*NATALIE MERCHANT has been doing something interesting during her current summer tour. Rather than focus completely on her latest album, live in concert, which was released late last year, she is instead doing something she enjoys: old folk music. Merchant performed at Ives Concert Park in Danbury last weekend, and her two-hour performance was just incredible. She spent the first hour of her performance devoted to the presentation of old songs she has been enjoying personally for years. She has only occasionally had the opportunity to perform and record such music publicly, and has apparently decided enough is enough: It’s time for her to do the songs on stage that she enjoys doing behind the scenes along with the hit singles from her solo albums and even from her days with 10,000 Maniacs.

Whether fans arrived at Saturday’s concert realizing this in advance or not (although the show was billed “A Celebration of American Folk”), I’d say the audience at Ives Concert Park enjoyed themselves. Merchant’s voice is amazing whether she is belting out the songs fans have memorized, or introducing them to something new. Her tour this year is a celebration of songs that should not be simply categorized and archived, but kept in the minds of any generation, in addition to a presentation of the music that keeps her famous.

In March, Merchant issued a letter to her fans over the Internet expressing her fascination with this music. “My grandmother didn’t teach me Appalachian ballads on our back porch and I had no banjo-strummin’ pappy to sing to be in the cradle,” the letter said in part. “I didn’t grow up a tenant farmer and I never lost a lover to the sea.

“But the songs of the people who lived these lives and spoke of them through their music moved me and intrigued me as a child and that fascination has stayed with me to this day. I recognize the abandoned lover, the repentant sinner and the poor farmer cheated by his greedy landlord and I sympathize with their yearning for better times, for justice in this world and peace beyond the grave.  …My hope is that … I will find an appreciative audience and also meet many other musicians who share a love for this precious American art form.”

The first hour of Saturday’s show was filled with old music, some swamp songs, ballads, songs of yearning, even songs of murder. Her one nod to contemporary songwriting was her performance of a Lucinda Williams song, which fit perfectly into the songs surrounding it. Of course, once Merchant kicked into “Wonder,” one hour into her performance, kicking the show into high gear, the audience went from appreciative to outright thrilled. So it was an evening of satisfaction for those on the stage, and those watching from the audience.

*It’s been a long time coming but after years of trying, Ives Concert Park will host THE MOODY BLUES this weekend, on July 15. Tickets in the reserved seating area are sold out, but lawn seating is plentiful. Showtime is 8 pm, and the tour has been popular since its start in Brighton, England, back in April (the US leg began July 6). Fans are being rewarded on this tour with an 18-song set that covers everything from Nights in White Satin up to last summer’s release, Strange Times.

An opening set will be performed by The Peter Spink Group. Part of the concert park’s mission is to not only present established names in concert but also provide a forum for local artists to work alongside such bands and artists. For PETER SPINK, a visit to Ives Concert Park is like a return home.

“Danbury’s been our hub for years,” Mr Spink said this week. After nearly ten years in Danbury, Spink and his family moved over to Katonah, N.Y. Spink’s bandmates are also within the immediate area. The group performs what Spink this week called acoustic folk rock, “a mix of COUNTING CROWS and DAVE MATTHEWS BAND.”

In terms of performing, the last six years have not exactly been down time for Spink. “When I played Woodstock ’94, it all broke wide open,” explained the performer, who now averages around 200 shows a year. In fact, the band is slated to perform a full show at the CityCenter Summertime Festival of the Arts on August 11. While audience members will have the opportunity to enjoy a shorter set by Spink and crew this weekend before the Moody Blues concert — including, perhaps, a song or two from the CD the guys are about to release — the August show will be a full celebration of Road Show, Spink’s third album, due by the end of the month.

Lawn tickets for Saturday night, which are $25 in advance for adults, $28 at the gate, and $10 (advance) and $13 (day of) for kids, can be purchased at the Ives box office or any TicketMaster outlet. For additional information, call the Ives box office at 837-9226.

By the way, the reserved seat tickets for the July 29 JETHRO TULL concert at Ives Park are also sold out, but again, lawn seats remain.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you... on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks, c/o Bee Publishing Co., 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown 06470, or shannon@thebee.com. Include a phone number for confirmation, please. If you don’t have a stamp or a piece of paper or a writing utensil that works, give me a call! The phone number at the office is 426-3141. Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

JULY 14 — The Moody Blues at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford; Mighty Purple at Toad’s Place (all ages), New Haven, SiMent opening; The Beach Boys at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, The Four Tops opening; Freestyle at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Lonnie Schields Band at Blues Alley, Danbury;

July 15 — The Moody Blues at Ives Concert Park, Danbury, The Peter Spink Group opening; Amnesty Underground and Adva at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Monroe; Zakk Wylde at City Limits, Waterbury; Screaming Broccoli at Tuxedo Junction; Percy Strother Band at Blues Alley;

July 15-16 — Alternative Rock n’ Skate Jam Fest at Woodbury Ski Area, performances by Flipside, Catfish Hunter, Moonseed, Shangk, Jimmy’s Speedranch, Solution, Quasi moffo, Incision and Scars Heel;

July 17 — Robin Trower at Toad’s Place;

July 18 — The Neville Brothers at Toad’s Place;

July 19 — Less Than Jake at The Webster Theatre, Hartford (all ages);

July 20 — Average White Band at City Limits;

July 21 — “Music Under The Stars” at Dickinson Park, Newtown, performances by Playback and Sci-Fi Lullaby; Bob Dylan and Phil Lesh & Friends at The Meadows; Roomful of Blues at Summertime Festival of the Arts at CityCenter, Danbury (free outdoor concert, begins 7:30 pm; call 792-1711 after 3 pm if rain); Jethro Tull at Foxwoods Casino; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Randy Lippencott Band at Blues Alley.

July 22 — Yes and Kansas at The Meadows; Peter Frampton at Foxwoods Casino; King’s X at The Webster Theatre (all ages); The Benjamins at Tuxedo Junction; Gary & The Moodswingers at Blues Alley;

July 23 — Good Rates/Rat Race Choir, Future Tense and Sapphire at Tuxedo Junction;

July 24 —The Slackers at The Webster Theatre, Hartford;

July 25 — Widespread Panic at Toad’s Place (all ages);

July 28 — Peat Moss & The Fertilizers at Tuxedo Junction; Anthony Gomes Band at Blues Alley;

July 29 — Jethro Tull at Ives Concert Park, XRC opening; Reggae Summer Splash Festival at The Meadows with Beres Hammond, Luciano, Cocoa Tea, et al; Shadablu and Syphter at Laszlo’s Arts Café; John Kay & Steppenwolf at City Limits; Big Orange Cone at Tuxedo Junction; Anthony Gomes Band at Blues Alley;

July 31 — Incubus at The Webster Theatre (all ages); George Thorogood & The Destroyers at Toad’s Place.