Lucy and Lucy in Six String Concert...

Friday night my husband, Andrew, and I attended a Six String Concert at the Columbus Performing Arts Center (a lovely little venue with brick walls and a little wooden stage). This was our third Six String Concert (music played on acoustic guitars plugged into an amp) and was where we first heard Lucy Wainwright Roche. We’ve previously seen Dar Williams and Suzanne Vega (though I don’t think Ms. Vega was technically a Six String Concert since she’s kind of a big name). This time, in addition to Lucy Wainwright Roche, we also heard Lucy Kaplansky, who is slightly older than Ms. Roche, but lives in close proximity to her (Manhattan/Brooklyn). Both performers come from a musical family with either one or both parents who are/were famous musicians as well.

Lucy Wainwright Roche  (above) came out first and played a few traditional songs, as well as one silly song she and her sister made up based on a sort of dark fairy tale all about fat babies who grow on trees and if you sneeze, they fall out of the trees. Ms. Roche’s songs are full of lots of wonderful imagery like this. During the break I asked her about her first song (the title of which I forget) and whether it was inspired by Coney Island. She said it was, and we discussed how much destruction it suffered from Hurricane Sandy. Lucy said they were going to rebuild part of it, but it wouldn’t be the same – that it would be lacking the vintage charm it originally had.

Lucy Kaplansky played for the majority of the concert and seemed quite well-known and liked by most of the audience who gave her a long list of requests (which is probably why her portion was nearly 2 hours to Lucy W Roche’s barely one hour). I liked her songs too, but not as much as the other Lucy’s. I suppose I have a bias having seen Ms. Roche perform a couple times previously. She reminded me a bit of Dar Williams as both have a teenage child and are somewhat older than me. Ms. Kaplansky is also like Natalie Cole in that her father was also a musician and they’ve had duets – recorded both live and in the studio (she was selling the CDs in the hallway afterwards).

Lucy Wainwright Roche (left) and Lucy Kaplansky (right)

All in all, an excellent concert that we more than got our money’s worth ($26@ + free parking) considering the concert lasted almost three hours with a 15 minute intermission.