Month of the Girl Band: day 17

Busy week, this one. Mr. IMo? is off hanging out with dignitaries for the week. Katydid and I have birthdays to celebrate, and we are starting to feel the crunch before a move, on top of the already hectic life we lead, and Spring Break is taunting us on the calendar at the week's end if we can just endure. So, I feel the need to slow things down a notch.

I hope you all had a rockin' Record Store Day yesterday.

Today I thought I would talk a bit about an artist who saved my weary soul one winter while I was living in Poland. Natalie Merchant.

I had very little music with me while I was in Poland, but my friend sent me a copy of Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily and I feel asleep to it most nights. Natalie has been soothing souls for many years, beginning with 10, 000 Maniacs and later as a solo artist. She has often done some gorgeous duets and notably an MTV Unplugged album.

Natalie Merchant
















SONGS OF THE DAY:

10, 000 Maniacs

1. "Hey Jack Kerouac" - 10, 000 Maniacs
(I particularly like this song for two reasons: I'm a long time fan of the beats and I once got to meet Allen Ginsberg at a poetry reading. He tried to pick up a guy friend of mine who was not gay.)

2. "Candy Everybody Wants" - 10,000 Maniacs

3. "Because the Night" - 10,000 Maniacs (unplugged)

Duets

4."Let the Mystery Be" - 10,000 Maniacs with David Byrne

5. "Summertime" - Natalie Merchant and Billy Bragg (cover)

6."To Sir With Love" - Natalie Merchant featuring Micheal Stipe (R.E.M.)

Solo

7. "I May Know the Word" - Natalie Merchant (Tigerlily album)

8. "Verdi Cries" - Natalie Merchant

9. "Ophelia" - Natalie Merchant

10. "Kind and Generous" - Natalie Merchant