Lucy Kaplansky will be the featured artist during the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s monthly First Saturday Concerts series on May 5. The 8:30 p.m. concert at the Congregational Church of Huntington (30 Washington Drive, off Route 25A, in Centerport) will be preceded by an open mic at 7:30 p.m.
Hailed as “the songwriter laureate of modern city folk” (The Boston Globe), Kaplansky is a New York City-based contemporary folk singer-songwriter whose recordings have frequently topped the folk and Americana radio charts.
“Lucy has been a favorite of FMSH and Long Island audiences for years, and we’re delighted to welcome her back as the Folk Music Society of Huntington celebrates its 50th anniversary,” said Michael Kornfeld, president of the volunteer-run nonprofit organization’s board of directors.
A Chicago native, Kaplansky began singing in bars while still a teenager — even traveling to Norway to perform as a country singer. After high school, she headed to New York City, where she immersed herself in the then-flourishing Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1980s before opting to pursue a doctorate in psychology and start a private practice.
Shawn Colvin, her frequent duo partner during the ’80s, and on whose Grammy Award-winning album, Steady On, she harmonized, lured Kaplansky back into music and produced her debut album, The Tide (1994). Two of Kaplansky’s subsequent recordings — Ten Year Night and Every Single Day — were cited as Best Pop Album of the Year by the Association for Independent Music.
In 1998, Kaplansky teamed up with Richard Shindell and Dar Williams to form the folk supergroup Cry Cry Cry. The trio embarked on a national tour of sold-out concerts in support of its critically acclaimed and commercially successful self-titled album and recently regrouped for a series of concert and festival gigs. She and Shindell also reunited a few years ago to record and perform as The Pine Hill Project. Kaplansky also has toured and recorded an album as part of Red Horse with Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka.
An in-demand harmony singer, Kaplansky may be heard on albums by such artists as Bryan Ferry, Nanci Griffith and Suzanne Vega, while her luminous voice has been featured in films and on television. She also sings on tribute albums to Greg Brown and Bob Dylan.
Tickets, priced at $25 ($20 for FMSH members), may be purchased in advance online at www.fmsh.org, using a credit card, or at the door (cash and checks only). For more information, visit the website or call (631) 425-2925.
