Lucy Kaplansky: Her “Red Thread Tour” Comes To Mad River!

Lucy Kaplansky may be the best singer/songwriter you’ve heard but never heard of. The Chicago native possesses one of the sweetest voices – buttery-smooth, velvety, playful - in the acoustic folk world. if you’ve ever listened to recording projects of emerging folk legends such as Suzanne Vega, Nanci Griffith, Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, Dar Williams or Richard Shindell, you’ve also heard Lucy. She’s the one laying down the tasty harmonizing in the background on all of their CDs, just beyond the range of the noticeable, enhancing all of these musicians’ songs just by showing up with that beautiful voice of hers.

But New York City-based Lucy Kaplansky is so much more than a back-up singer, as anyone who has heard or seen her will tell you. As a former clinical psychologist who left her practice to pursue a full-time music career (no joke!), Lucy leverages all of the wisdom gleaned over her years of studying the human mind (and heart’s) complexities to craft some of the most moving songs within the folk genre. She also does a tremendous solo show, and has produced five full-length CDs of original music, all of them eminently listenable. Her latest release – The Red Thread – may be her most thoughtful and moving to date.

Built on a post-911 sonic landscape of suspended electric guitar and organ cords and a spine-shivering melancholy, Kaplansky’s new CD explores a wide variety of universal human themes. “I Had Something” kicks off the project with a haunting look at “something that fell from me, something, and it was gone.” “Every living thing the tie that binds/What I’ve lost turns to love in time,” she sings. The whole CD is full of stories that explore what the ancient Chinese believed was an invisible “red thread” that connected a new-born child’s spirit with all of the significant people that would become a part of her life as she matured.

This metaphor serves as the CD’s powerful thematic element, and Kaplansky uses it to her advantage over and over again with each song. “”Line In The Sand” records the story of the same, “just across another line in the sand,” with a “king” who “sends his soldiers to war.” “Love Song/New York” captures love found on top of NYC roof tops, while “This Is Home” sings about the power of building a family. “Land Of The Living” tries to make sense of the 911 tragedy from a Big-Apple based songwriter’s unique vantage point, while the CD’s climactic “Red Thread” sings of the power of those odd connections that we’ve all experienced, the ones that sneak up and surprise us, making us wonder how exactly the universe is put together.

Listening to Lucy’s new CD, I am reminded (yet again) of her powerful ability to tease hope from the wreckage and loss of human existence without resorting to sometimes-cliched tropes – blues caterwauling, overt “in-your-face” sentimentalism, or mawkish or maudlin lyrical meanderings. She simply lays out one stripped down story after another, moving the listener through her own unique combination of words, music, and tender vocalizing. She is a fine interpreter of others’ songs, too – check out her covers of Bill Morrisey, James McMurtry and Buddy Miller’s tunes to hear what I mean.

And you can hear Lucy for yourself when she comes to the Valley Players Theater on Saturday, October 22 at 8:00 p.m., the first show in what promises to be another fine acoustic season put on by Valley resident Bruce Jones. If you are looking for an evening of thoughtful and beautiful acoustic music, don’t miss Lucy Kaplansky and the Red Thread tour. Hope to see you there.

Call 496.8910 for tickets and more information about the Saturday, October 22 show.

No comments

BOOK REVIEW by Rob Williams
(Un)Covering The Empire: Project Censored 2006

“The Daily Prophet is bound to report the truth occasionally,
if only accidentally.”

Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore, speaking in
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

During times of great upheaval – election fraud, militarism, “terror” attacks, corporate corruption, and war - it is sometimes useful to take refuge in the wisdom of stories told to us as children. In J.K. Rowling’s wildly popular “Harry Potter” series, for example, the Daily Prophet (the wizarding world’s daily newspaper of record) serves as little more than a mouthpiece for the Establishment, stenographically serving up “news” that reflects the “spin” of the Ministry of Magic, while chipping away at the reputations of those who challenge the Ministry’s power. Helped along by mentors such as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Harry and his young school mates, wizards-in-training all, begin to realize that what passes for official “news” in The Daily Prophet is often nothing more than carefully constructed public relations propaganda designed to manipulate wizard hearts and minds.

