Paris, The City of Lights may be a good inspiration to any artists, as Canadian singer Sarah Slean and after two records and a Grammy nomination, Tift Merritt came home with her third album “Another Country” including her best and most personal songs to date featuring her complices and guests stars Charlie Sexton and Doug Pettibone.

If the first step brings critical acclaim and the second garners Grammy® consideration, what could be in line for North Carolina native Tift Merritt since a 2002 emergence that left critics scrambling for adjectives? The talented singer/songwriter has often been miscast as a country artist, and Another Country is an opportunity to leave that moniker behind. She dips slightly into the genre, such as on the country rocker “Something to Me,” the lead track featuring guitarist Charlie Sexton and sweet organ trimmings from bandmate Danny Eisenberg. From there the record sways into a flurry of styles, and Merritt never misses a beat. The blue-eyed soul of “Morning is My Destination” recalls Dusty in Memphis, while “Tell Me Something True” is an R&B nugget that has the breezy Merritt sounding eerily like Diana Ross. Elements of rock, folk, and blues pervade, and producer George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, the Jayhawks) stays out of the way, allowing Merritt’s voice to embody the songs, all 11 of which flow from start to finish, uninterrupted and primed for full-on stardom. –Scott Holter

Another Country
Tift Merritt
Original Release Date: February 26, 2008
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Fantasy
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VIDEO

Another Country

Broken

About Tift Merritt
I think Another Country must have it’s own map. Very naturally, as if by its own accord, this album has had a way of taking me wonderful places. I’ve just followed along behind it in wonder… First was a flat in Paris with a piano. It was a crazy idea I had driving home after midnight – a faraway place to hide, catch up on sleep, wander alone, plunk notes on a piano. Next thing I knew, our Europe dates were behind us, I was lugging my suitcase up a tiny street in the 10th arrondisement, and these songs began to make themselves known. Boys played soccer in the street while I kept singing something to myself. Until it grew loud and then louder. Until the game had ended and the street was empty. Until the neighbors shouted to me that night had come. “Madame, s’il vous plait, il faut dormir dans ce voisinage!” A shutter slammed behind this voice. So I folded these songs into scribbled notebooks and brought them home carefully, like strange things from faraway places. Which they were… I wasn’t sure what to do next, so I followed Joni Mitchell’s post-Europe directions. I headed for California. Somehow I had not used up my good fortune - I found a house in Laurel Canyon that a nice couple wanted to rent for summer. So I planted a garden in the backyard. I arranged the local flowers in colored cups. I made friends with the neighbors and promised it wouldn’t be so loud when the band moved in. We all ate breakfast out on the patio. Then, driving past Joni Mitchell’s old house for good measure, we headed for the studio… It was quick and natural and most of the good stuff happened late at night, and it was always nice to drive home with the windows down after those nights. It was like coming home from very far away sooner than you thought you would, unexpectedly turning up the driveway sooner than you thought you would. With your arms filled with strange and lovely treasures from faraway. And whomever you woke unexpectedly was very glad to see you and hear your stories from another country. That was what it was like. I wish I were there now. Even if I were just the words on a postcard I could send to you from that place.

Tift Merritt “Another Country” EPK