Tift Merritt Biography
Tift Merritt (Catherine Tift Merritt) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven studio albums, two for Lost Highway Records, two for Fantasy Records, and three for Yep Roc Records. Tift Merritt has been the opening act for Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” for then-Senator Barack Obama at his last campaign rally.
Merritt joined a band called the Carbines and played small clubs in cities of Chapel Hill and Raleigh. In 1998, the band released a 7-inch single, “Jukejoint Girl,” and in 1999 the album The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt on Yep Roc Records.
In 2000, Merrit won the MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and in 2002 released her debut album, Bramble Rose. The record landed on the top ten lists for both Time and The New Yorker and was called the best debut of the year by the Associated Press.
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.
Tift Merritt Age
Tift Merritt is a 44-year-old singer-songwriter and musician born on January 8, 1975, in Houston, Texas United States. She was born in Houston and grew up in Raleigh. Tift Merritt was nominated for Americana Music Association: Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year in 2005 Merritt’s performance on Austin City Limits was released as a DVD on New West Records.
Tift Merritt Net worth
Tift Merritt is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has an estimated net worth of $3 million dollars as of 2019. In 2000, Merrit won the MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and in 2002 released her debut album, Bramble Rose.
The record landed on the top ten lists for both Time and The New Yorker and was called the best debut of the year by the Associated Press. 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.
Tift Merritt Education
Tift Merritt attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study creative writing. Eric Heywood (pedal steel), a skilled studio and touring musician, and the solo artist’s personal and professional partner who joined her on stage, and most valuable player on Merritt’s first full-album release since 2012’s Traveling Alone, joining Marc Ribot (guitars, ukulele, banjo), Jennifer Condos (bass) and Jay Bellerose (drums).
Also on the road journey to Denver was Matt Lorenz, a talented Massachusetts-based multi-instrumentalist who served as a literal one-man band as the show’s opening act he calls the Suitcase Junket.
Tift Merritt Husband
Tift Merritt married Zeke Hutchins whom she later divorced with in 2013. She then married another husband who is also a musician by profession in Eric Heywood in 2017.
Tift Merritt Musician
Tift Merritt joined a band called the Carbines and played small clubs in cities of Chapel Hill and Raleigh. In 1998, the band released a 7-inch single, “Jukejoint Girl,” and in 1999 the album The Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt on Yep Roc Records.
In 2000, Merrit won the MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and in 2002 released her debut album, Bramble Rose. The record landed on the top ten lists for both Time and The New Yorker and was called the best debut of the year by the Associated Press.
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. Her follow-up release, 2004’s Tambourine, was produced by George Drakoulias and featured backing by Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, Neal Casal, and Don Heffington.
The album was nominated for the best country album Grammy Award in 2004. She was nominated for Americana Music Association: Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year in 2005 Merritt’s performance on Austin City Limits was released as a DVD on New West Records. A sold-out concert at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, was released under the title Home Is Loud that same year.
Tift Merritt Reception
Tift Merritt sound has been described as “sonic short stories and poignant performances.” She has been compared to artists like Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris. A review in The New Yorker praised her and The Wall Street Journal included her in a weekend feature on singer-songwriters, describing her as “in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Leonard Cohen”.
Another Country
Tift Merritt released on Fantasy Records in 2008, Another Country featured guitarist Charlie Sexton. Merritt wrote the album in a Paris apartment. Paste Magazine gave the album a four-star review.
The song “Broken” was nominated for an Americana Music Award for Song of the Year. While touring England, Merritt recorded the album Buckingham Solo, which was released on Fantasy Records in April 2009.
Her EP, Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night, was released later in 2008. Merritt has been the opening act for Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” for then-Senator Barack Obama at his last campaign rally.
See You on the Moon
Merritt’s album, See You on the Moon, was released in June 2010 on Fantasy Records. The album “Traveling Alone” was released in October 2012, her first album released on Yep Roc Records.
