The Pine Hill Project

As solo artists, Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell have been making critically acclaimed albums since the early 1990s, and each have contributed harmonies to every one of those albums. But with the exception of 1998’s one-off Cry Cry Cry album with Dar Williams, the two songwriters have never made an album together – that is, until now. And it’s been worth the wait.

As The Pine Hill Project, Lucy and Richard have released Tomorrow You’re Going, an Americana masterwork produced by multi-instrumentalist and two-time Grammy Award winner Larry Campbell (best known for his work with Levon Helm and as part of Bob Dylan’s touring band, as well as sideman for Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson). The album also features bassist Byron Isaacs, pianist Bill Payne (Little Feat), and drummer Dennis McDermott.

Tomorrow You’re Going is an evocative, sometimes rollicking, deeply moving collection of 11 songs from writers as diverse as Greg Brown (“Lately”), Nick Lowe (“I Live on a Battlefield”), even U2 (“Sweetest Thing”), and Elizabeth Ziman (“Open Book”). There’s also the lovely, wistful country twang they bring to Little Feat’s “Missing You”, and Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton’s “Making Plans” from which the album’s title is culled.

For Richard and Lucy, the album represents a homecoming to the music that set them both on the creative path. Ironically, one of the album’s overarching themes is the impossibility of going home, of undoing what’s been done, of going back in time. Lucy and Richard’s stunning harmonies powerfully evoke this sense of loss, while at the same time calling us all home to the broad cultural field where Americana, Folk, Country, Pop, and Roots Music meet. Rarely have two singers sounded so perfectly suited to each other and to the repertoire. They bring a new and deeply personal musical sensibility to this treasure trove of songs.


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