Natalie Merchant

It's hard to believe that is has been 13 years since Natalie Merchant released her last collection of all-new material, but in that time she got married and divorced, and gave birth to a daughter. She also released a couple special projects: a double album anthology of 19th and 20th century poetry adapted to music called Leave Your Sleep (2010) and an album of traditional folk tunes called The House Carpenter's Daughter (2013).

Merchant now returns with a self-titled, self-produced effort and it was certainly worth the wait. . For this project, she has returned to her core band of musicians augmented by strings, brass and woodwinds to create sparse-to-lush arrangements.

The album represents over a decade of songwriting and includes "Ladybird," "Texas," "Go Down, Moses," "Giving Up Everything" and "It's A Coming."

"Now that I look back at the album and am starting to talk about it, I can see that it's divided into two different approaches," Merchant said in a recent interview. "One is an inward looking, personal interior voice and the other side is looking at the world, news of the day, events beyond our control. There's an interplay between the two because we can't separate ourselves from ourselves and we can't separate ourselves from the world, as much as we may like to."

Merchant remains socially active, having recently become an advocate in her Upstate New York community for the rights of people who have been affected by domestic violence. She just wrapped up a series of dates in the U.K. and hits the road in America in July.

• 6/05 The Mahaiwe Theatre. Great Barrington, MA
• 6/06 Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT
• 6/08 State Theater, New Brunswick, N
• 6/09 American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA
• 6/11 Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA
• 6/12-13 Lincoln Theatre, Washington, DC
• 6/15 Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
• 6/16 Shubert Theatre, Boston
• 6/18 State Theatre, Portland, ME
• 6/19 Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY
• 6/20 Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, Westhampton Beach, NY
• 6/22 Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall, PA
• 6/24 Chicago Theatre, Chicago
• 6/25 The Pabst Theater, Milwaukee
• 9/13 The Beacon Theater, New York

For more, visit www.nataliemerchant.com

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