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Natalie Merchant Releases New Album “Keep Your Courage” and Opens Tour (Concert & Album Review)

Our review of Natalie Merchant’s “Keep Your Courage” album and tour, finds one of music’s finest writers and singers of the last four decades in top form, inspiring us out of darker days.

Natalie Merchant released her first new album of new material in nine years with Keep Your Courage. Along with that album’s release on April 14, 2023, Merchant launched a new tour at the Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY, near her Hudson Valley home. And I was fortunate to see her show there on April 15.

Below we examine the new album and what inspired Natalie Merchant’s new music. And then we discuss the opening weekend of the tour supporting the album from one of our most enduring singer-songwriters of the last forty years.

Keep Your Courage

Keep Your Courage Merchant

First, the album. Keep Your Courage emerges from a rough time for Natalie Merchant. In addition to trying to get through the pandemic, she underwent spinal surgery four days after the start of the lockdown. The surgery required a long healing process.

The album’s title, Keep Your Courage, as well as the image of Joan of Arc on the cover, gives away that it is not a dark album. Instead, as AllMusic writes, the music “celebrates compassion, empathy, and inspiration.”

The album includes some of the most catchy songs from Merchant’s post-10,000 Maniacs career, including the album’s opening two duets with Abena Koomson-Davis of the Resistance Revival Choir. “Come On Aphrodite” immediately became one of my favorite songs from Merchant’s career.

The title of “Come on Aphrodite” hints at some of the themes on the album, where Merchant’s songwriting incorporates myths, legends, and history to send a positive message. As Merchant has explained, “During the pandemic, it really felt like we were living in the myth.”

Many of the songs on the album are slower and many feature rich orchestrations, more rooted in classical and folk music than in pop or rock. Or as Jim Shahen at No Depression describes the arrangements as “baroque pop.”

Merchant wrote nine songs for the album, which also includes an interpretation of “Hunting the Wren” by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum. Merchant’s “Sister Tilly” provides a tribute to the inspiring women of her mother’s generation.

Yet, both the slower and more upbeat songs are uplifting. Largely because Merchant’s writing and her voice, as always, bring a deep warmth and compassion to the music.

Perhaps the best description of the two types of music on Keep Your Courage comes from a statement Merchant made about creating the album: “Music got me through the pandemic, and what I wanted to hear was thoughtful, beautiful music, or I wanted to dance.”

The Keep Your Courage Tour

The above description about the combination of “thoughtful, beautiful music” with dancing music, not surprisingly, also describes Merchant’s 2023 tour. Alternating between the slower lush music of her career and music that makes you want to dance, Merchant performed a moving and, at times, lively show. Throughout, despite needing some honey for her throat at one point, Merchant’s voice remains distinctive and strong as it ever was.

Her performance at Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY on Saturday, April 15, 2023, featured a guitar, a piano, a cello, several stringed instruments, and a powerful backup singer. Although some of her shows on this tour feature a fuller local orchestra, her smaller travelling group filled the house with a sound that well-suited Merchant’s voice.

Not surprisingly, the setlist featured several songs from the new album, including “Sister Tilly,” “Come On Aphrodite,” “Narcissus,” “The Feast of St. Valentine,” “Big Girls,” and “Tower of Babel.” But the 25 songs (with an intermission) also included highlights across her long career, like “Beloved Wife” and “Ophelia.” And, much to the delight of the audience, Merchant herself danced to uplifting songs from both her solo career and her time with 10,000 Maniacs, like “Kind and Generous,” “Wonder,” and the final encore closing “These Are Days.”

All in all, in both her new album and her ongoing tour, Merchant brings us both somber reflection and uplifting celebration of getting through dark days. And it means more because she dances with knowledge that the dark days always come again.

But that is why when you can, you have to take time to reflect while also remembering to dance.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)

    Shiela Atim gave an outstanding performance of Bob Dylan’s “Tight Connection to My Heart” when she starred in the play “Girl from the North Country.”

