Tift Merritt

Whilst we've often covered the country acts at Cambridge, they've very rarely featured on our must see selection. This year is very much the exception Tift Merritt is right up at the top of the list. The reason for that is quite simple, Tift Merritt is the best country rock act on the Fatea turntable since Lone Justice.
One of the reasons for that might be the fact that half of her band, that featured on her majestic cut "Tambourine" had past through the afore mentioned Lone Justice, others had been major factors in the Heartbreakers, Maria McKee makes a guest appearance, as does The Jayhawk's Gary Louris. But this is far more than a new artist nodding at her heroes. Tift Merritt can get away with performing alongside the likes of McKee because she has the talent to do so.
Tift Merritt is a songwriter of some talent to boot. She shows strength not only in how she puts her songs together, but in how she performs them. I hope she's not rushed out as a next big thing artists as Lone Justice were, Tift Merritt strikes me very much as a slow burn and explode artist that will benefit from being allowed to find her feet, she's definitely found her voice. I can't remember the last time I was so inticed by the prospects of seeing country rock
A selection of Tift Merritt’s tunes can be found on http://www.myspace.com/tiftmerritt