Natalie Merchant’s Summer Travels

Set for a May 6 release on Nonesuch, Merchant’s self-titled/self-produced long player will be her first disc of entirely original songs since 2001’s Motherland.  The songstress recently debuted her video for “Giving Up Everything,” which was directed by Dan Winters.

Merchant welcomed a few friends to the studio for the recording of her new disc, including John Medeski, Shawn Pelton, Clark Gayton, Uri Sharlin, Jesse Murphy, Erik Della Penna and Gabriel Gordon.  Guest vocalists were Simi Stone, Elizabeth Mitchell and gospel singer Corliss Stafford.

The upcoming tour is a mostly East Coast-centric trip although Merchant has included stops in Chicago and Milwaukee. The U.S. run will follow her upcoming shows in the U.K.  Here are the dates:

July 3 – Kingston, N.Y., Ulster Performing Arts Center
July 5 – Great Barrington, Mass., Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
July 6 – Ridgefield, Conn., Ridgefield Playhouse
July 8 – New Brunswick, N.J., State Theatre
July 9 – Lancaster, Pa., American Music Theatre
July 11 – Glenside, Pa., Keswick Theatre
July 12 – Washington, D.C., Lincoln Theatre
July 13 – Washington, D.C., Lincoln Theatre
July 15 – Burlington, Vt., Flynn Center For The Performing Arts
July 16 – Boston, Mass., Shubert Theatre – Citi Performing Arts Center
July 18 – Portland, Mass., State Theatre
July 19 – Tarrytown, N.Y., The Tarrytown Music Hall
July 20 – Westhampton Beach, N.Y., Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
July 22 – Munhall, Pa., Carnegie Library Music Hall Of Homestead
July 24 – Chicago, Ill., Chicago Theatre
July 25 – Milwaukee, Wis., Pabst Theater