Tift Merritt

Tift Merritt
Merritt performing on October 9, 2005 at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, N.C.
Background information
Birth name	Catherine Tift Merritt[1]
Born	January 8, 1975 (1975-01-08) (age 36) Houston, Texas
Origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Folk Rock Alternative country
Occupations	Musician Songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar Keyboards Piano Harmonica
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Lost Highway, Fantasy
Associated acts	The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt
Website	www.tiftmerritt.com

Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and North Carolina native. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances."^[2] She has been compared to songwriters like Joni Mitchell^[3] and Emmylou Harris.^[4]

Merritt has released two studio albums for Lost Highway Records and two for Fantasy Records. Her live albums so far are Home Is Loud released in 2005 and Buckingham Solo released in 2009.

Biography

Early years

Merritt was born in Houston but her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina soon after. Her father taught her guitar chords and how to play piano by ear to Percy Sledge and Bob Dylan songs, and she sang harmonies with him as a child.^[5] His eclectic record collection of soul, folk, R&B, rock, and country music records influenced her both then and later; she credits his "genreless" taste with influencing her to write and perform without regard to genre herself.^[6]

In her early twenties, though she had performed solo in public, Merritt has said she decided she was better suited for writing short stories. She enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study creative writing. There, she met Zeke Hutchins, whose band had just taken a hiatus and who had decided instead to become a school teacher. "With his encouragement and a big box of LPs from the 1970s," Merritt and Hutchins agreed to form a band.^[7] Hutchins set up his drum kit in the kitchen of the farmhouse where Merritt lived, and they practiced songs at her piano.

Career

Merritt began her professional career with her band The Carbines playing small clubs in Chapel Hill and Raleigh such as The Cave, Cat's Cradle, and the front porch of the General Store in Bynum, NC.^[8] In 1998, The Carbines released a 7-inch single "Jukejoint Girl" b/w "Cowboy". In 1999, Merritt made a guest appearance on a seven-song EP on the by Yep Rock label with the Two Dollar Pistols, led by John Howie, Jr. The record was called The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt. The EP featured two original tunes and five cover songs.^[9] In 2000, she won MerleFest's Chris Austin Songwriting Contest,^[10] found a manager, and signed a contract with Lost Highway Records.

In 2002, Merritt released her debut album, Bramble Rose, containing eleven original songs recorded with her long-time band and produced by Ethan Johns. The record landed on the top ten lists for both Time and the The New Yorker, and was called the best debut of the year in any genre by the Associated Press.^[11] A song from the album, "Trouble Over Me", was featured in writer Nick Hornby's 31 Songs.^[12] While touring to promote Bramble Rose, Merritt opened for fellow North Carolinian Ryan Adams, who had helped her secure her first management and record contracts.^[13]

Her follow-up release, 2004's Tambourine, was produced by George Drakoulias and featured backing by Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Neal Casal and Don Heffington (of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band and Lone Justice). Tambourine was honored with a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country Album nomination, though its sound was frequently described in quite different terms, such as "rock-soul throwdown".^[14] In 2005, Merritt and Tambourine were also nominated for three Americana Music Awards by the Americana Music Association: Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for "Good Hearted Man".^[15] During the tour to promote Tambourine, Merritt opened for Elvis Costello and recorded Austin City Limits—a performance later released as a DVD by New West Records.^[16] The sold-out homecoming concert for the tour—at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina—was recorded for a live album release; Home Is Loud was released in 2005 and re-released by the German label Blue Rose Records with bonus tracks in November 2009.^[17]

After extensive touring behind Tambourine, Merritt rented an apartment in Paris, where she wrote the songs that would become 2008's Another Country album.^[18] Before signing with a new label and making that record, Merritt performed Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at the I'm Not There tribute concert at New York City's Beacon Theater on November 7, 2007, with guitarist Joe Henry. According to the New York Times review, Merritt had "the night's purest voice."^[19]

Released on Fantasy Records in 2008, Another Country featured the core of Merritt's long-time band, along with guitarist Charlie Sexton (Bob Dylan), and again with Drakoulias at the helm. Another Country continued the trend of high-profile favorable press for Merritt's releases. Emmylou Harris said, "I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writers' night at a small club. She stood out like a diamond in a coal patch and everyone there knew she carried a promise of great things to come. She has more than fulfilled that promise with Another Country." Paste magazine gave the album a four-star review, calling Merritt "a force to be reckoned with in any genre she approaches."^[20] The song "Broken" from Another Country was nominated for an Americana Music Award for Song of the Year.^[21] The Another Country tour played the Newport Folk Festival, Bonaroo, and in 2009, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival,^[22] and MerleFest. On the Another Country tour, Merritt made runs in both the US and the UK with fellow singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson.^[23]

