Review: Lucy Kaplansky @ Ashland Coffee & Tea Ashland, VA 25 September 2001

Ashland Coffee and Tea was not only lucky enough to secure the booking of
urban folk singer/songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, but also to have her honor the
booking when the original show was canceled due to the events of September
11.

Kaplansky, who put a promising music career on hold while pursuing her
doctorate in Psychology, never abandoned her dream of making a life in
music.  With help from friends like former singing partner Shawn Colvin,
Kaplansky's talent was brought to the attention of Red House Records'
president Bob Feldman.  To date, Kaplansky has released four solo records
with Red House; The Tide, Flesh and Bone, Ten Year Night, and most recently
Every Single Day.

Whereas her recordings feature full instrumental accompaniment, featuring
guest artists such as Richard Shindell, Duke Levine and John Gorka,
Kaplansky typically tours as a soloist. For her September 25 show at Ashland
Coffee & Tea, she came armed only with her Martin acoustic guitar, her
voice, and a bag of songs and stories.

Kaplansky kept the first of two sets moving, offering a steady flow of
original compositions, including 'One Good Reason' and 'Ten Year Night'; and
cover material, such as 'Peace, Love and Understanding', which to her credit
was correctly attributed to Nick Lowe.  When it seemed the evening's
material would be dispatched with only a minimum of between song banter,
Kaplansky shared an extended story of her recent trip to England involving a
purchase of a mobile phone, an unexpected invitation to record with Brian
Ferry, and her inability to locate Ricola cough drops.

Ferry, it appears had been listening to a broadcast of Kaplansky over BBC,
and was so taken by her singing that he requested her for a session
scheduled that day.  He sent a car to collect the American singer, who soon
found herself in a London studio with the Roxy Music frontman. At the time,
Kaplansky was concerned about a cold she had caught, and it effect on her
singing voice.  Ferry, sensing her affliction, produced a package of Ricola
lozenges from his pocket, and the session proceeded.  Kaplansky remarked
that she had been unable to locate that brand of cough drop since her
arrival.

Some time later, Ferry sent her a package of Ricola, which she is saving as
a souvenir. The experience was later recounted in a New Jersey newspaper
interview, which then prompted the manufacturer to officially acknowledge
her 'plug', and offer a care package of their products, which she readily
accepted.  Confessing she was obliged to perform a Ferry tune, she then
offered the Roxy Music classic 'More Than This'.

As a reward to a table of fans who trekked from Virginia Beach to see her,
she closed the set with 'This Is Mine', with a caveat that it required an
alternate tuning of her guitar, and help with the lyrics, as she performs it
so infrequently.  After achieving the correct tuning following a false
start, Kaplansky reached about the halfway point before soliciting the
lyrics to the next verse from the audience.  The intimate confines of the
venue easily facilitated this exchange, and further heightened the already
somewhat communal aspects of the performance.  Credit the owners and staff
of Ashland Coffee and Tea for creating a venue that can not only draw talent
the likes of Ms. Kaplansky, but also make the experience as pleasing as the
entertainment.  A polite silence was maintained throughout, and the wait
staff was unobtrusive.

Her second, seemingly shorter set began with 'Mary and the Soldier', a
beautiful traditional English ballad, if a bit 'Ye Olde-y'.  Continuing with
'Guilty as Sin' from her new record, Kaplansky alerted those in attendance
that many of her songs are not autobiographical, and feels compelled to warn
her mother, who attends many of her daughter's shows, that some of the
songs, such as 'Guilty' are not reflections of her own life.  When warning
her mother about the adulterous content of 'Guilty as Sin' prior to a
concert, her mother simply said 'Cool!'  Regarding her mother, Kaplansky
further noted that she often rearranges CDs in stores to more prominently
display her daughter's efforts, and is known to purchase copies for the
purpose of showing the pictures to anyone who will indulge her maternal
pride.  Kaplansky then performed, a capella, a song her father, a
mathematician and amateur songwriter composed; an unwieldy tune about the
numeric value pi, which represents the ratio of circumference of a circle to
its diameter, the chorus of which was transcribed from the value of pi to
the notes on the piano keyboard.

The diversion to humorous familial matters offset the somewhat somber tone
of the second set's material, which included 'Song for Molly', a lamentation
about an aging grandparent, 'Broken Things', in this case hearts and
feelings, penned by Julie Miller, and a cover of Gram Parsons' 'Return of
the Grievous Angel'.

New Country Magazine characterized Kaplansky's voice as "sweet and pure as
fresh sheets and ice water".  Hyperbole aside, Kaplansky is an exceptionally
talented singer, whose voice is more evocative with solo guitar
accompaniment than on record.  She is not given to vocal gymnastics, and
limits her range, however her delivery and enunciation are remarkable.

It was inevitable that Kaplansky would address recent events.  However she
unabashedly admitted her satisfaction with her career choice, and made the
argument for music's life-affirming quality. The response was unanimous.