    Before making it to Broadway, the musical Girl from the North Country had its debut in London at the Old Vic and the West End. The play by Conor McPherson, in its various incarnations, featured a number of wonderful covers of Bob Dylan songs. One of those outstanding performances came from Sheila Atim in the 2017-2018 original London production.

    In the play, Atim performed “Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anyone Seen My Love).” The song first appeared on Dylan’s 1985 album, Empire Burlesque. Although few rank the album among Dylan’s best and many criticize its 1980s production, I have always had a fondness for “Tight Connection to My Heart.” I recall it being one of the first Dylan videos I saw on MTV, and it was one of my favorite songs on that channel for some time.

    Dylan’s “Tight Connection”

    Dylan initially recorded an earlier version of “Tight Connection to My Heart,” then entitled “Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart,” while making his Infidels album. Despite attempting a number of takes of the song, Dylan decided not to release it on that 1983 album. One of the takes would appear on the 1991 box set The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

    While I like the early incarnation of ths song too, I am especially fond of the Empire Burlesque version with its Gospel backing vocals and synthesizers. Not surprisingly, at least to me, Rolling Stone lists “Tight Connection to My Heart” among “20 Overlooked Bob Dylan Classics.”

    Sheila Atim’s “Tight Connection”

    And now I am a fan of Atim’s version. The play’s slower take on the song is perhaps more similar to Dylan’s original vision of “Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart” rather than the recorded version of “Tight Connection to My Heart.”

    Taken from the Bob Dylan album and put in the context of the play, “Tight Connection to My Heart” becomes a heartbreaking epic in Atim’s voice. Unlike Dylan’s upbeat recording, the play’s version and music digs deep into the sadness of the lyrics. In choosing the song for the play, McPherson clearly recognized the cinematic aspect of the lyrics. Those lyrics fit well on stage, perhaps, because as Dylan scholar Michael Gray has noted, Dylan included several lines from Humphrey Bogart films in the song.

    In Girl from the North Country, Atim played a pregnant woman abandoned by her lover. As The Guardian explained, “An arrangement for piano and double bass, with a choir of cast members providing gentle harmonies in support of Atim’s direct, unaffected and perfectly poised delivery, helps McPherson locate an essence that the song may never have known it possessed.”

    Atim knew of Dylan’s music before working on Girl from the North Country. But, as you can see from her connection to “Tight Connection to My Heart,” she became a fan of Bob Dylan’s music, finding a deep connection, while working on the play.

    Atim, who was born in Uganda and grew up in the United Kingdom, has had a succussful career on the stage. Additionally, she composes music and plays several instruments. In more recent years, she has made several television and film appearances. With her great talent, we look forward to whatever she does next.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Bill Cowsill & The Blue Shadows: “Deliver Me”

    Bill Cowsill’s career in music began at a young age as a member of the family band The Cowsills and took him on a crooked journey that included some great alt-country music in the short-lived 1990’s band The Blue Shadows.

    One of the wonderful alt-country bands from the 1990s that never achieved the success they deserved is The Blue Shadows. Unlike many bands starting out, though, The Blue Shadows was not just a group of young musicians. The Canadian band featured lead harmonies by Jeffrey Hatcher and Bill Cowsill, a former member of the 1960s family group The Cowsills.

    Bill Cowsill, born in Rhode Island on January 9, 1948, made a lot of people happy with the music he created throughout his life, but his own life and career involved a lot of bouncing around and difficult roads. As lead singer and guitarist for The Cowsills, he recorded a number of popular songs. The band became the foundation for the TV series The Partridge Family, with Bill and his brother Bob being the inspiration for the character Keith Partridge, played by David Cassidy. But during his youth with the band, Bill and other family members struggled under the abuse of their father, who was also the band’s manager.

    After leaving The Cowsills after a fight with his father, Cowsill moved around between a solo career, playing bars, reunions with The Cowsills, and various short-lived bands in Canada. One of those bands was The Blue Shadows, formed in 1992 before ending in 1996, largely due to Cowsill’s struggles with his long-term addiction to drugs and alcohol.

