(MUSIC VIDEO) Natalie Merchant: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 12JAN16

 I have always loved Natalie Merchant (with and without 10,000 Maniacs), the last  time I got to see her live was at Ford's Theater in D.C., the Wall Flowers opened the show. Both bands were amazing, but the best part I remember was the way Ms Merchant interacted with the audience. People were getting up and dancing in the isles, nothing out of control, and the ushers kept coming and  gently forcing them back to their seats. About the third time the dancers came out into the isles and the ushers started to move Natalie Merchant jumped down from the stage, never said a word but stared dancing in the isles too. A roar went up from the crowd, the ushers backed off, Ms Merchant went back to the stage and the concert continued with dancers in the isles if they were so moved. It was such a great show. I really enjoy this NPR Tiny Desk Concert of Natalie Merchant and her band and bet you will too.....

Natalie Merchant: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

January 12, 2016 by BOB BOILEN In the summer of 2014, Natalie Merchant came to Washington, D.C., to perform her first album of all-new material in 13 years. She was supposed to play here at my desk the day after that evening's performance. Instead, she fell ill, wound up in a D.C. hospital, and canceled her upcoming dates. Now, Merchant has rerecorded her first solo album Tigerlily, complete with strings and different instrumentation. That album is called Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings, and she recently came back to town to make a documentary film about that record. And so it was with abundant joy that Natalie Merchant finally made it to the NPR Music offices. This was truly one of the most warmhearted Tiny Desk performances I've ever seen. She sang two songs from that self-titled 2014 release and something from Tigerlily, and then Merchant had the NPR audience join her for a beautiful hymn — so have a tissue handy. Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings is available now. iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/par... Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Paradise-There-... Set List: "Motherland" "Texas" "Cowboy Romance" "Weeping Pilgrim" Credits: Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Walker, Julia Reihs, Nick Michael; Production Assistant: Kate Drozynski; photo by Jun Tsuboike/NPR For more Tiny Desk Concerts, subscribe to our podcast: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510292/ti...

First Watch: Natalie Merchant, 'Giving Up Everything' 9APR14

I have loved Natalie Merchant, her style and music, with 10,000 Maniacs and solo, forever. Look and listen to this....

First Watch: Natalie Merchant, 'Giving Up Everything'

April 9, 2014 Rarely is an artist as honest and revealing as Natalie Merchant in her new video and song, "Giving Up Everything."

http://youtu.be/oJ4KSrTBRoo

Published on Apr 9, 2014

The video for "Giving Up Everything," from Natalie's forthcoming self-titled album, due out on May 6th from Nonesuch Records.

Lyrics:

Giving up everything
My hungry ghost of hopefulness
Giving up everything
Not haunted by wanting this

Giving up everything
The fortune I was saving
Giving up everything
I mercy-killed my craving

Giving up everything
I've opened up my eyes for this
Giving up everything
See the cold magnificent emptiness

Give what I want for how it is
The stone inside for the bitterness
For sweetness at the core of it

Giving up everything
The master plan, the scheming
Giving up everything
My cursed search for meaning

Giving up everything
The compass and the map I was reading
The hinterlands I'm leaving
I'm finally leaving behind

Giving up everything
The big to-do, the hullabaloo
Talk of hope for some twisted truth
For the everlasting ache of it

No longer sleep, not chained to it
No gate, no guard, no keeper
No guru, master, teacher
See the slow, see the faces
Dissolve to black, no traces

http://www.npr.org/event/music/300700025/first-watch-natalie-merchant-giving-up-everything