Merritt quickly garnered high critical acclaim from Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Time, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and CNN. Her first two records landed on The New Yorker’s Top Ten List. Tift’s TV appearances include Austin City Limits, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman. Tambourine was Grammy-nominated for Best Country Album, and the Americana Music Association nominated Tift for 2004 Album, Artist and Song of the Year.

Merritt was born on 8 January 1975 in Houston. When she was two her family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Tift grew up. Her father taught her “the only chords you need to know,” and his Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton records were part of her childhood. After high school she waited tables, gigged around North Carolina, went to New York City, and at her mother’s urging came back to North Carolina to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in college she met Zeke Hutchins, who encouraged her to start a band and has been her drummer ever since. Tift sent out demo 45s and press kits to every club she could from her PO box at the Bynum General Store, and she and the band drove all over North Carolina in their old van. With help from her friend and fellow North Carolina musician Ryan Adams, she got her first management deal and record contract, and Bramble Rose was released by Lost Highway on 4 June 2002.

Merritt’s music defies categorization. Her uniquely satisfying stew of rock and roll, soul, and country has record stores scratching their heads and audiences dancing in the aisles. There’s food for thought there, too—Tift knew she wanted to be a writer before she knew she wanted to be a musician, and her lyrics are carefully and finely crafted.

For the time being, Tift is living in New York City.