    The Blue Shadows featured Cowsill, Jeffrey Hatcher, J.B. “Jay” Johnson, Barry Muir, and band co-founder Elmer Spanier (who left while the band was making its first album). Their first album On the Floor of Heaven, released in 1993, was certified gold in Canada but failed to make a big splash in the U.S. due to Sony’s decision not to release it there at the time. The band followed that album with Lucky to Me in 1995. And that was it for the band.

    One of my favorite tracks by The Blue Shadows is “Deliver Me” from On the Floor of Heaven. In the song, written by Hatcher, the singer pleads with a lost love. On the road, the singer faces loneliness and regret. He recalls leaving his love and asks her to deliver the singer “from this night.”

    The song features Everly Brothers type harmonies and jangling guitars that makes it sound like a lost song from The Jayhawks, another 90’s era alt-country band (albeit one that found more success and longevity). Check it out.

    The Blue Shadows were both ahead of its time and behind the times. It preceded the success of alt-country bands like Whiskeytown (whose major label debut would be in 1997) while also featuring Byrds-like harmonies (and Hatcher’s Rickenbacker guitar) that echoed sounds from the 1960s. On the Floor of Heaven was eventually released in a Deluxe version in the U.S. in 2010.

    Following the demise of The Blue Shadows, Cowsill continued to work in the music industry and make music, including forming another band, The Co-Dependents. Cowsill also kicked his addictions not long after The Blue Shadows had ended.

    Despite failing health starting in 2004, Cowsill continued making music as he did all his life. He passed away on February 18, 2006 at the age of 58 at his home in Calgary. On that date, his former family band members of The Cowsills were attending a memorial for Cowsill’s brother Barry, who had died in New Orleans from drowning after Hurricane Katrina.

    But back in the 1990s, before failing to get the international record deal with The Blue Shadows, Cowsill could have believed in the possibility of impeding success. Maybe he would get struck by lightening a second time since recording with his family.

    Below, The Blue Shadows perform “Deliver Me” on a truck bed on the streets of Vancouver outside A&B Sound on August 7, 1993. As Cowsill and Hatcher sing the lines “How much longer / Could it be ’til it comes tumbling down,” you can still hear the hope in their beautiful voices, and Cowsill’s dedication to his art that remained until he died.

    What is your favorite song feature Bill Cowsill? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Chuck Jackson Was There Before Elvis: “Any Day Now”

    Before Elvis Presley’s classic recording, Chuck Jackson had a hit seven years earlier with “Any Day Now.”

    One of the many highlights of the great 1969 Elvis Presley album From Elvis in Memphis is “Any Day Now.” While that album yielded other hits, Presley’s “Any Day Now” was not even released as a single. But seven years earlier, someone else had scored a hit recording of the song. Singer Chuck Jackson had a top 25 hit with the song, sometimes listed as “Any Day Now (My Beautiful Bird).” The song was written by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard.

    Jackson was born July 22, 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After starting off with a gospel group, he joined the 1957 to sing with a gospel group. Later that year, he joined the Del-Vikings (also known as the Dell-Vikings) in 1957 before leaving the group in 1959 to start a solo career.

    Jackson’s biggest pop hit would be 1962’s “Any Day Now.” But he had other successes on the R&B charts like “Something You Got” and “Beg Me.”  The latter song featured  backing vocals by Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy Houston, who also later often sang back up for Elvis. Jackson passed away on February 16, 2023.

    “Any Day Now” is a somewhat unique pop song as it is not directly a love song and not about a break up. Instead it is about an in-between time, where the singer laments that his lover will soon leave him “any day now.”

    Any day now,
    When the clock strikes go,
    You’ll call it off;
    Then my tears will flow;
    Then the blue shadow will fall all over town;
    Any day now,
    Love will let me down;
    Oh, oh, oh.

    In the video below, a young Burt Bacharach, who passed away eight days after Jackson died, introduces Jackson to sing the song that Bacharach co-wrote. Check it out.

    As noted above, Elvis Presley’s version appeared on what was a “comeback” album for him in 1969, recorded at American Sound Studio. That album featured many outstanding tracks like “Suspicious Minds,” which partly explains why he never released “Any Day Now” as a single. But the song did appear as the B-side to “In the Ghetto.”

