Cover Lay Down

We generally eschew artist ranking here at Cover Lay Down, but you never forget your first – and in this case, it speaks volumes that our very first feature back in September of 2007 introduced Richard Shindell’s incredible, quintessential covers album South of Delia, citing it as an album so powerful and vast in scope and sequence, it prompted us to start the blog in the first place. Just a few weeks later, we did a full feature on Lucy Kaplansky, too, touting that inimitable voice, and celebrating the woman who had so captured our hearts at the Clearwater festival, we had no choice but to snag her whole catalog to date at the merch tent, and subsequently steep ourselves in it through the long drive back home to Massachusetts, and for incessant months afterwards.

The evidence is clear from our origin, then: though we cherish the new and the post-millennial here at Cover Lay Down, their very presence at our humble beginnings confirm Kaplansky and Shindell’s places atop our lifetime list of favorite singer-songwriters. News regarding new projects, releases, or tours from either of these two sensitive, literate, and sublime musicians is ever an opportunity for celebration, and – as long time readers already know – we’ve been pleased to revisit them several times since 2007, in acknowledgement of each new release and collaboration.

But although Lucy and Richard in solo mode are always a wonderment, any opportunity to hear them work together is a special treat. And happily, here, too, one need not look far to find fodder for delight.

Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell’s work together dates back to the beginning of their careers, in the early eighties, when both were emerging artists in the Greenwich Village Fast Folk coffeehouse scene, and Kaplansky was the go-to harmony singer for an entire movement. Since then, though Shindell now makes his home south of the Equator, and Lucy continues to live in her native New York City, it is quite common to find them sharing stage and studio – and thanks to their long-time friendship and a mature sense of innate, entwined performance, the combination is always a delight. Those inimitable harmonies can be found on any number of “solo” recordings for the pair; in fact, the majority of albums from each artist feature the other on background vocals. Add in other collaborations, such as their performance together at a Harmony workshop at the 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and their great work with Dar Williams on the late nineties one-shot trio covers project Cry Cry Cry, and it’s no wonder their entwined voices haunt our playlists.

Which is all to introduce the wonderful news that yesterday, old friends and long-time collaborators Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell kicked off a campaign to fund an entire album of new covers entitled Tomorrow You’re Going. And in response, we’ve collected a full set of their previous collaborations, culled from studio albums and live performances, that proves just why we believe their newest project is destined to be something very, very special.

Clearly, others relish the thought of Kaplansky and Shindell coming together for a full album, too: just 24 hours after the campaign opened, they’ve already reached their initial fundraising goal. But don’t let the project’s rapid climb to sustainability stop you from supporting its fulfillment. “Stretch goals” for the project include broader press promotion and production, and an expansion of the subsequent tour that makes it that much more likely that you, too, could see the pair together in your own town or city. The give-aways here are darling, and typical of Richard and Kaplansky; read together, they comprise a vision of a tour together in which in every town, they’ll sing for, guitar shop with, and dine with donors and friends.

Most importantly, the success of this project really does depend on us: Shindell’s framing of crowdsourcing’s direct fan appeal as a quid pro quo replacement for music sales lost to the digital age is both an apt and eloquently stated argument for microfinancing models, and a signifier of his own clear and persistent vision of how to make music viable for artists and fans alike in an age far-flung from their Fast Folk magazine origins.

By definition, the covers on Tomorrow You’re Going are not yet available, at least in studio-recorded form. But, as noted above, there’s at least another album’s worth of recordings featuring the two out there already. Today, we collect the lot, reshuffling our favorite covers from Shindell and Kaplansky to focus on 16 tracks that feature the voices of both together – some nominally released under one artist’s name, and others, such as a couple of dual-marquee pairings recorded live at various festival stages, and a few tracks from Cry Cry Cry, more officially from the pair in partnership – and the end result is a beautiful playlist, and a beautiful teaser for their next great collaboration to boot. Listen, enjoy, and then head over to Kickstarter to pledge your support and pick your reward for Tomorrow You’re Going.

Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell cover… [zip!]

• Lucy Kaplansky: Swimming Song (orig. Loudon Wainwright III)
  (from Over The Hills, 2007)

• Richard Shindell: Northbound 35 (orig. Jeffrey Foucault)
• Richard Shindell: Mercy Street (orig. Peter Gabriel)
  (from South of Delia, 2007)

• Richard Shindell: Famous Blue Raincoat (orig. Leonard Cohen)
  (from Live at the Chandler Music Hall, 2006)

• Richard Shindell: Willin’ (orig. Little Feat)
  (From Courier, 2001)

• Lucy Kaplansky: The Angels Rejoiced Last Night (orig. The Louvin Brothers)
  (from Every Single Day, 2001)

• Richard Shindell: My Love Will Follow You (orig. Buddy & Julie Miller)
  (from Somewhere Near Patterson, 2000)

• Richard Shindell: Darkness, Darkness (orig. The Youngbloods)
  (from Reunion Hill, 1997)

• Lucy Kaplansky & Richard Shindell: Love Hurts (orig. Gram Parsons)
• Lucy Kaplansky & Richard Shindell: Someday Soon (orig. Ian & Sylvia)
  (live from Shrewsbury Folk Festival, 2010)

• Lucy Kaplansky & Richard Shindell: The Kid (orig. Buddy Mondlock)
• Lucy Kaplansky & Richard Shindell: Good Year For The Roses (orig. George Jones)
  (live from Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, 2007)

• Cry Cry Cry: By Way Of Sorrow (orig. Julie Miller)
• Cry Cry Cry: Cold Missouri Waters (orig. James Keeleghan)
  (from Cry Cry Cry, 1998)

• Cry Cry Cry: The Last Thing On My Mind (orig. Tom Paxton)
  (from Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the ’60s, 1999)

• Cry Cry Cry: Shades of Gray (orig. Robert Earl Keen)
  (live from Mountain Stage, 1999)