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Natalie Merchant, songwriter/singer, has lined up dates for a summer tour to support “Leave Your Sleep,” her poetry-inspired album and first solo set in seven years.

The former lead singer for 10,000 Maniacs will be kicking her outing off in Montclair, NJ on July 12 and visit over 30 cities on the trek, wrapping up in Greenville, SC on September 1.

The new ambitious double album from Merchant, “Leave Your Sleep,” takes poems from writers such as Nathalia Crane, Edward Lear and Gerard Manley Hopkins and sets them to music. The project, released on Nonesuch last month, dates back seven years ago to the poems that Merchant read to Lucia, her newborn daughter born in 2003.

Natalie Merchant, in an interview last month with the New York Times said, I was breast feeding my daughter for six hours every day. I felt a creative burst of energy. I had visions of all these different projects in mind that I wanted to be able to do. However, I wasn’t able to leave my chair. My hands were full. I placed a tape recorder right by my chair. While I was nursing I would start to sing into it. That’s how the first songs started. I didn’t have much time for focusing on writing lyrics.

On the album, Merchant worked with 130 musicians, including Wood, Martin and Medeski as well as the New York Philharmonic. The lyrics to the songs on the album are posted on Merchant’s website.

2010 Natalie Merchant Concert Tour
July 2010
12 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theatre
13 – Northampton, MA – The Calvin Theatre
15, 16 – New York, NY – Town Hall
18 – Bethesda, MD – Music Center at Strathmore
19 – Boston, MA – Wang Center
20 – Philadelphia, PA – Merriam Theater
22 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
23 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
24 – St. Paul, MN – O’Shaughnessy Auditorium
26 – Grand Rapids, MI – Meijer Gardens
27 – Ann Arbor, MI – Michigan Theater

August 2010
3 – Denver, CO – Ellie Caulkins Opera House
4 – Salt Lake City, UT – Red Butte Garden
6 – Woodinville, WA – Chateau Ste. Michelle
7 – Goldendale, WA – Maryhill Winery
9 – Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
10 – Santa Rosa, CA – Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
11 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
13 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
14 – San Diego, CA – Spreckels Theatre
17 – Phoenix, AZ – Dodge Theatre
19 – Dallas, TX – Winspear Opera House
20 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre
21 – Houston, TX – Verizon Wireless Theatre
24 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
25 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Broward Center for the Performing Arts
27 – Atlanta, GA – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
28 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
30 – Durham, NC – Durham PAC
31 – Charlotte, NC – Ovens Auditorium

September 2010
1 – Greenville, SC – Peace Center