Natalie Merchant
b. 26 October 1963, Jamestown, New York, USA. Having originally sung in a church choir, Merchant joined the highly regarded 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 while studying at Jamestown Community College in New York. She would eventually leave that band over a decade later in 1992, three years before she made her solo bow. Merchant self-evidently relished the control afforded her by this enterprise, writing all the lyrics and music for her debut album, Tigerlily, which she also produced. She had made her intentions to leave known to her former band as early as 1990, but only jumped ship after their label, Elektra Records, offered her a solo contract. When she took it up they promptly dropped 10,000 Maniacs. Her reflections on her time in the band were revisited on Tigerlily's "I May Know The Word", which amplified some of the frustration she felt in the later stages of their career (though the break-up was generally amicable). However, she still felt the need to recruit a core backing band, with Jennifer Turner (lead guitar), Peter Yanowitz (drums) and Barry Maguire (bass/guitar) as her accomplices. The most obvious change from her 10,000 Maniacs days signalled by Tigerlily was the vocal emphasis. Always a distinctive, affecting singer, her vocals were now mixed much higher and were less prone to smothering by her former band's multi-layered musicianship. The album was also a commercial success, reaching the US Top 20 in July 1995, and established her as one of the leading female pop artists of the 90s.
Listen to Natalie Merchant
at Finetune.
Albums
- (2006) Ophelia
- (2006) Motherland
- (2005) Retrospective 1995-2005
- (2005) Retrospective 1990-2005 [Ltd. Deluxe Version]
- (2001) Motherland
- (1999) Live In Concert
- (1999) Live in Concert
- (1998) Ophelia
- (1995) Tigerlily
Top Tracks
- Wonder
- Carnival
- Jealousy (Remastered Single Version)
- Kind & Generous
- Wonder (Remastered Single Version)
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Comments
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brandi_music on 2009-03-19 15:50:21.317:
Natalie Merchant is a Fabulous Singer!!