After two records and a Grammy nomination, Tift Merritt took hiatus with a piano in Paris and came home with her best and most personal songs to date. On February 26, Fantasy Records will release Merritt’s Another Country. After intensive touring, Merritt erased her grueling schedule and rented a flat with a piano in Paris’s 10th arrondisment planning to take time off. Merritt recalls, “Days were wonderful there. I wore the same clothes nearly everyday. I would take a coffee in the street, say hello to the good people in the little wine store across from my door,” she writes. “I cannot explain what happened except to say that there were never enough hours in the day to write, and there was always kindness at hand. I took pictures. I wrote stories. I played piano. I wrote songs.” These songs together comprise Merritt’s third recording Another Country. Merritt describes the writing as a plainspoken look at the distance we all attempt to cross: between two people, between one heart and the rest of the world. Merritt’s debut Bramble Rose earned spots on both Time Magazine and the New Yorker’s year-end Top Ten lists. Tambourine, her sophomore album, was Grammy nominated for Country Album of the Year and earned numerous accolades from press and fans. She has appeared on “The Tonight Show” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and shared the stage with Nickel Creek, Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Ryan Adams, Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. Her Austin City Limits television performance was released on DVD in October of 2007. Another Country was written by Tift Merritt, produced by George Drakoulias, and recorded by David Bianco. The players include guitarists Charlie Sexton and Doug Pettibone and Tift’s longtime band, Zeke Hutchins (drums), Jay Brown (bass) and Danny Eisenberg (keyboards). Merritt also hosts her own public radio program of artist-to-artist radio interviews entitled “The Spark” on Marfa, Texas Public Radio. Merritt’s guests have included novelist Nick Hornby, poet C.K. Williams, Nickelcreek and abstract expressionist Wolf Kahn. www.marfaspark.com A writer, singer and sometime photographer, Tift Merritt is a North Carolina native who lives in New York City and longs for Paris. Time Out New York -- "Merritt is one of the best singer-songers you haven't heard of yet." Paste Magazine **** 4 stars -- "Merritt is a force to be reckoned with as a singer and a songwriter in any genre she approaches." Elle - "An exquisitely written record full of balm for the heart-sore." Spin -- "Sweet Southern depression from a French flat. Deceptively sharp tales of hearts in distress, implying fierce emotions just under the surface." Amazon - "The talented singer/songwriter has often been miscast as a country artist, and Another Country is an opportunity to leave that moniker behind...Primed for full-on stardom..." Popmatters: "Another Country is nothing short of stunning in its candor, simplicity, and grace." Emmylou Harris -- "I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writer's night at a small club. 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, especially here on her lovely new album 'Another Country'."
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