by: Mark Bialczak
Natalie Merchant has to be in the right mood to write songs.
And, oh, how the music reflects what she's feeling.
For instance, Merchant explains in a recent telephone conversation, even though the words and music are still somewhere inside her head, she's got a pretty good idea of what the gist of things will be when she sits down this autumn to write for her next disc.
"That's usually my most productive time, the fall. I'll have privacy," Merchant says.
"I know this. It'll be a very confident record. I had some doubts and fears when I went into this project. But everything seems to be received well."
Merchant brings her solo tour -- really, that's a misnomer because she's accompanied by a full band -- to the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse for a sold-out show Saturday.
It's the first trip back here for the native of Jamestown since she split from her longtime band, 10,000 Maniacs. (Hence, the "solo" in the tour label.)
After the departure, Merchant says, she felt a little bit independent and a little bit frightened about heading out on her own.
All those emotions are rolled into her songs on her Elektra records release Tigerlily. People are buying it. She calls the solo debut a pop album.
"I could have gone a more radical route and done my first record more esoteric and less pop," Merchant says. "I definitely have a record like that in me. But at this point, I wanted to take things I learned from Maniacs and apply them here."
For example, the 11 songs on Tigerlily all have a live feel.
"I learned from (Maniacs' release) Unplugged that an album can be a collection of live performances. The recording process doesn't have to be about laboring and laboring and laboring over the song until you think it's perfect," she says. "I think the energy is more important. And sometimes a song loses all its energy when you get the perfect take."
What's been perfect so far has been doing the tour her way.
"Touring with a new band is fun," Merchant says. "You spend 24 hours a day with the people on tour. And half the people on this tour are women. That's great. I have a lot of key women in technical positions. And having Jennifer (Turner) play guitar on stage with me is great."
The spotlight is nothing new, Merchant says.
"I feel like I was pretty recognizable with Maniacs. I was pretty much known as the singer-songwriter," she says.
Merchant says she hasn't spoken with any of her former 10,000 Maniacs mates since the split.
"It was sad. Even though I gave everyone like two years notice, and it was the most civil breakup in history," Merchant says.