Lucy Kaplansky
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About
She started out singing in Chicago folk music clubs as a teenager. 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, 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 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 clinical 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," 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 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 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 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—Fleming Artists—and began touring so much it required leaving her two psychologist positions behind.
Following the success of her early albums, Lucy Kaplansky established herself as one of contemporary folk music’s leading singer-songwriters with acclaimed releases including Ten Year Night, Every Single Day, The Red Thread, Over the Hills, Reunion, Everyday Street, and Last Days of Summer, earning multiple AFIM Best Pop Album awards along the way.
In January 2025 Lucy released her tenth album, The Lucy Story, a collection of mostly unreleased tracks that form a retrospective/history of her musical life, from her bedroom at age 16, all the way to major venues, clubs and recording studios across the U.S. and Europe. When she moved to New York at age 18, she became part of an incredible, unique community of singers, songwriters and musicians centered around Folk City in Greenwich Village. The collection of songs on The Lucy Story grew out of Lucy’s life in that world and reflects the combustion of music and energy of those times, as well as showcasing the astonishing breadth of Lucy’s vocal artistry, in songs that range from jazz to bluegrass, from traditional and contemporary folk to country and pop. The album includes songs by Richard Shindell, Robbie Robertson, Townes Van Zandt, John Lennon, Lyle Lovett and Jack Hardy, and features live recordings with some of Lucy’s favorite collaborators, including Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Shawn Colvin. 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 12 million streams.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
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 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," 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 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 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 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—Fleming Artists—and began touring so much it required leaving her two psychologist positions behind.
Following the success of her early albums, Lucy Kaplansky established herself as one of contemporary folk music’s leading singer-songwriters with acclaimed releases including Ten Year Night, Every Single Day, The Red Thread, Over the Hills, Reunion, Everyday Street, and Last Days of Summer, earning multiple AFIM Best Pop Album awards along the way.
In January 2025 Lucy released her tenth album, The Lucy Story, a collection of mostly unreleased tracks that form a retrospective/history of her musical life, from her bedroom at age 16, all the way to major venues, clubs and recording studios across the U.S. and Europe. When she moved to New York at age 18, she became part of an incredible, unique community of singers, songwriters and musicians centered around Folk City in Greenwich Village. The collection of songs on The Lucy Story grew out of Lucy’s life in that world and reflects the combustion of music and energy of those times, as well as showcasing the astonishing breadth of Lucy’s vocal artistry, in songs that range from jazz to bluegrass, from traditional and contemporary folk to country and pop. The album includes songs by Richard Shindell, Robbie Robertson, Townes Van Zandt, John Lennon, Lyle Lovett and Jack Hardy, and features live recordings with some of Lucy’s favorite collaborators, including Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Shawn Colvin. 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 12 million streams.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
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