Tift Merritt

Merritt Badge
by Ben Greenman (The New Yorker)
June 14, 2010

Tift Merritt was, for a few years, the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul that reaches back to artists like Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry. After the promising début “Bramble Rose,” in 2002, Merritt released a pair of albums produced by George Drakoulias. Though best known for his work with bands like the Black Crowes and the Jayhawks, Drakoulias also worked with Maria McKee, the former Lone Justice front woman, and it was McKee’s sound and sensibility that he used as a template for Merritt’s records. This was a good thing, all around: songs like “Stray Paper” found Merritt pushing harder into the heart of American soul music, complete with a horn section and gospel-tinged vocals, and the proceedings had the feeling of a celebration.

For “See You on the Moon” (Fantasy), her fourth studio album, producing duties have been assumed by Tucker Martine, and the difference is immediately apparent. Martine, whose partner is the singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, was born in Nashville, where his father was a successful country songwriter, but his sensibilities, both as a producer and as a recording artist, tend toward indie rock (he has worked with artists like the Decembrists, Sufjan Stevens, and Spoon). What that means, in short, is fewer horns, more strings, less energetic clutter, and more emphasis on Merritt’s beautiful vocals and moving, if occasionally sentimental, songwriting. “The Things That Everybody Does,” with its almost documentary philosophy of love, plays like a modern take on Judy Collins. “Feel of the World,” which features backing vocals from Jim James, of My Morning Jacket, has a calm, confident sweep reminiscent of U2’s more meditative moments. “Mixtape” is a winningly unwieldy tribute to the cassette-borne love letter. The title track sounds like a lost Emmylou Harris classic. And Merritt’s cover of Kenny Loggins’s “Danny’s Song” (you may not recognize the title, but you surely know the song—it’s the one with the chorus that goes “Even though we ain’t got money / I’m so in love with you, honey”) is hushed and intimate, with a melancholy shading of steel guitar.

If there is a problem, it’s that Martine can produce too tastefully; a song like “Live Till You Die,” which doesn’t have the complexity of some of the other material, can’t get by on energy alone. But it’s short, and soon enough the record has moved along to the funky, menacing “Papercut.” Nothing on the album overstays its welcome, and in the days of the bloated mega-opus (Billy Corgan is attempting to revive Smashing Pumpkins by releasing a forty-four-song album across eleven EPs) that kind of modest assurance should be rewarded.

vinylfan, I saw Tift a month ago in Massachusetts. You are lucky indeed, she was fantastic. A great mix of new and old songs. Her band was tight, with the great Eric Heyward on guitar & pedal steel. Ray LaMontagne was sitting next to me in the audience.

Hopefully she will be able to play for a decent amount of time, Lafayette. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Hey Stoger, glad you brought that up. It was certainly a crowd pleaser. Eric’s whistling was unbelievable! Don’t know how he did that without at least one glitch. I’m glad you got to see them in your “home” state. Enjoy your LW shows next month.

@Tim wrote:

Hopefully she will be able to play for a decent amount of time, Lafayette. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Tift played solo acoustic as Amos Lee’s opening act. I enjoyed her set much more this go round.

I just received an alert she is going to play the Woodsongs Old Time Radio hour this Monday, July 26, in Lexington, KY. I would love to see her play that show, it’s a beautiful theater, but I need to cool my jets on road trips for now. A rebroadcast of Woodsongs shows airs on XM radio, and are podcasted, audio and video, for their archives so I look forward to those links.

http://www.woodsongs.com/wotrh.php

A quick look at her schedule has her back in Cincinnati, opening for Josh Ritter. Stoger, if you read this thread, you may want to glance at Tift’s schedule, she’s making appearances in and around your home state of TN.