Popular children’s stories like “Harry Potter” often reveal much about the way the real world really works. Remember the classic about the Emperor’s New Clothes? Once upon a time, a rich and powerful emperor ordered snazzy new garments from a tailor with a sense of humor, an outfit consisting of nothing more than his birthday suit. The Emperor was so taken with his new threads that he refused to acknowledge that he was sans clothing, parading about for the entire world to see. All of his loyal subjects, busy bowing and scraping, couldn’t bring themselves to tell him the truth.

The Emperor was naked.

One person in the crowd - a lone child – refuses to wallow in this exercise in collective denial, deciding not to play along with the Game. And that one child began telling others, who told others, who pointed it out to others, and soon – the story got out.

The Emperor was naked.

In a healthy and functioning democratic society, journalists must play the role of the child in that well-known fable. It is journalists who ask hard questions of the powerful. It is journalists who provide a rigorous accounting of the evidence as it presents itself. It is journalists who uncover truths about the way the world works, no matter how inconvenient or troubling.

The Empire is naked.

As the United States enters the 21st century, however, its third century as a so-called constitutional Republic, most mainstream American journalists, out of fear, ignorance, or some combination of the two, refuse to acknowledge a simple fact about our great country.

The Empire is naked.

The state of our “news” culture (and I use the term loosely) is deeply troubling. The United States is now the most powerful Empire in the world. And, as citizens of the most powerful Empire in world history, Americans had better know what the heck is going on. But when it comes to “news,” Americans live in one of the most heavily censored societies in the world.

The Empire is naked.

“Censorship” in the United States, you say? Preposterous. (Note: we are conditioned from birth to believe exactly the opposite). Choices, we are told, define our media culture, unlike those oppressive top-down state-run regimes – Cuba, say, or the pre-glasnost Soviet Union - in which state-controlled media tell people what to think. We’ve got dozens of television stations, hundreds of magazines, thousands of radio stations, millions of web sites.

The Empire is naked.

Censorship? Don’t be absurd. Pay no attention to the fact that most Americans surveyed claim to get all of their news and information about the world from television. Or that we see, on average, more than 3,000 advertisements each day. Or that 90% of our media content is owned by one of six transnational corporations. Or that millions of taxpayer dollars are funneled into dozens of federal agencies for the express purpose of subsidizing the manufacture of corporate-friendly VNRS (video news releases) broadcast daily on millions of American TV sets without being identified as such. Or that Big Business spends more than 1 trillion dollars each year on powerful advertising, marketing, and branding campaigns that influence the ways we think, feel, buy, and behave. Just ignore such inconvenient facts. “Manufacturing consent” is just a well-worn cliché quoted by smug Chomskyites in a desperate bid to sell books to cynics and justify their own pathetic academic existence.

The Empire is naked.

“Denial” is not just a river in Egypt. Fortunately, though, for those who care about hard-hitting investigative journalism, we’ve got one of those little boys from the fable in our midst. And he shows up each autumn to provide us with a different road map for truth. Every year for the past three decades, Sonoma State University’s Department of Sociology has produced a powerful little book called “Project Censored” (PC), reporting on the “top 25” censored stories ignored or suppressed by our corporately-owned commercially-financed mainstream culture of “news” (and remember, I use the term loosely). More than 250 people – students, staff, community experts, guest writers – all worked this past year to collectively create one of the most powerful antidotes to the denial that is rampant in our society.

The Empire is naked.

And what a year for obfuscation, diversion, spin, disinformation, and yes, denial, on the screens and in the pages of the U.S. mainstream press. Want to know how many Iraqis have been killed in modern Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization? (The “best-estimate” answer – more than 100,000). Wondering if any lingering questions about the 911 “terrorist” attacks exist? (The answer – enough unanswered questions to fill several books). How ‘bout that “Oil For Food” program? Concerned about Big Brother, and the arrival of a post-911 “surveillance society”? What happened during the 2004 presidential “election” (and I use THAT term loosely) anyway? Questioning why the new Department of Homeland Security seems congenitally incapable rooting out and then routing the bad guys? “Project Censored” will answer all these questions for you, but only because mainstream news has done such a lousy job of the same.

The Empire is naked.

