Merritt's father taught her guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. She began her professional career in 1998 with her band The Carbines playing small clubs. In her early twenties, though Tift had gigged by herself, she decided she was not very good at music and better suited for writing short stories. She and her dog Lucy started school at UNC to study creative writing. There, she met Zeke Hutchins, whose band had just taken a hiatus and who had decided to become a school teacher. With his encouragement and a big box of LPs from the 70's that they both liked, they started a band. Zeke set drums up in the kitchen of Tift's farmhouse on the outskirts of town, and they practiced songs at her red piano. The Carbines played Chapel Hill haunts like the Cave, the Cat's Cradle, and the front porch of the General Store in Bynum, NC. Tift also made a guest appearance on the Two Dollar Pistols with Tift Merritt EP.
In 2000, Tift won Merlefest's Chris Austin Songwriting contest, and with the help of Ryan Adams, found herself with a manager and a recording contract with Lost Highway records. The band headed to LA to record her first release, Bramble Rose, in 2002, produced by Ethan Johns. The record landed on Time Magazine's and New Yorker's top ten lists and was called the best debut of the year in any genre by the Associated Press. Tambourine followed in 2004. Produced by George Drakoulias, featuring Mike Campbell of the Hearbreakers on guitar, Tambourine was a soul-rock throw down, Grammy-nominated for Country Album of the Year, even though it was really not a country album. It was also nominated for three Americana Music Awards. The tour opened for Elvis Costello, recorded Austin City Limits, releasing the performance as a live DVD, and made Home Is Loud, a document of the tour's homecoming concert in Raleigh, NC. As the tour was winding down, Tift ran away to Paris looking for her mojo and, without intending to, started writing songs that would become Another Country. Another Country was released on Fantasy Records in 2008, again with George Drakoulias and her longtime band at the helm. Buckingham Solo, recorded in England, is an intimate concert behind Another Country, released on Fantasy in April 2009. Also in 2009, Tift had her first art exhibit, Other Countries, bringing the journals and pictures behind Another Country to light.
Tift also produces The Spark for KRTS Marfa, Texas Public Radio. The Spark explores the real lives and processes of the people behind great works of art. Guests have included writer Nick Hornby, artist Kiki Smith, songstress and Merge co-founder Mac MCCaughan. Emmylou Harris, when asked about Tift, said, “I first heard Tift Merritt some years ago during a writer's night at a small club in Nashville. She stood out like a diamond in a coal patch, and everyone there knew she carried a promise of great things to come.”
In 2009, Tift married longtime collaborator Zeke Hutchins. They lived in a small Greenwich Village apartment in NYC, and later divorced.
Traveling Alone, her fifth studio album, was recorded in Brooklyn and featuring guest spots from Marc Ribot, Andrew Bird, and others, was released in the fall of 2012.
Her sixth studio Stitch of the World was released in 2017. According to the review in Pop Matters, "The stories surrounding Stitch of the World, Tift Merritt's most recent album, make up their narrative, with divorce, relocation, and childbirth at the center of the tale... But Merritt's gift for the record has been to write a series of songs that sound personal without relying on anything autobiographical... the songs are individual, a capturing of Merritt's vision that's unguarded and inviting without being limited."
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Tender Branch
Tift Merritt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I reached up high and I clinched my fist
What happened then goes just like this,
Oh the tender branch is gonna fall
I was young and I thought it brave,
Fighting to find the mystery's face
You got to give it a gentler chase,
Sometimes you fall up these stairs, but it's a long time 'fore you know
No matter where my heart is now, there's a long, long way to go
There is a church in St Sulpice
I've seen the pilgrims come to pray
I'm gonna lean in hard on that grace,
Cause oh the tender branch is gonna fall
The lyrics to Tift Merritt's song "Tender Branch" speak to the fragility of life and the importance of treating it gently. The first verse describes the singer's younger self, full of bravado and energy, reaching for everything they could while ignoring the potential for consequences. The line "the tender branch is gonna fall" serves as a warning that this reckless behavior will eventually catch up to them.
In the second verse, the singer reflects on how they've grown and learned since that time, realizing the need to approach life with more care and tenderness. While they may still stumble and fall along the way, they understand that taking things slower and more deliberately is the only way to truly appreciate the journey.
The final verse completes this arc, as the singer seeks solace and strength through religion. The mention of St Sulpice, a famous church in Paris, adds a layer of symbolism, connecting the singer's personal struggles to the larger notion of faith and humanity's universal search for meaning.
Overall, "Tender Branch" is a song about growth and resilience, acknowledging the hardships of life while also celebrating its beauty and possibility.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I ran like the wildest horse
In the past, I had a wild spirit and energy like a horse running freely
I reached up high and I clinched my fist
I tried my best to reach for my dreams and goals by tightly grabbing onto them
What happened then goes just like this,
This is how the events unfolded
Oh the tender branch is gonna fall
The delicate and fragile things that I held onto may break or be lost
I was young and I thought it brave,
I used to consider my actions as courageous because of my youth and naivety
Fighting to find the mystery's face
Struggling to uncover the unknown and elusive aspects of life
You got to give it a gentler chase,
It's better to pursue it with sensitivity and tenderness
Cause oh the tender branch is gonna fall
Because delicate things may be harmed or become distant otherwise
Sometimes you fall up these stairs, but it's a long time 'fore you know
Occasionally you may think you're moving forward, but it could take time to realize that you're actually regressing or lost
No matter where my heart is now, there's a long, long way to go
Regardless of my current emotional state, there's still a vast distance to travel or grow
There is a church in St Sulpice
A church in St Sulpice exists
I've seen the pilgrims come to pray
I observed individuals journeying to the church for religious purposes
I'm gonna lean in hard on that grace,
I'll rely on that divine mercy and benevolence
Cause oh the tender branch is gonna fall
Because fragile things may be destroyed or disappear
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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