(LENOX, Mass.) – Folk-rock singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant and American folk-rock group The Avett Brothers have been added to Tanglewood’s summer 2017 schedule. Merchant, perhaps best known as lead singer and primary lyricist of 10,000 Maniacs, will make her Tanglewood debut on Sunday, July 2, in the Shed. The Avett Brothers, who play a unique blend of Americana, join the summer lineup in their Tanglewood debut on Friday, September 1.
Tickets to these and all Tanglewood 2017 events go on sale to the public this Sunday, January 29, at 10am, online at Tanglewood or by phone at 888-266-1200.
Natalie Merchant was a founding member of folk-rock group 10,000 Maniacs, formed in 1981 in upstate New York. Her voice powered the group’s hits including “Like the Weather,” “What’s the Matter Here,” “Eat for Two,” and “These Are Days,” as well as the group’s hit cover versions of Cat Stevens’s “Peace Train” and “Because the Night” by Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen.
Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs in 1993 to pursue a solo career. An outspoken critic of Donald Trump, Merchant participated in an anti-Trump protest organized by Mark Ruffalo and Michael Moore, held outside Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City on January 19, 2017. Merchant performed her single “Motherland” and concluded the event leading a group sing-a-long of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”
The Avett Brothers are brothers Scott Avett (banjo) and Seth Avett (guitar), as well as Bob Crawford (double bass) and Joe Kwon (cello). Mike Marsh (drums), Tania Elizabeth (violin) and Paul Defiglia (keyboard) are touring members of the band. The group combines bluegrass, country, pop melodies, folk, rock ‘n’ roll, honky-tonk, and ragtime to produce a novel sound described by the San Francisco Chronicle as having the “heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, [and] the raw energy of the Ramones.”
The Avett Brothers’ ninth studio album, “True Sadness,” was released last summer and garnered two Grammy Award nominations.
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