Tift Merritt is about as approachable as they come. An email inquiry to her press rep prompts an almost immediate response from the artist herself. “I’m happy to catch you up on what we’ve been up to lately and the like … just let me know if phone or email is better for you.” Merritt’s only stipulation: that any interview happen after 11 a.m., so she can get in her daily practice session on a piano she’s been using at a club not far from her Manhattan apartment. You could argue that, with a voice like hers, Merritt should be able to afford her dream piano by now. But while she may not be a household name (yet), she’s on a trajectory not unlike a few of her singer/songwriter luminaries (Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams), stockpiling critical plaudits and fan adoration for the four studio albums she’s released since 2002. Her most recent, See You On The Moon (Fantasy), is the scaled-back, introverted antithesis of what may be her only bid for a wider audience, 2004’s polished roots-rock zinger Tambourine. That’s the one that earned her a Grammy nod for best country album. (Guess no one bothered to tell the academy it wasn’t country.) Merritt will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with her.
Merritt: This diner is where I eat lunch with my dad whenever I am home. It is a family business and has that feel that everybody knows everybody, says hello, leaves you to your business. Fried chicken, sweet tea, vegetables—The Last Picture Show kind of feeling. Where Eudora Welty would like to eat. I really like the feeling of being yourself in a small town. You do something strange in a city, and no one really sees you. There’s freedom in that, I guess. But I like that idea that you’d do the same in a small town where everyone would see and knows you and shakes their head and laughs and talks about all the other strange things that have happened in that town over the years.
Another photo after the jump.
