Lucy Kaplansky, Suzanne Vega

I was recently listening to Lucy Kaplansky, a singer-songwriter I had never heard of. I ran across her name while perusing the site for the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, a music festival in Northern California that I’m planning to attend this summer.

She’s another good one if you want to hear a good singer/songwriter, and I’m excited I’m going to get to see her. The minute she started playing I thought of Suzanne Vega, who I just heard on the radio show Mountain Stage. Suzanne is a poet who just happens to be a really great singer and musician. She has a new album out, which I have not heard yet but I look forward to it.

My favorites by her are the two produced by ex-hubby Mitchell Froom - check out “99.9″ and “Nine Objects of Desire” if you haven’t already. But her earlier albums are really great too: “Solitude Standing” is one of my all-time favorite records. Getting back to Lucy Kaplansky, I don’t know if she would count Suzanne Vega as one of her influences, but her voice definitely has similar attributes.

Maybe it’s because they’re both from New York. On her Web site you can listen to parts of her songs. Her latest album features mandolin and pedal steel. I don’t know that much about her other than what I’ve heard on her Web site, so if anyone has anything to say, feel free to comment on this blog.

Kristin Kirby

(photo credit: neatnessdotcom)

April 10th, 2009 by admin | Posted in Artisits | (0)