Madison Folk Music Society presents Lucy Kaplansky

Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago folk clubs as a teenager. Then, barely out of high school, Lucy Kaplansky took off for New York City where she swam in musical circles with the likes of Suzanne Vega, Steve Forbert, The Roches, and others, and sang in a very promising duo with Shawn Colvin. Life then steered her towards a different calling, and she shifted career goals, earning a doctorate in clinical psychology and then working in NY in both hospital and private practice settings. She did continue to sing during that time, including session work with Shawn Colvin and also Nanci Griffith and Suzanne Vega and others. She returned to full-time music pursuits in 1994 when she was signed by Red House Records, releasing a number of acclaimed albums since then.

In 1998 Lucy teamed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form supergroup Cry Cry Cry, and recorded some of their favorite songs written by other artists. The resulting album, Cry Cry Cry, was an astonishing success in stores and on radio. In 2010 Lucy joined up with acclaimed singer-songwriters John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson to record an album as part of new folk super-group Red Horse. The album received rave reviews and was the number one album on Folk Radio for several months in 2010.

Lucy's version of Roxy Music's "More than This" was featured on a Spotify playlist, "Your Favorite Coffeehouse," and to date her recording has over 11.5 million streams. She has appeared on the CBS Morning Show, NPR’s Weekend Edition and Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Mountain Stage, and West Coast Live. Her voice has remained in high demand by her peers. Lucy's song “Guilty as Sin” was featured in the NBC television show Ed. In addition, she can be heard on releases by Bryan Ferry and Nanci Griffith, and on the Greg Brown tribute album Going Driftless (also featuring Ani Difranco, Iris Dement, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams and others).

Lucy continues to tour and receive airplay both nationally and internationally. Her CD Ten Year Night is the #1 selling album of all time at Red House Records.

[Artist website]