Tift Merritt

An hour or so into her July 2002 show at Atlanta’s Smith’s Olde Bar, Tift Merritt puts down her battered Guild acoustic, picks up a tambourine and saunters to the mic. Stage left, Greg Readling swivels from pedal steel to Wurlitzer, easing Merritt’s five-piece backing band, The Carbines, into “Ghetto,” an old Delaney & Bonnie tune. By the time the group reaches the song’s gospel crescendo, the crowd has joined the songstress in a hand-clapping, foot-stomping celebration.

The cover revealed a soulful side of Merritt lurking below the surface of Bramble Rose, her self-assured debut that earned a spot on many 2002 best-of lists for its blend of Appalachian vulnerability and juke-joint sass. But while she counts Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and other leading ladies of country rock as major influences (and fans), Merritt found herself constantly digging into her R&B record collection while on the road. The Texas-born, North Carolina-bred 27-year-old was really feeling the rotation so she decided to take the band through “Ghetto” on a stormy New Orleans evening.

“A hurricane was on its way that night,” recalls Merritt, who’s just finished an early morning surf outside her new home on the North Carolina coast, “so hardly anyone came out to our show because they were all home boarding up their windows. I remember at the end of the song … feeling so good to be completely uninhibited onstage and saying to the audience, ‘You have to throw down with me.’”

Certificate of Merritt

On paper, Merritt’s career looks carefully calculated, though she insists she never thought she could cut it as a professional musician. “Growing up, I wanted to write short stories and novels, but I didn’t think I was any good at this singing stuff,” she laughs.

Since picking up the pen and guitar, Merritt has made a series of sound business decisions; she plans to be in the game a while, she explains, so she’s not in a big hurry. “I want to make a handful of records that really knock people’s socks off. I think it’s very important to take the time to make something great.”