THE BEAT
Lucy Kaplansky, Vanessa Hollingshead, Jeffrey Folmer
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., May 8, 1997) --
Lucy Kaplansky: Id, Ego, Alter Ego
Like Clark Kent, the mild-mannered reporter who hides his secret identity as a superhero, Dr. Lucy Kaplansky, a New York City psychotherapist, has an alter ego. In the new-folk world, Kaplansky is pretty much regarded as a superhero. A former duet partner with Shawn Colvin who sang on her Grammy-winning debut, "Steady On," Kaplansky has also graced albums by Nanci Griffith, Dar Williams and John Gorka. But it's on the strengths of her own two albums, "The Tide" and "Flesh and Bone" (both Red House), that Kaplansky is widely respected as an acclaimed singer-songwriter in her own right. Kaplansky's best work features strongly-drawn portraits of emotional spaces full of the sort of deep conviction tempered with the sort of ambiguity one might expect from a shrink. So whether you're feeling manic or depressed, head on over to the Spencertown (N.Y.) Academy on Friday night, where Kaplansky is sure to have a cure for whatever ails you, starting at 8. Call (518) 392-3693 for more info.Vanessa Hollingshead: Comic flashbacks
For Vanessa Hollingshead, what's even harder than making people laugh is making them believe that her wild stories about her childhood are true. "I talk about my parents doing drugs," said Hollingshead -- one of five comics who will be appearing at the Studio in Pittsfield on Saturday night -- in a recent phone interview from her Brooklyn apartment. "My parents were hippies. My dad worked with Timothy Leary in the Sixties. I took acid when I was really young. It was lying around on a sugar cube. When I was a little kid in school you had to go around the room and tell what your father did. He called himself an `LSD hygienist.' `Well, my dad likes to give drugs to people and study the effects.' So I said he was a writer." When she was 12 years old, Hollingshead -- who has been acting for 15 years and doing stand-up comedy for the last five -- lived on a commune in Ithaca, N.Y., "for two years too long," she said. "That's why I stay away from any goat products. One morning I'm in Brooklyn, and the next thing I know it's six a.m. and I'm in Ithaca milking goats. That's why I won't go visit the country. I have a hard time adjusting to the fresh air. Everything's mellow. It's horrible." Tomorrow night, Hollingshead premieres a one-woman show in New York that tells the story of her life through eight different characters via flashbacks. Presumably it will just be an act.Jeffrey Folmer: Down from the Cross
Singer-songwriter Jeffrey Folmer's most unusual gig was perhaps as the lead in several productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar." Said Folmer of the role, "Hanging from a cross fifteen feet up in the air in front of a cast of eighty and an audience of fifteen-hundred, many of whom are sobbing -- it's all very surreal and just charged with emotion....And when the shows are all over, you get a massive dose of reality. `Yesterday I was Jesus; so let's see what should I do today? Maybe change the oil in the van or mow the lawn.' " Folmer -- who just last week was named a final contestant in the prestigious Telluride (Colo.) Troubador Competition -- comes down off the cross for two performances in the Berkshires this weekend. He's at the Mystery Cafe in Sheffield on Friday at 8 (call 413-229-0075 for info) and at Milltown Studios (413- 662-2725) in North Adams on Saturday at 9.Backstage bits
A slew of Berkshire musicians, including David Grover, Vikki True, Carl Bowlby and Lee Everett of Tamboura, lend their vocal talents to "Human Heart: The Songs of Mark Kelso." Proceeds from the project, which features a dozen of the Richmond songwriter's compositions and also includes tracks performed by Kim and Reggie Harris, Lui Collins and Linda Worster, will revert to organizations helping the homeless. A free CD release party will be held at Kripalu in Lenox on Wednesday, May 14, at 7:30, with some of the local musicians contributing to the album likely to be on hand....More than once over the last few months in this column we have drawn a comparison between Ani DiFranco and Bob Dylan. It seems we weren't the only ones thinking along those lines. DiFranco's record company, Righteous Babe, has announced that DiFranco will be joining Dylan on a concert swing through the Northeast and the Midwest in August. Look for the tour to make a stop right here at Tanglewood....
Names that have been kicking around as possibilities to play the Berkshire Performing Arts Theatre in Lenox this summer include UB40, who scored big in the '80s with reggae-remixes of classic hits including Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" and Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe."....
It looks like Lollapalooza '97 will be playing everywhere EXCEPT Green Mountain Race Track in Pownal, Vt. Look for the so-called alternative- rock festival at conventional concert sites including the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford on June 28, the Saratoga (N.Y.) Performing Arts Center on July 1, and Great Woods on July 8.....
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on May 8, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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