Tift Merritt is revisiting her 2002 solo debut Bramble Rose. It made many year-end best-of lists at the time and has been covered by Eagle Don Henley. Now Yep Roc records is re-releasing it on special limited edition vinyl and Tift will be playing all the songs from Bramble Rose at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro tonight.
"There’s something really sweet about taking a second to look back and that time is very tender and precious to me," says Merritt. "There also something very uncomfortable about it because creatively, I think you look back at your own work and … I wouldn’t say I’m too critical, but I am critical. I mean, It’s a little like looking at a picture of yourself as a teenager.”
The tenth anniversary of the album would have been 2012, which was a busy year for Merritt. She was releasing her album Traveling Alone, so she felt she had to put a retrospective on hold.
Merritt says Don Henley’s cover of "Bramble Rose" brought new life to the song, and Yep Roc approached her about a fresh vinyl release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8noVQ2AO63k
Before making Bramble Rose, Merritt recalls writing a lot of short stories and prose. She says that was probably why many of the songs are about five minutes in length: They were short stories set to music.
“I have always thought of myself as a writer more than a musician. Maybe now, 14 years later, I have played enough gigs that that is different.”
Merritt's Cat's Cradle gig begins at 8:00 tonight.