    Elvis’s version is very similar to Jackson’s, down to the introduction. Unfortunately, Elvis never performed “Any Day Now” in concert, although he came close. On August 12, 1972, he rehearsed the song in the Main Showroom of the Las Vegas Hilton before starting a run of shows there. But unfortunately, the song did not make it into the setlist. The song did, however, make it into the recent Elvis (2022) movie and soundtrack.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”

    In 2012 Bonnie “Prince” Billy gave one of the rare live performances of Bob Dylan’s great epic song “Brownsville Girl.”

    Bonnie Prince Billy Brownsville

    In my personal history of being a music fan, my great Bob Dylan awakening came in the 1980s. Perhaps it was not the best time to start out as a Bob Dylan fan. Yet I still have a fond attachment to albums like 1985’s Empire Burlesque. These were the Dylan albums I first heard with everyone else as they were released. Another album from that time was Knocked Out Loaded (1986), which I bought on cassette as it was released. I liked the album well enough, but like many others, I recognized “Brownsville Girl” as the standout masterpiece it was.

    “Brownsville Girl” started out as a song entitled “New Danville Girl,” inspired in part by Woody Guthrie’s song “Danville Girl.” Dylan recorded “New Danville Girl” during the sessions for Empire Burlesque. That version was not officially released until 2021 when it appeared on The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985.

    For whatever reason, Dylan, though, was not satisfied with “New Danville Girl.” He enlisted playwright Sam Shepard to help add some additional lyrics, and he also added other instrumentation, including saxophone, to the new version, now called “Brownsville Girl,” released on Knocked Out Loaded. This new version has one of my favorite lines from any Dylan song: “The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter / Is that his name wasn’t Henry Porter.” In the context of the song, I find it one of Dylan’s funniest lyrics but cannot explain why.

    Even for those who believed Dylan had entered a fallow period in the early 1980s starting with his religious albums, “Brownsville Girl” illustrated that the master was still a master. “Brownsville Girl” incorporates themes of memory, yearning, and lost love, building around images from across the country and the West, including throughout the song several references to a Gregory Peck Western film. The song makes one man’s memories seem as big and as important as the entire country.

    Well, there was this movie I seen one time,
    About a man riding ’cross the desert and it starred Gregory Peck;
    He was shot down by a hungry kid trying to make a name for himself;
    The townspeople wanted to crush that kid down and string him up by the neck.

    Dylan’s version of “Brownsville Girl” on Knocked Out Loaded is sophisticated and beautiful, even though some may prefer the rougher cut of “New Danville Girl.” Dylan scholar Michale Gray calls Dylan’s delivery on the Knocked Out Loaded version “faultless” and “astonishing. Not a false moment, not a foot wrong.” (Micheal Gray, The Bob Dylan Encylcopedia, p. 99 (2006). I agree.

    Because Dylan’s version reaches such heights, and perhaps because of the song’s length at more than eleven minutes, Dylan only performed the song live once. And also because of the song’s length, few artists have attempted to cover the song. For example, Reggie Watts did a shortened version for a 1980s era Dylan tribute album.

    One wonderful version emerged when Bonnie “Prince” Billy (aka Will Oldham) performed the song at Actors Theatre in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky on November 11, 2012. Billy’s performance is part music and part acting, as he conveys the narrator’s feelings and memories. It took a major committment to tackle the epic song. And everything comes together beautifully as Billy is wonderfully backed up by Louisville’s Motherlodge band.

    In the video of the performance, the image is a little grainy and the sound quality is good but not perfect. Yet it is the next best thing to being there for a rare moving performance of a song as great as “Brownsville Girl.”

    And in a world with an endless number of covers of Bob Dylan’s songs, this cover performance by Bonnie “Prince” Billy with Motherlodge is really something special. Check it out.

    Well, we’re drivin’ this car and the sun is comin’ up over the Rockies;
    Now I know she ain’t you but she’s here and she’s got that dark rhythm in her soul;
    But I’m too over the edge and I ain’t in the mood anymore to remember the times when I was your only man;
    And she don’t want to remind me. She knows this car would go out of control.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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