Sonoma State University sociology professor Peter Phillips, who directs “Project Censored,” knows how manage his team, and they’ve assembled one of the year’s most compelling resources. PC is a sobering read, but the information is presented in an accessible manner. Each “censored story” is summarized in just a few lively pages, complete with URL links to web sites containing further information for research, and an “update” section from experts who’ve continued to track each “censored” story up to the date of publication. Tom Tomorrow cartoons pepper the book, adding retro-spice and much-needed chuckles along the way. The “Junk News” section reminds us what stories dominated the headlines – Ashton and Demi, the Michael Jackson imbroglio, etc. – no need to remind you of them here. Meanwhile, PC 2006 provides more in-depth accounts of critical but ignored events of the past year – unanswered 911 questions (Read archived stories from our own “911 Reconsidered” issue at www.vtcommons.org/journal); the theft of the 2004 presidential “election” (remember, a loose term, subject to slippage); Junk Science; and the cozy relationship between the military/industrial complex and corporate media owners, to name but a few.

The Empire is naked.

Strangely, perhaps, my annual reading of “Project Censored,” like my reading of “Harry Potter,” always provides me with some glimmerings of hope. Independent investigative journalism has been much marginalized within the mainstream in the United States, yes, but it is very much alive and well if one knows where to look. Dozens of bright young college students are receiving the kind of training they’ll need to be actual investigative journalists, instead of simply serving as “stenographers to power” as they come of age. Hundreds of thoughtful people collectively bend their minds each year to the age-old task of excavating and presenting uncomfortable but important truths about the world’s inequalities and injustices, with an eye towards educating and informing those willing to take the time to listen.

The Empire is naked.

The great genius of Project Censored lies in the fact that, as the book “uncovers” the censorship that pervades our culture of news, they also “cover” the Empire, revealing important but neglected moments for us, reminding us of our own recent history, and courageously confronting the troubling stories of our time. “In a time of universal deceit,” journalist George Orwell famously observed, “telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Are PC’s creators “revolutionary?” Perhaps. But no more so than those of us who believe that citizens of this once-great republic might use the road map provided by PC (and other independent journalists) to re-invent ourselves as we enter a new century.

The Empire is naked.

We don’t have the luxury of wand-waving, as Harry and his wizarding friends do, but we have no shortage of good ideas. Inspired books like Project Censored remind us that, here in the Green Mountain State, it is time to clothe ourselves with the truth, and put our own energy towards re-invention.

No comments

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals: Bringing It Back Home!

Mad River Valley’s own Grace Potter and her band the Nocturnals have spent the last several months on the road, touring the United States in a Winnebago to promote their new CD “Nothing Like The Water.” We caught up with them for an exclusive interview about life on the road, how the new CD has been received, and what they’ve got planned for the statewide Vermont “Bringing It Back Home” tour later this month. The buzz in the Green Mountain State is already out about the band: top flight Vermont venues, including Higher Ground, UVM Recital Hall, and the Eclipse Theater - have already sold out, with Higher Ground reporting the third quickest “sell out” sale in the venue’s history, behind Trey and Bob Weir. More than 2,000 tickets have been sold since late August.

This is exciting news for one of Vermont’s most inspiring new musical acts. Here’s news from the road, in their own words.

Q. What have been the highs and lows of summer touring?

A. Highs include making new fans across the country and building from scratch like we did in Vermont. It’s far from easy, but the pay off is worth every mile driven and every ounce of energy poured out on stage. There is nothing like feeling the genuine excitement of people who have never heard you before. Some nights we play to nearly empty rooms and the next night we are opening up for an act like Taj Mahal or the North Mississippi Allstars. It’s a wild roller coaster of unpredictable emotions, which we are thankfully learning how to deal with in a professional and healthy way.

I think the last line of the “high” sections sums up one of the
lows. Because we are still a very young act, we don’t have the
privilege to perform to sold out crowds every night. We’re starting from scratch on this tour and our booking agent is setting us up with a wide array of acts/venues that require a lot of patience. One night could be a magical evening where we blow the crowd away and sell a hundred CDs, and other nights we won’t connect with an audience. Not to mention the facts that six people in a small Winnebago driving 30.000 miles in three
months can also get to you some times! It’s a serious mental challenge.

