Quick Q and A with Lucy Kaplansky
 by Kathy S-B  ·  13 March 2010

I first got to know Lucy Kaplansky by hearing her on early Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith, and John Gorka albums. I read the liner notes and discovered a new favorite singer and felt it was extremely cool when Shawn Colvin produced Lucy’s first CD. I’ve long been intrigued by musical friendships and relationships and think of that era as a very magical one.

Find out more about Lucy on her website. Check out this video of one of Lucy’s most requested songs, “Ten Year Night.”

Your biography states that you got your start singing in bars in Chicago. Were you singing original tunes back then or were you doing cover songs by your favorites?

I didn’t really write a real song till I was in New York in my 20’s, so back then I was singing covers and also songs written by the guy I was singing with, Elliot Simon. We called ourselves “Simon and Kaplansky,” what a wacky name!

When you arrived in New Yoirk, it seems as though you got to know all the young movers and shakers of the time. Do you recall who your first NYC musical friend was?

It might have been Cliff Eberhardt, I know I met him really early on.

Do you have any favorite tales to tell about that time in your life?

My husband, who was a fan of mine and who I hadn’t yet met, remembers watching me tending bar at Folk City, then being announced by that night’s performer, grabbing a handful of potato chips and stuffing them in my mouth, then going onstage to sing harmonies. I kind of remember that.

The short history and tour life of the trio, Cry Cry Cry (you, Dar Williams and Richard Shindell) has reached almost mythic stature. Has there ever been any talk about a reunion or some of other folk superstar “group” like this?

I don’t think there will be a Cry Cry Cry reunion, but it looks like I’m going to be making a trio album with 2 of my favorite singer songwriters, John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson. The album should be out this summer. So I’m very excited about that!

I’m assuming that all of your recordings are like children and you hold them close to your heart . . . but do you have a favorite one?

Yes, I do have a favorite: The Red Thread. I think it’s my best.

If you were asked to make an all cover album of songs by one artist, who would that artist be?

Hard question: Maybe Steve Earle. Or Richard Thompson. It’s a toss-up.

Quick Q and A with Edie Carey
 by Kathy S-B  ·  13 March 2010

It’s easy to understand why one music journalist has called Edie Carey “the Shawn Colvin of her generation.” Edie’s songs are smart, just like Colvin’s. She sings with credibility and force and just enough vulnerability to make you want to hear more and more.

To learn more about Edie, go to her website Here’s a video of Edie singing “If I Start to Cry.”

Your biography reads as a kind of magical fairy tale about how you ended up becoming a singer-songwriter. Do you ever regret taking that road less traveled?

Not for a second. This year marks the 11th year of doing this as my full-time job, and I truly can’t fathom doing anything else. It would be hard to imagine a better job than singer-songwriter — and I can’t think of anything that would make me feel equally challenged and inspired.

Your time studying in Italy gave you an opportunity to acquaint yourself with the guitar and to develop a repertoire or sorts. Was that a real turning point in your life?

Absolutely. For the first time in my life as an “adult” (I was 20), I had lots of free time to do with whatever I pleased. In Italy, you only go to class a few hours a day,so I was able devote a ton of time to learning to play guitar and starting to write songs . . . and then eventually busking on the streets there. It was a crash course in singer-songwritering that I might never have gotten at college in the states. It’s also a lot less scary to play your own songs for folks who don’t speak English.

I’ve got to ask — what’s this about being on TV with Ed McMahon? Were you on “Star Search”?

In 2001, I competed on a show on the PAX channel called “Ed McMahon’s Next Big Star.” The producers were trying to bring Star Search back under this new name, but then American Idol showed up, and it just kind of squashed the notion. It was a really cool experience which involved scary amounts of lip gloss :) I competed against a trio of very cute 15-year-olds and I did not win. When I saw the voting audience consisted of tweens and grandmothers, I pretty much knew it was a done deal :) Ed McMahon was really nice, very tall, and he knew who Ani DiFranco was, which I thought was totally badass.

According to your bio, it says that you performed at the 2002 Winter Olympics. How did that come about?

A fan of mine was on the entertainment committee, and he set me up with the shows. It was a really fun experience, especially for someone as seriously un-sporty as I am :) I hung out with a lot of Irish athletes. They like this sensitive singer-songwriter stuff.

You’ve had the opportunity to do shows on fan cruises. What’s that like?

So much fun — and such a great way to connect with folks who are passionate about music. I just finished my 2nd Cayamo cruise with Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile…and about 30 other great musicians. It’s especially at gigs like those that I find it hard to believe that I get paid to do this. I actually forgot to get paid, I was having so much fun :)

What’s in store for Edie Carey in the near future?

