The term alt country is not so much stretched as analysed in the case of Lucy Kaplansky (right). A Chicago psychologist who first won plaudits in a New York folk duo with Shawn Colvin (as well as singing with Nanci Griffith), Kaplansky initially chose a career working with the mentally ill. Eschewing such worthy work, she dived headlong into the music industry (from the frying pan into the fire, some would say), writing direct emotional material with a rootsy, country/folk undercurrent. Her most recent and third release is Ten Year Night, an album that proves her to be a genuine female contender in what is fast turning into a (cow) boys-only club. Kaplansky performs in Belfast and Dublin next Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
