audience. In 2017 and 2018, the trio celebrated their 20th anniversary with a sold-out national tour and released their first recording in 20 years, a single of Jump Little Children’s “Cathedrals.” 

In 2010, Lucy joined up with acclaimed singer-songwriters John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson to record an album as part of the new folk supergroup Red Horse. Awash in gorgeous harmonies and stripped-down production, the album Red Horse features the singers performing each other’s songs. Red Horse received rave reviews and was the number-one album on Folk Radio for several months. The trio were interviewed on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” and appeared on NPR’s “Mountain Stage.” 

Lucy contributed her story to a unique 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. 

Lucy continues to tour and receive airplay both nationally and internationally. 

https://lucykaplansky.com/

“Lucy Kaplansky is a truly gifted performer with a bag full of enchanting songs.” --The New Yorker

“Kaplansky weaves...fragile lives together, making even tenuous connections as palpable as flesh and blood.” --USA Today

“Utterly beautiful and affecting...Lucy sings songs from her life that have resonance in ours.” --Scott Simon, NPR Weekend Edition

Visit to learn about The Folkus Project and our other shows.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society, 3800 East Genesee Street, Syracuse, United States