I have a new record coming out in the fall of 2010, so I will be touring behind that a good deal over the next year. I wouldn’t be surprised if a baby were on the horizon in the 2–3 years. CDs, babies — it’s all the same, right?? :)

Quick Q and A with Rani Arbo
 by Kathy S-B  ·  6 March 2010

Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem have to be one of the most fun and energetic acts to have graced the stage of the me&thee coffeehouse. They’ve been called an “unusually gleeful string band.” The Boston Globe described the band as “neo old-timey with cosmopolitan splashes of contemporary pop and jazz.” All we know is that we love the music and the joy we feel whenever we hear that music.

To learn more about Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem, go to their website. Here’s a peek at what they sound like in concert.

If you had to describe your music in three words or less, what would they be?

Eclectic, fun, deep

What’s the story behind the name “daisy mayhem?”

It was a chance discovery. In 1999, when the band coalesced, we went looking for a name that spelled fun, and one that made a nod to our sometimes chaotic mix of old and new musical styles. As we looked around, I got a call from my friend Sonja in Minneapolis, whose all-girl punk band — named daisy mayhem — had just broken up. I asked if we could use the name, and she said yes. Later on, we found out that Daisy Mayhem was a character from a Hanna Barbera cartoon. Even later on, we learned it was the name of a bright pink recumbent bicycle manufactured in Rockford, IL. And that’s all the daisy mayhem trivia that’s fit to print!

Do you prefer live appearances over the recording experience?

They are so different, and they call on different energies and skills. Live performance is simpler to love, because it’s so ephemeral. You give everything you have, without thinking about it, for an hour and a half, and you enter into an energizing exchange with the audience that has the potential to truly fill you both up.

Recording can be equally thrilling, but it isn’t ephemeral, and it can take weeks or years to complete. It asks us for more reflection and editing, and so it’s more intellectual and occasionally frustrating. That said, our goal in the studio is to capture our live performance — that spontaneous, ephemeral energy — as best we can. And after we do that, then the painstaking process of listening back, adjusting sounds and adding textures (which we sometimes, but not always, do) can be very rewarding.

To add another thought here — being listened to changes how one plays. It makes playing into a conversation, rather than a soliloquy. The treasure of a live performance is our relationship with the audience, and the way that compels us to give immediately of our energy and music. After 10 years and hundreds of shows together, we can take that live-performance memory into the studio and conjure it up; over the years, we have gotten better and better at doing so. Also, we’re lucky to be a band of four people who can play for each other, applaud each other, laugh, get silly, and be frustrated together. So, even when we’re in the studio, we still have a chemistry to work with. In turn, the reflective studio time often informs choices that we make on stage — arrangement choices, lyric adjustments, and so forth. In our experience, live and in-studio work really complement each other.

How do each of you go about presenting your songs to each other? Do they end up being altered after they’re introduced to the band?

Usually quite shyly, and often at sound check. No matter how long we’ve known each other or how well we get along, presenting new songs and ideas takes a moment of courage. We don’t use every song or idea; some work well for the band, and others less so. Given a little time, we can usually pronounce a unanimous decision on what works. Most songs do end up altered after they’ve been introduced — we almost always add harmony ideas, and the arrangements can fall together quickly or take a long time. Sometimes a song can take weeks, or years, before it finds its musical “home” with us.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing independent musicians these days?

I can’t speak for others, but my biggest challenge is balancing touring and having a family, because of the logistics and the finances that result from being an independent musician. I (and Scott who is also in the band) have a six-year old son, who has been on tour (on and off!) since he was 5 weeks old. Now, he often chooses to stay home with his grandmother or a babysitter; but as he grows, our balancing act won’t get any easier. Traveling together has been an amazing experience for us as a family. We’d like to continue it, and honestly we have to continue to stay in the business as we are now. As independent musicians, we have to hit the road to visit radio stations, play festivals and shows, peddle CDs, and let people know we’re out there. Maybe down the line we’ll have to make some different choices, but for now we’re still committed to making it work.

I do believe that one of our biggest challenges as musicians, independent or not, is to keep live music available and accessible to a generation that’s increasingly plugged in. I love that they are listening so much; that so much different music is so universally available. But the rewards of hearing live music go way beyond that, and I hope we can just stay out there and keep making it happen — both for ourselves and for the audiences who listen. We are all looking forward to a great night of making that happen at the Me & Thee!

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