By Leila Cobo-Hanlon (page 1E)
Natalie Merchant has been everywhere lately.
A few weeks ago, she shared double concert bills with her idol, Bob Dylan. Then it was off to Late Night With Conan O'Brien, where she shared the limelight with another idol, Bruce Springsteen. And now she's on a solo tour, which brings her to Sunrise Musical Theatre on Sunday. For one of pop music's most reluctant stars, that's showing a lot.
"I'm really low on the radar as far as people who get exposure on radio, television and press," says Merchant, who is touring in support of her 1998 release, Ophelia. "My approach is very cottage industry, I built my own studio, I produce myself, I hand-pick my own musicians, and this is all kind of fiercely independent.
"So when I end up being played on Top 40 radio, I'm shocked. I don't take it for granted and I don't expect it to happen,but when it happens I'm happy, because I do want people to hear it."
People are hearing it. Merchant, who as lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs in the early '80s paved the way for the wave of female artists that flooded the late '80s and '90s, has also shone alone, managing to remain the true original in the now-crowded girl-rock field.
Tigerlily, her 1995 solo debut after 10 years with the Maniacs, sold in excess of three million copies. And the breathtaking Ophelia has already gone beyond platinum.
These are startling sales in any circumstances, but especially for a low-key artist who isn't big on showing off biceps or tight abs, whose fashion sense is nil, who always put artistry before commercial concerns and who is vocal about making music with a mission and a message.
Richly textures
It's also exceptional music - acoustic-based songs that are rich in layers and texture yet wonderfully understated. They work in large part thanks to Merchant's voice, a blend of soaring sweetness and almost studied nonchalance that appeals to men and Lilith Fair devotees alike.
"I used to resist it, having a sweet voice, a very feminine voice. I thought if I smoked cigars I would get a throatier deeper quality, so when I sang songs I'd sound more battered, or something," says Merchant, 35, who has a reputation for being smart and serious as well as shy.
On the phone from her North Carolina hotelroom, she's wacky and charming. But still introspective.
"I've noticed that so many musicians and actors I've met are very introverted and timid people," she explains when asked about her reputation for reticence. "I actually saw a documentary about Jimi Hendrix, and he was so shy and soft-spoken, and onstage, he wasn't shy at all. I think that's one of the reasons we're drawn to performing; we're kind of inept in daily situations. It's a good outlet for me. I was angry when I was younger, and I lost that anger on stage."
Merchant first took the stage at 18, when she founded the Maniacs with guitarist John Lombardo in her hometown of Jamestown, N.Y. She was angry, but not always about personal things.
"Since my life is pretty wonderful," she says wryly, "If I write angry songs they're more of a protest nature."
Politically correct
Merchant always wrote music with political messages, and this partly defined the Maniacs, who sang about child abuse, illiteracy, war and the environment.
"It came from listening to Bob Dylan," says Merchant. "Songs like The Times They Are A-Changing told me you could write music that could change the way people think about themselves and about their communities. It changed my life."
Today, even though Merchant isn't as politicized musically (her songs are much more sentimental), she is more active than ever in tangible, social efforts.
She donates time and money to organizations in her hometown like the YMCA and the YWCA, which gave Merchant and her family support when she was growing up.
"These are people who donated their time and who shaped who I am," says Merchant, who was raised by her divorced, working mother. "If people like myself, who have the means to, don't contribute and don't return to the community, those organizations will cease to exist."
Giving back to the well
Merchant's pet projects include those that target at-risk children and an educational program for pregnant teens which also works on preventing teen pregnancy.
"I like to see the immediate impact of the money," says Merchant, who last year played a benefit concert to build a playground for the Headstart program in Jamestown. "It feels good to see the children playing there. I give to national organizations, too, but knowing you can help overnight is important."
It isn't as if Merchant discovered altruism late in life. But now, more than ever, her goal is to "add something beautiful in the world, try to give comfort to people."
Merchant's love for beautiful music began as a child, when she used to go with her mother to the symphony and the ballet. When an old, upright piano was brought into the house, Merchant was the only one interested in it, and her mother started her on piano lessons when she was 8.
Merchant never considered becoming a classical pianist - she claims she doesn't have the "mathematical" portion of her brain developed to do that - but the piano remains the foundation for all her music.
"The piano inspires me," she says. "That's probably why I don't write anywhere but home. To carry around a little electric keyboard and write in my hotel room has never worked for me."
Choosing a piano
Merchant writes on her Steinway grand, an instrument she purchased after five trips to the Steinway showroom in downtown New York, where she played every piano that came in. She finally settled for a used instrument with "great soul" and the richer, velvety tones associated withold Steinways.
Merchant's other source of inspiration is other people's music - of all kinds, from classical and jazz to pop and world music.
"The thing that astounds me is that music has served a purpose for humanity since before we had any record of this purpose. It would celebrate birth, it would celebrate marriage, any event of any sort. And I feel music in most people's lives has lost that power, and it's become something they consume and something that fills the background, like a drone. And that's the thing that makes me sad. When people say, 'Oh, I don't care, I don't like music.' How can you be human and not like music?"
But if Merchant has her way, she'll change that attitude, at least in some people.
"When I play and people sing along, it makes me cry. It makes me so happy to know somehow this thing that started so small as me sitting at my piano and having this idea could spread all over the country and all over the world.
"When I was on the Conan O'Brien show, to hear Bruce Springsteen say, 'I love your song,' it's too much," she adds with a laugh. "I was sitting there thinking, when I was a kid did I ever think I would be on a first-name basis with Bruce Springsteen? And I wonder if 10 years from now someone will come and say Ophelia was a great influence on me. And I think that's really great."