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Tift Merritt Performs Bramble Rose Retrospective

A picture of Tift Merritt
Tony Nelson
Tift Merritt

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'sCat's Cradle gig begins at 8:00 tonight.

Rebecca Martinez produces podcasts at WUNC. She’s been at the station since 2013, when she produced Morning Edition and reported for newscasts and radio features. Rebecca also serves on WUNC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) Committee.
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