Artist Bio
After two records and a Grammy nomination, Tift Merritt took hiatus with a piano in Paris and came home with her best and most personal songs to date. After intensive touring, Merritt erased her grueling schedule and rented a flat with a piano in Paris's 10th arrondisment planning to take time off. Merritt recalls, "Days were wonderful there. I wore the same clothes nearly everyday. I would take a coffee in the street, say hello to the good people in the little wine store across from my door," she writes. "I cannot explain what happened except to say that there were never enough hours in the day to write, and there was always kindness at hand. I took pictures. I wrote stories. I played piano. I wrote songs."
These songs together comprise Merritt's third recording Another Country (Fantasy Records), released in February 2008. Merritt describes the writing as a plainspoken look at the distance we all attempt to cross: between two people, between one heart and the rest of the world.
Merritt's debut Bramble Rose earned spots on both Time Magazine and the New Yorker's year-end Top Ten lists. Tambourine, her sophomore album, was Grammy nominated for Country Album of the Year and earned numerous accolades from press and fans. She has
appeared on "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show with David Letterman," and shared the stage with Elvis Costello, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, and Nickel Creek. Her Austin City Limits television performance was released on DVD in October of 2007.
This year, Tift has performed on Leno, Letterman, and the Grand Old Opry. People Magzine dubs Another County as a "refreshing alternative to the usual suspects," and Paste Magazine claims she's a "force to be reckoned with as a vocalist and songwriter in any genre she approaches."
Another Country was written by Tift Merritt, produced by George Drakoulias, and recorded by David Bianco. The players include guitarists Charlie Sexton and Doug Pettibone and Tift's longtime band, Zeke Hutchins (drums), Jay Brown (bass) and Danny Eisenberg (keyboards).
Merritt also hosts her very own public radio program started in early '08. A program of artist-to-artist radio interviews entitled "The Spark," which debuted on Marfa, Texas Public Radio on January 27, 2008. Merritt's very first guest was Nick Hornby. Other guests include: Nickel Creek, photgrapher Mark Seliger, poet CK Williams and more.
A writer, singer and sometime photographer, Tift Merritt is a North Carolina native who lives in New York City and longs for Paris.