56 min listen
Ep. 216 - NATALIE MERCHANT ("Kind & Generous")
Ep. 216 - NATALIE MERCHANT ("Kind & Generous")
ratings:
Length:
76 minutes
Released:
Oct 18, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
SUMMARY:Celebrated songwriter Natalie Merchant chats about her songwriting, from her days fronting 10,000 Maniacs up to her most recent album, Keep Your Courage. PART ONE: Were the Lilith Fair-era 1990s the best time for women in music? Scott and Paul discuss.PART TWO:Our in-depth conversation with the legendary Natalie MerchantABOUT:Natalie Merchant launched her career as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band 10,000 Maniacs, which broke through with the double Platinum album In My Tribe in 1987. Subsequent albums Blind Man’s Zoo and Our Time in Eden spawned the Merchant-penned singles “Trouble Me” and “These Are Days,” respectively. Following an appearance on MTV Unplugged and a hit single covering Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith’s “Because the Night,” Natalie departed the band to launch a solo career. Her debut album, Tigerlily, featured the Top 10 singles “Carnival,” “Wonder,” and “Jealousy,” and was certified five times Platinum. She has gone on to release nine solo studio albums, including the Platinum-selling Ophelia, which spawned the single “Kind & Generous”; Leave Your Sleep, which topped the US folk charts; and a 2014 self-titled release that reached the Top 5 on Billboard’s rock chart. Recent years have found Natalie rearranging her songs for string quintet and acoustic instruments for the documentary Paradise Is There, directing Shelter, a documentary on domestic violence, curating the 10-disc box The Natalie Merchant Collection, and spending four days a week working with children as an artist-in-residence at a non-profit pre-school. In November 2022, Natalie was appointed to a six-year term on the board of trustees for the American Folklife Center at The Library of Congress. Her ninth studio album, and first album of all new, original material in nine years, is the self-produced Keep Your Courage on Nonesuch Records.
Released:
Oct 18, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Ep. 19 - JOHN MAYALL ("Find a Way to Care"): Find a Way to Care is John Mayall’s 64th official album, and the most recent release from the 81-year-old singer, keyboardist, guitarist, harmonica player, and composer who’s been dubbed the “Godfather of British Blues.” The Grammy-nominated Mayall is a renowned band leader, with several veterans of his group, the Bluesbreakers, going on to find success in their own right. A short list of those who passed through his band includes Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, who went on to form Cream; Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, who later formed Fleetwood Mac; Andy Fraser, who formed Free; and Mick Taylor, who went on to join the Rolling Stones. Other notable guitarists who’ve spent time in Mayall’s band include Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Sonny Landreth, Buddy Whittington, and former Canned Heat member Harvey Mandel. Between 1966 and 1971 Mayall released eleven albums that hit the Top 40 on the UK chart, three of which also reached the Top by Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters