Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven studio albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Album for Tambourine. Merritt is a board member of the Artist Rights Alliance and is a Practitioner-in-Residence at the Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University.[3][4]
Merritt joined a band called the Carbines and played small clubs in the cities of Chapel Hill and Raleigh.[8] 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.[9]
In 2000, Merritt won the MerleFest's Chris Austin Songwriting Contest[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]
Her next album, Another Country was released on Fantasy Records in 2008. The record was produced by George Drakoulias and featured guitarists Charlie Sexton and Doug Pettibone.[18] Despite her Grammy nomination, Lost Highway Records dropped Merritt after Tambourine and Merritt felt "clueless by the decision and tapped of her energy." [19] Merritt wrote the new album in a Paris apartment, "a city where she knew all of two people and didn't speak the language at all."[20][21][22]Paste magazine gave the album a four-star review.[23] The song "Broken" was nominated for an Americana Music Award for Song of the Year.[24][25][26]
Her EP, Please Break the Silence of the Middle of the Night, was released on January 1, 2008, by the Concord Music Group as an iTunes exclusive.[27] While touring England, Merritt played a piano at the University of Buckingham's Radcliffe Centre for music and lectures, a building that had formerly been a church. "She thought the amazing acoustics and inspiring ambiance would make an ideal setting for a live acoustic-solo record." [28][29] The record Buckingham Solo was recorded live on November 29th, 2008 and released on Fantasy Records on April 18, 2009.[28][30]
Merritt on stage in Seattle in 2010
Merritt's album, See You on the Moon, was released in June 2010 on Fantasy Records.[31][32] Her next album, Traveling Alone, was released on Yep Roc Records in October 2012.[33] The album was produced by Tucker Martine and featured Marc Ribot on guitar and Calexico's John Convertino on percussion.[34] Merritt announced that Traveling Alone would be re-released in a 10th Anniversary Edition on November 4, 2022. [34]
The Grammy Museum hosted Merritt as part of their Spotlight series in 2013. Tift participated in a Q&A with the audience as well as performing for the audience.[36][37]
In 2013, Merritt released Traveling Companion on Yep Roc. Her album Stitch of the World came out in 2017.
Meritt created a new site in 2023 where she has shared interviews with other musicians on The Spark—originally an interview program she hosted for Marfa Public Radio—including Rosanne Cash and Rhiannon Giddens.[38][39] In her Nightcap series, she has posted some "project threads" including covers of Black Boys on Mopeds by Sinead O'Connor and 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton: "Long before a project turns forward facing, beta tests, questions, failed drafts, surprise pleasures, writing, music and laughter line the walls."[40][41]
In 2025, Merritt marked the 20th anniversary of her Grammy-nominated album Tambourine with the reissue of the original record as well as a companion collection of home demos and unreleased material, Time and Patience: Tambourine Kitchen Recordings on One Riot Records.[42][43] Merritt describes the "kitchen recordings" this way: "These songs weren’t hits. I was a good writer, not a great one. My band wasn’t good enough. At least that’s what I was told.... But I believed in these demos back then—and it is a tender moment to bring them to you now, proudly, so much time and patience later."[42] The reissue is dedicated to Neal Casal and Don Heffington, "cherished members of Merritt's original studio band."[42]
Although Merritt has indicated that "I rarely tour these days and certainly not for long stretches of time", she appeared at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival and is on the schedule for the 2025 AmericanaFest.[41][44][45]
Merritt's sound has been described as "sonic short stories and poignant performances."[49] She has been compared to artists like Joni Mitchell[50] and Emmylou Harris.[51]
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