by: Shelia Rogers
"I heard an advance tape of Fast Car, and I decided at that moment that I wanted to align 10,000 Maniacs with her," says 10,000 Maniacs' Natalie Merchant of singer Tracy Chapman. "There was similarity between us in the lyrical sentiment and the musical quality."
Chapman, who opened for 10,000 Maniacs on their tour, has managed to simultaneously earn rave reviews and create an industry buzz. But Chapman is modest about the response to her new album. "I know that there are a lot of really great things happening with the record in a very short time," she says. "And some of these things have caught me by surprise." One thing that annoys her, though, are the comparisons between her and Joan Armatrading. "I like her music, and I respect her as an artist, but people just want something that's easy to grab on to. We just both happen to be black women who play acoustic guitars write songs and don't sing R&B music."
On their last tour, 10,000 Maniacs opened for R.E.M., and there was a widely reported romance between Merchant and Michael Stipe. "Nah," she says, laughing. "I think he's homely. He's an impossible person, but I love him, and we get on really well. We're really the best of friends."