Go see Tift Merritt on Friday at the Grey Eagle

If you do anything this weekend, go see Tift Merritt at the Grey Eagle. She rocks, people. I saw her earlier this year at Merlefest, and she put on one of the best performances of the entire weekend. She's a gem. Go see her.

Mountain Xpress story here:

The marriage between Merritt and the Lost Highway label worked well enough to garner a Grammy nomination for Country Album of the Year in 2004, but it has also helped foist stereotypes upon Merritt that just aren’t true, the singer insists.

“I don’t resent [the alt-country tag] at all,” she explains. “When you get pigeonholed, I don’t like it, but at least some people know who you are. I’m not going to complain about it. I don’t get frustrated by it. I get frustrated when people call me country. I don’t fit into that mainstream country role at all; it just implies that I’m part of a family that wouldn’t have me. What I do is a little more handmade and personal.”

The handmade music that Merritt crafts is too quiet for the rock crowd, and not hokey enough for Nashville, but that’s just the way the singer likes it.

“I just don’t think about genre very much,” she says. “Maybe I’d be a smarter woman if I did, but I don’t think so. I just think it’s a very natural progression. Musically you are always learning.”

Another story here:

Singer-songwriter Tift Merritt spent her formative years honing her skills in small clubs in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Her debut album, 2002’s “Bramble Rose,” established her as a favorite among the alternative-country crowd. Her latest CD, “Another Country,” features a heady mix of Stax-flavored roots rock and introspective balladry. Merritt will perform at the Grey Eagle in Asheville, N.C., this Friday and at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on Saturday.

Russell Hall: What led you toward rhythm ‘n’ blues and roots music, as opposed to straight-ahead rock and roll?

Tift Merritt: I think soul music, and rock and roll, and blues and country are all in the same family. All the people I listened to and admired, growing up, pulled from a lot of different places. Carole King and Van Morrison are prime examples. They’ve always written really honest songs, and put a great feel to them, but they also make you want to dance and sing. That’s what I’m trying to do.