On April 16, 2004 I was driving home from a full day of teaching kindergarten, unwinding to the soothing voices of NPR. All Things Considered was my standard drive home fare and my mind flitted in and out as I half listened, half tuned out the stories of the hour. On this particular day singer/songwriter Lucy Kaplansky was being interviewed about her most recent album and it’s title song – The Red Thread. All I heard that day was the chorus – and that was enough. (This much I can say/this much I can do/when your heart is empty/I’ll try to fill it for you/’cause I’m the girl who learned to love from watching you).
The minute I arrived home I headed straight for Amazon and ordered a copy of the CD. And one for my mom.
Since that day I’ve been an avid Lucy Kaplansky fan. When I was pregnant with my daughter I flew from Denver to Birmingham to catch a show with my mom for the first time. And during that show Lucy played a cover of the Emmylou Harris song “Boulder to Birmingham“…I was thrilled. It was like she knew I was in the audience! (<—- I realize that is an over-the-top, stalkerish comment but I’m sticking with it.)
Lucy’s songs strike such deep chords for me, particularly the songs she writes about motherhood. When I first heard her song “Moon over Manhattan” I was so amazed by how she’d captured both the wonderful magic of childhood and the wonderful magic of parenthood. I was hooked and I dreamed of using that song on my website. I sat on that dream for a good year or more until I finally got up the courage to send her an email, never expecting a response. I conjured up all of my over the top, stalkerish feelings and tried to channel them into something a little less scary and much more flattering. And let me tell you, I nearly fell out of my chair when she emailed me back!
Thank you so much for the lovely email, you made my day!
And of course you can use the song on your site. I’d be honored.
All the best, Lucy
I knew I loved her. I hope you’ll love her too.
So, of course, the answer to yesterday’s little quickfire contest was that the music on my website has changed! I was stoked when the emails started pouring in just moments after the post when up. I guess that’s the power of Facebook and Twitter, right?! Six minutes later the contest was over as the correct answer sat in my inbox. Impressive!
Since yesterday’s contest fun ended so soon I’d love to send a copy of my favorite Lucy album to a random commenter…leave a comment ON THE BLOG if you’d love to have a little bit of Lucy of your own.
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