singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant announces her Keep Your Courage Tour with an Atlanta date on Sunday, April 30. Natalie will perform at Symphony Hall with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra shortly after the release of Keep Your Courage, her first album of new songs in nearly a decade. Tickets are now available to purchase.
Nonesuch Records will release Natalie Merchant’s Keep Your Courage, her ninth solo studio album and first of new material since 2014’s self-titled record, on April 14, 2023. An eclectic album, produced by Merchant, it features two duets sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis (Resistance Revival Chorus), contributions from the Celtic folk group Lúnasa and Syrian virtuoso clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and horn arrangements by jazz trombonist Steve Davis. There are lush orchestrations throughout by seven composers including: Gabriel Kahane, Stephen Barber, Colin Jacobson, and Megan Gould. Keep Your Courage comprises nine original songs by Merchant as well as an interpretation of “Hunting the Wren” by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum.
In celebration of the release, Merchant will embark upon a US tour this spring, going into the fall; European dates will be announced shortly. Keep Your Courage is available to preorder here.
Over her forty-year career, Natalie Merchant has attained a place among America’s most respected recording artists. She has earned a reputation for being a songwriter of quality and a captivating stage performer and has distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist. Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs and released one platinum, two double-platinum, and one triple-platinum record with the group. Merchant left the group in 1994 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with combined sales of seven million copies.