Merchant Plans Tour Behind 'Motherland'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Natalie Merchant has begun lining up dates for a tour in support of her forthcoming fourth solo album, "Motherland," due Nov. 13 on Elektra. Dates currently are set to begin Oct. 27 in
Minneapolis and wrap Nov. 9 in Washington, D.C., with more stops to be added. Merchant will also play "The Rosie O'Donnell show" on Nov. 7 and "The Late Show with David Letterman" on Nov. 12.

"Wonderland" was produced by T-Bone Burnett, and features a backing band of guitarists Gabriel Gordon and Erik Della Penna, bassist Graham Maby (David Bowie), keyboardist Elizabeth Steen, and drummer Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Tori Amos). The album is the follow-up to 1998's "Ophelia," which peaked at No. 8 on The Billboard 200.

The new set's first single, "Just Can't Last," hit radio late last month and is available as a Real Audio stream from Elektra's Natalie Merchant Web site.

Here are Natalie Merchant's tour dates:

Oct. 27: Minneapolis (Northrup Auditorium)
Oct. 29: Champaign, Ill. (University of Illinois)
Oct. 30: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Hill Auditorium)
Nov. 2: Portland, Maine (Merill Auditorium)
Nov. 3: Providence, R.I. (Providence Performing Arts Center)
Nov. 5: Philadelphia (Electric Factory)
Nov. 6: Boston (Orpheum)
Nov. 8: New York (Beacon Theater)
Nov. 9: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)