Buckingham Solo, recorded in England, is an intimate acoustic solo concert recording made during the Another Country touring, and released on the Fantasy label in April 2009.^[24]

Merritt at Tractor Tavern, Seattle, November 11, 2010 Photo: Kirk Stauffer

Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night, an iTunes EP, was released later in 2008.^[25] The EP contains two alternate versions of songs from Another Country, a cover of George Harrisons "I Live For You", an outtake from the Another Country sessions, "Last To Know", and "Wayward And Weary," recorded for the film Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

Performance highlights of the later Another Country tour and immediately after it included opening an outdoor show in Santa Monica, California for folk singer Joan Baez,^[26] opening the Pine Cone Winter Music Festival in her hometown of Raleigh for Kris Kristofferson,^[27] and singing the "The Star-Spangled Banner" for then-Senator Barack Obama at his last campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina before winning the 2008 US Presidential election.^[28]

Merritt recorded the follow-up to 2008's Another Country ^[29] in Durham with producer Tucker Martine. The album, See You On The Moon, was released June 1, 2010 on Fantasy Records. My Morning Jacket frontman Yim Yames (Jim James) is featured on the track "Feel of the World".^[30] Again, a review in The New Yorker specified moments on the record to other singers, including Emmylou Harris, Judy Collins, and additionally U2;^[4] and The Wall Street Journal included her in a weekend feature on singer-songwriters, placing her "in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Leonard Cohen.^[3]

Touring for Moon began in June of 2010 and continueed for over a year in North America, Europe, and the UK. In addition to headlining dates in North America and the UK, Merritt has supported Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Amos Lee, Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, Iron & Wine, and Gregg Allman.

Merritt is also a photographer; her first gallery exhibition, Other Countries, ran at The Mahler Gallery in Raleigh, North Carolina in May 2009. She also hosts an artist-to-artist interview radio show called The Spark with Tift Merritt which is produced by KRTS in Marfa, Texas, and whose guests have included Nick Hornby, Kiki Smith, and poet C. K. Williams among others.^[31] Episodes of The Spark stream on the show's website and are available as a free podcast.

In 2009, Merritt married Zeke Hutchins, her band's drummer and her long-time partner, in New York City, where they currently reside.^[32]

Film & TV

In addition to Austin City Limits, Merritt has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. Her music has appeared in The L Word, Men In Trees, United States of Tara and the film New in Town. She has also written two songs for the upcoming animated film Dorothy of Oz, starring Lea Michele and Dan Aykroyd, set for release in early 2012.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Country [33]	US [34]	US Heat [35]	US Folk [36]
Bramble Rose	Release date: June 4, 2002 Label: Lost Highway Records	47	—	—	—
Tambourine	Release date: August 24, 2004 Label: Lost Highway Records	—	—	21	—
Another Country	Release date: February 26, 2008 Label: Fantasy Records	—	156	1	—
See You on the Moon	Release date: June 1, 2010 Label: Fantasy Records	—	—	6	7
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Live albums

Title	Album details
Home Is Loud	Release date: 2005 Label: RCAM
Buckingham Solo	Release date: June 23, 2009 Label: Vella Recordings

Extended plays

Title	Album details
The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt	Release date: October 26, 1999 Label: Yep Roc Records
Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night	Release date: September 16, 2008 Label: Fantasy Records

Singles

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album
		US Country[1]
2002	"Virginia, No One Can Warn You"	—	Bramble Rose
	"Sunday"	—
2003	"Trouble Over Me"	—
2004	"Good Hearted Man"	60	Tambourine
	"Stray Paper"	—
2008	"Broken"	—	Another Country
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2002	"Virginia, No One Can Warn You"	Douglas Avery[37]
2004	"Good Hearted Man"	Philip Andelman[38]
2008	"Broken"	Martyn Atkins[39]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Result
2004	47th Grammy Awards	Country Album of the Year - Tambourine	Nominated
2005	Americana Music Association	Album of the Year - Tambourine	Nominated
		Artist of the Year	Nominated
		Song of the Year - "Good Hearted Man"	Nominated

