Tift Merritt

Songwriter Tift Merritt lives in New York City. A North Carolina native, Tift began her music career in the clubs in Chapel Hill. Though she loves the city, she still considers North Carolina home.

Tift released her debut album Bramble Rose in 2002 on Lost Highway Records with Ethan Johns producing. The Associated Press called it the best debut album of that year in any genre. Her follow-up release, 2005's Tambourine, produced by George Drakoulias, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album (even though it wasn't a country album, but a soul shakedown barn burner, but hey we'll take it) and three Americana Music Awards Nominations for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for Good Hearted Man. Tift toured extensively with Elvis Costello, and was featured on Austin City Limits, who subsequently released a DVD of the footage.

In 2006, Tift took an accidental hiatus in Paris. Another Country, with George Drakoulias again at the helm, was her first release on Fantasy Records (Concord Music Group). The album was written at a piano in a rented Paris flat. "I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writer's night at a small club," said her friend Emmylou Harris. "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 the lovely Another Country." The album was nominated for another Americana Music Association and earned this accolade from Paste Magazine's four star review, "A force to be reckoned within any genre she approaches."

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