Tift Merritt Tambourine
Tift Merritt is the second album by alternative country artist Tift Merritt. It was released in 2004 by Lost Highway Records and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album.
Tift Merritt Stitch Of The World
Tift Merritt has “So many breaks wear down, fails in us,” the poet Marge Piercy once wrote. “We must forgive our broken promises their sharp shards in our hands.” But it’s difficult to be that generous toward disappointment.
It’s so much simpler to keep on guarding a sublime ideal, to rail against a letdown, to reject a ravaged expectation by submerging in melancholy. That’s what makes the forgiving qualities of Tift Merritt’s new album, Stitch Of The World, so welcome.
A dozen years ago, Merritt was mentioned in virtually every journalistic roundup of rising talent in the alt-country and Americana scenes. She grew into an exceptionally sure-footed singing and songwriting voice, as well as a sympathetic collaborator to the likes of classical pianist Simone Dinnerstein and sophisticated folk minds Andrew Bird and M.C. Taylor.
Along the way, Merritt’s also become a wonderful kind of musical veteran one who’s attentive to the capriciousness of her own inspiration while allowing herself time and space to tease out her ideas.
In the self-penned bio for this, her sixth studio album, Merritt dispels the myth of a frictionless artistic process. “Let’s be clear about something,” she writes. “What made my time off special was that I had a regular writing routine.
I was private. I followed my heart and my craft. The story of being a writer is the story of being devoted over a long time. What I hate most about bios is that they trade the small virtue of the writing life for pretending that artists and albums spring forth fully formed, trimming the tale to fit the spotlight.”
Tift Merritt Albums
- Traveling Alone 2012
- Stitch of the World 2017
- Bramble Rose 2002
- Another Country 2008
- See You on the Moon 2010
- Tambourine 2004
- Tambourine / Bramble Rose 2004
- Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night (iTunes Exclusive EP) 2008
- Lawless 2012
- Traveling Alone (Bonus Track Version) 2012
- Buckingham Solo 2009
- A Very Special Acoustic Christmas 2003
- The Empress of the Blues: A Tribute to Bessie Smith 2014
- Ray Charles & Friends / Super Hits 1998
Tift Merritt Singles
- My Boat Stitch of the World · 2017
- Only in Songs Night · 2013
- Morning Is My Destination Another Country · 2008
- Eastern Light Stitch of the World · 2017
- Keep You Happy Another Country · 2008
- Something To Me Another Country · 2008
- Traveling Alone Traveling Alone · 2012
- Mixtape See You on the Moon · 2010
- When I Cross Over Bramble Rose · 2002
- Feel of the World See You on the Moon · 2010
- Proclamation Bones Stitch of the World · 2017
- Something Came over Me Stitch of the World · 2017
- Drifted Apart Traveling Alone · 2012
- All the Reasons We Don’t Have to Fight to See You on the Moon · 2010
- Love Soldiers On Stitch of the World · 2017
Tift Merritt stitch of the world
Tift Merritt Songs
- Love Soldiers On Stitch of the World · 2017
- Danny’s Song See You on the Moon · 2010
- Feel of the World See You on the Moon · 2010
- Morning Is My Destination Another Country · 2008
- Still Not Home Traveling Alone · 2012
- Eastern Light Stitch of the World · 2017
- Franz Schubert: Night and Dreams Night · 2013
- Only in Songs Night · 2013
- Keep You Happy Another Country · 2008
- Proclamation Bones Stitch of the World · 2017
- Something To Me Another Country · 2008
- All the Reasons We Don’t Have to Fight See You on the Moon · 2010
- Supposed to Make You Happy Bramble Rose · 2002
- Ain’t Looking Closely Tambourine · 2004
- Something Came Over Me Stitch of the World · 2017
- The Things That Everybody Does See You on the Moon · 2010
- Hopes Too High Another Country · 2008
- Shadow in the Way Tambourine · 2004
- I Am Your Tambourine Tambourine · 2004
- Tender Branch Another Country · 2008
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