EdgeFest, now in its fourth year, is a Boston Pops concert series that pairs the orchestra with contemporary bands and artists. Not surprisingly, the different musical focus attracts a significant number of 30-something attendees, in contrast to the customary Boston Pops audience, which has an average age of over 50.

Merchant’s last studio release was 2003’s The House Carpenter’s Daughter. According to a recent Boston Globe interview, she’s been focusing much of her time since on her daughter Lucia, who was born the same year.

The music artist is not only looking forward to her upcoming appearances, her first ever with an orchestra, but she actually approached the Boston Pops about the possibility of participating in EdgeFest after hearing about the series from the alternative country group Cowboy Junkies, who took part in the third annual concert last June, and an editor at Paste Magazine. Wisely, the Pops were more than interested in working with Merchant, leading to next week’s dates.

Fans can anticipate significant input from Merchant, too. She wrote two of the arrangements, for new songs “Autumn Lullaby” and “The Man in the Wilderness,” included in the EdgeFest concert and will perform a number of additional old, new, and unreleased songs, as well. Also on the schedule are Boston’s own indie-rock band The Everyday Visuals.

Natalie Merchant performs with the Boston Pops for EdgeFest 2008 on Tuesday, May 27, and Wednesday, May 28. Both 8pm dates take place at Boston Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, 617-266-1492), with tickets ranging in price from $25 to $100. [More Information]

Learning about Merchant’s visit made me remember how much I love her hit single “Carnival” from the 1995 album Tigerlily. Take a look at the original video and a smokin’ live performance of the tune after the jump. I’ve been playing the concert version on a continuous loop while composing this post — there’s nothing better than rediscovering forgotten favorite songs.

Post from: The Boston Traveler