Lucy Kaplansky

A singer-songwriter with a tremendously evocative voice and a deeply emotive lyrical style, Lucy Kaplansky has become a bedrock of the Northeast folk scene. But it almost didn’t happen. After starting out in the folk clubs of New York City in the early 80’s alongside friends and peers like Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega, Kaplansky abruptly left the music world to become a clinical psychologist. After several years practicing at a New York hospital, the muse came calling again and Kaplansky returned to writing and performing in earnest. Her friend Shawn Colvin produced her debut record, which was released on Red House Records to great critical reception in 1994. A string of well-received records continued through the 90’s with Kaplansky’s audience growing along with her public profile. In 1999 she got together with folk luminaries Richard Shindell and Dar Williams for the highly successful collaborative recording Cry Cry Cry which cemented her place amongst the pantheon of the burgeoning folk scene. Her most recent record was the acclaimed Reunion in 2012.

‘Bold, vibrant’Kaplansky’s vocals seem to glide into the heavens’ ‘ Boston Globe

Richard Shindell

Veteran folk artist Richard Shindell has built a reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter, his rich imagery and evocative character studies resembling short stories as much as songs. Over a career spanning close to 25 years, Shindell has created a remarkably poignant and highly literate stable of songs, all grounded by his easy, no-frills baritone. The former New Yorker (he now lives in Buenos Aires with his family) released his first record, 1992’s Sparrows Point, on the widely revered Shanachie label, for which he then released two more critically-adored records. His career was given a boost in 1997 when folk icon Joan Baez covered several of his tunes for an album and invited Shindell along on her subsequent tour. Following that, he hooked up with fellow New York songwriters Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky for the now-classic collaborative record Cry Cry Cry. Despite moving to Argentina in 2000, Shindell has continued writing, recording and performing, the most recent effort being 2009’s excellent Not Far Now.

‘Shindell has uncanny sense of the theater of a song, building his ballads sparely and subtly, set to sweeping graceful melodies.’ ‘ Boston Globe