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 275. ISBN 0-89820-177-2. 
2. ^ http://wxrt.radio.com/2010/06/02/full-album-tift-merritt-see-you-on-the-moon/
3. ^ ^{a b} Jurgensen, John (August 13, 2010). "The Secrets of Songwriters". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704164904575421813516451790.html?KEYWORDS=Tift+Merritt. 
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/recordings/2010/06/14/100614gore_GOAT_recordings_greenman
5. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
6. ^ http://www.louisville.com/content/interview-tift-merritt-brings-soulful-rock-louisvilles-waterfront-wednesday-music
7. ^ http://www.wfpk.org/waterfront-wednesday-july-2009/
8. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88570718
9. ^ http://store.yeproc.com/artist.php?id=750
10. ^ http://www.merlefest.org/content.aspx?id=44 Merlefest's Chris Austin Songwriting Contest Winners
11. ^ http://www.grandcentralmusic.com/music/
12. ^ Nick Hornby, 31 Songs (London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2003), p. 193.
13. ^ Harrington, Richard (April 15, 2005). "Start of rightcontent.inc". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53152-2005Apr14.html. 
14. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4146090
15. ^ http://abccountry.net.au/artist/tift-merritt
16. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VI4UUC
17. ^ http://www.bluerose-records.de/
18. ^ http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/i-felt-like-another-country-myself-an-interview-with-tift-merritt
19. ^ Pareles, Jon (November 9, 2007). "A Tribute to Bob Dylan, Both Reverent and Rowdy". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/arts/09dylan-sub.html. 
20. ^ http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/assets/documents01/Artists/Tift-Merritt/FAN-31965-02/See-You-On-The-Moon-Bio-And-Album-Credits-Hi.pdf
21. ^ http://folkmusic.about.com/od/awardsetc1/qt/Americana2008.htm
22. ^ "Edmonton Folk Music Festival/Festival Archive". Official Website. Edmonton Folk Music Festival. 2010. pp. Festival Archive/Past Performers 2009 (M). http://www.efmf.ab.ca/004.performers/004-01i.alpha-list/performers-alphalist.M.htm. Retrieved 9 January 2011. 
23. ^ http://www.livedaily.com/news/tift-merritt-tickets-and-tour-dates-tift-merritt-keeps-working-the-road-14373.html
24. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DEZTJ8
25. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/please-break-silence-middle/id290378257
26. ^ http://www.santamonicadispatch.com/2009/07/joan-baez-appears-on-pier-tonight/
27. ^ http://www.pinecone.org/wintermusicfest.html
28. ^ http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/tift-merritt-sings-for-change
29. ^ Overdub Lane
30. ^ http://music.mync.com/2010/03/tift-merritts-see-you-on-the-moon-gets-tracked-and-covered/
31. ^ http://www.tiftmerritt.net/Biography.aspx
32. ^ Jones, Amy (2010-07-16). "Tift Merritt makes her own brand of music at Asheville's Orange Peel". Asheville Citizen-Times. http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100716/ENT/307160006/1005/ent. Retrieved 2010-07-16. ^{[dead link]}
33. ^ "Tift Merritt Album & Song Chart History: Country Albums". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/tift-merritt/chart-history/486440?f=320&g=Albums. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
34. ^ "Tift Merritt Album & Song Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/tift-merritt/chart-history/486440. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
35. ^ "Tift Merritt Album & Song Chart History: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/tift-merritt/chart-history/486440?f=324&g=Albums. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
36. ^ "Tift Merritt Album & Song Chart History: Folk Albums". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/tift-merritt/chart-history/486440?f=1071&g=Albums. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
37. ^ "CMT : Videos: Tift Merritt : Virginia, No One Can Warn You". Country Music Television. http://www.cmt.com/videos/tift-merritt/387731/virginia-no-one-can-warn-you.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
38. ^ "CMT : Videos : Tift Merritt : Good Hearted Man". Country Music Television. http://www.cmt.com/videos/tift-merritt/37162/good-hearted-man.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 
39. ^ "CMT : Videos: Tift Merritt : Broken". Country Music Television. http://www.cmt.com/videos/tift-merritt/212914/broken.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-07-26. 

External links

• Official website

Persondata
Name	Merritt, Tift
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 8, 1975
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death