(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)January 10, 2002

(Mahwah) – Folksinger/songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, who with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell formed the folk supergroup Cry, Cry, Cry, will perform music from her solo albums Every Single Day and Ten Year Night at Ramapo College of New Jersey Saturday, February 2 at 8 p.m. in the Sharp Theater.

Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago bars before heading, right out of high school, 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 flair for harmony, she was a favorite singing partner, but most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. The New York Times said it was “easy to predict stardom for her.”

Convinced that her calling was in another direction, Kaplansky left the music world 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. She was often pulled back into the studio by friends, who now had contracts with record labels (and wanted 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.

After collaborating with Shawn Colvin, her ex-singing partner on a studio session, Kaplansky was back in the music business. She signed with Red House Records and started performing. The Tide was released by Red House in 1994 to rave reviews and soon, Kaplansky left her two psychologist positions to go on tour.

For her second album, Flesh and Bone (1996), Kaplansky was joined in the studio by some of her favorite singing partners, Jennifer Kimball, Richard Shindell and John Gorka. The album, which emphasized her development as a songwriter, contains eight original songs.

Both The Tide and Flesh and Bone received significant airplay and reached the top 10 and top 20 on the Americana and A3 charts as well as earning Honorable Mention Indie Awards from the Association for Independent Music (AFIM). Kaplansky was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Extensive touring in the U.S. and Europe helped establish a far-reaching fan base.

Kaplansky’s voice continues to remain in high demand by her peers; she can be heard on recently-released albums by Nanci Griffith and John Gorka. She joined with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to celebrate the revitalization in contemporary songwriting, recording some of their favorite songs written by other artists. The resulting album, Cry, Cry, Cry, called by The New Yorker, “a collection of lovely harmonizing and pure emotion,” met with tremendous success in stores and on radio and resulted in a national tour of sold-out concerts.

Kaplansky has toured extensively in Ireland and the UK since the release of Ten Year Night. Her most successful record to date, it received the AFIM award for Best Pop Album. Her new recording, Every Single Day, features Kaplansky on seven original tracks (co-written with her husband Rick Litvin and Duke Levine) and four cover songs with harmonies by John Gorka, Richard Shindell, Buddy Miller and Jennifer Kimball.

Tickets for Kaplansky’s concert at Rampo College are $20, $17 for seniors and $10 for students with valid I.D. For more information, call (201) 684-7844. The Sharp Theater is located in the Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts on the Ramapo College campus.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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