Natalie Merchant will be playing the Guildhall in St Ives on July 13 to kick off her tour of intimate and historic venues across the UK.

Starting in St Ives, she will work her way upcountry before ending with a show in Oxford.

The singer, who first found success with her band 10,000 Maniacs in the 1980s, is playing some of the more out-of-the-way venues across the country.

She said: “I have always enjoyed performing in the UK but have rarely played outside of the major cities.

“There’s so much of Britain I’ve never seen; I expect this summer’s tour will satisfy my desire to explore those historic and scenic regions while meeting up with my fans who live there.”

She will be joined by her longtime guitarist Erik Della Penna, who has been playing with her for 20 years, and they will perform material from the past 35 years of her career.

Q magazine has called Natalie Merchant “among the most compelling and distinctive voices of the last decade”, while Vogue has said she is “one of the most successful and enduring alternative artists to emerge from the Eighties intact and uncompromised.”

Tickets are available on Thursday April 27 at 10am from www.seetickets.com or by phoning 0871 2200220.