Q. How is the new CD “Nothing But The Water” being received at live shows? Some good radio play?

A. To our delight, the new record has been well received everywhere we have traveled. (we have sold over 5000 copies since it came out in May…another 10,000 just ordered.) This means a lot because this album is essentially the official debut of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and we have no retail distributions except in Vermont. It’s mainly
dependent on show sales and online sales.

As far as radio play goes, we have not really made a serious push into the radio scene yet. There are other aspects of our career and music that we think are more important right now, such as making new fans through live performances. The cool thing is we have received some exciting airplay without really trying. Places like WXPN in Philly and WFUD in New York
has spun our music before without us hitting them with a radio campaign. This is very meaningful, because it means our sounds are getting out to the world through word of mouth.

One place in Vermont that we have established a healthy relationship with is The Point. They have been supportive from the early days and never given up on us. We are forever grateful for their support! WGDR, too, has also been one of our
favorites, along with VPR, a station that seems to be a new believer in the band.

Q. What’s it like performing outside of your Vermont home crowd of supportive friends and family?

A. Since this has been our first official tour away from New England, we have experienced all the emotions and unexpectedly learned so much about ourselves and the world around us. Thankfully, we have fought past some
of the tough times and realized they’re bound to happen when you have six people (4 band members, 1 tour manager, 1 business manager…all good friends) living in a small Winnebago. This Winnebago has served as our moving home since June and we are truly a working family who rotates duties (emptying the black water, dishes, garbage, driving, navigating,etc). We even have our own bowls and cups with our names on them! Because of this tightly knit world, we are bound to have daily issues, but this experience has made us all stronger, closer, and reminded us how lucky we are to be chasing our dream and doing what we do for a living. The result of this family traveling on the road is some of the best maturity, chemistry, energy, and creativity we have ever experienced.

Q. Who’ve you jammed with? Opened for? Any stories?

A. There have not been any historic jam sessions with any big names, but we have shared the stage with some amazing folks and spent quality back stage time with these folks. Our personal highlights have been with Taj Mahal and his band; the Jon Butler Tri; the North Mississippi Allstars; and Mofro. The most memorable musician story happened when we were invited to jump on Willie Nelson’s tour bus in Texas. Check out our
road journal in fifty years to find out the rest of the story.

Q. Any offers from labels? How’re you handling this?

A. More and more offers are beginning to come in due to our successful tour this summer as well as a very strong performance at the CMJ Festival in New York City. We typically don’t like these events because they are filled with chin stroking industry workers who treat it like an SAT test. What made
CMJ better than our SXSW experience was all of our fans who packed into the venue to see our first NYC show since May. They helped us rock the place out in front of all the chin strokers from the many labels who wanted to see what we were all about.

Another thing that is grabbing the instant attention of the labels is the fact that an independent ban can sell a 1000+ tickets in several days for a tour of their home state. This does not happen every day and industry folks are very intrigued by how well we are building from the bottom up without the help of a label. We are also an unsigned band who is on the one of the best booking agencies in the world. This agency has helped
developed bands like Phish, Dave Mathews Band, Medeski Martin and Wood, and Aerosmith. This means a lot to us because it allows us to take our time and build a strong fan base, like all bands should. We have also built a very strong family, which includes a wonderful manager, booking agent, tour manager, business manager, and music attorney. We also all
have amazingly loving parents who merrily support every crazy thing we dream up.

We are proud that we have not signed any dotted lines yet.
We have passed on numerous offers because we have
felt it is more important to independently develop and build a fan base. Because we have held out, we now have more options to choose from. This sets the stage for a healthy contract that allows us to choose our own destiny and preserve our artistic ambitions. Many artists lose this golden privilege when they rush their careers and sign with the wrong group
of folks. We’re hoping to surround ourselves with more genuine folks who can help us reach the next level of development and further our careers so we can play music until we’re 60 like the Stones or the Allman Brothers.

Q. What’s in store for those of us planning to attend the Bringing It All Back Home Tour?

A. The top priority for the BIABHT is to bring Vermont a string of high energy shows filled with new and old material we have worked on all summer long from the road. After visiting so many amazing places, we have been seriously inspired, but also reminded of how much we love Vermont, a place where we have the most loyal and energetic fans. As a result of this love, we are going to give our fans everything we got.

No comments