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Natalie Merchant: Tiny Desk Concert

NPR | By Bob Boilen
Published January 12, 2016 at 9:00 AM EST

In the summer of 2014, Natalie Merchant came to Washington, D.C., to perform her first album of all-new material in 13 years. She was supposed to play here at my desk the day after that evening's performance. Instead, she fell ill, wound up in a D.C. hospital, and canceled her upcoming dates.

Now, Merchant has rerecorded her first solo album Tigerlily, complete with strings and different instrumentation. That album is called Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings, and she recently came back to town to make a documentary film about that record. And so it was with abundant joy that Natalie Merchant finally made it to the NPR Music offices. This was truly one of the most warmhearted Tiny Desk performances I've ever seen. She sang the title track from 2001's Motherland, "Texas" from that self-titled 2014 release and something from Tigerlily, and then Merchant had the NPR audience join her for a beautiful hymn heard on The House Carpenter's Daughter — so have a tissue handy.

Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings is available now. (iTunes) (Amazon)

Set List

  • "Motherland"

    •
  • "Texas"

  • "Cowboy Romance"

  • "Weeping Pilgrim"

    • Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Walker, Julia Reihs, Nick Michael; Production Assistant: Kate Drozynski; photo by Jun Tsuboike/NPR

    For more Tiny Desk Concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen

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    Federal funding is gone.

    Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

    That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

    The future of public media is in your hands.

    All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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