Tift Merritt
Tambourine (Lost Highway)
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in Nashville Scene, November 11-17, 2004

If Tift Merritt’s 2002 debut Bramble Rose earned her a spot on the bench of the Lucinda Williams B team alongside the Shelby Lynnes and Kathleen Edwardses of the world, her impressive new Tambourine sees her determined to claim a spot in the starting lineup. This time around, Merritt’s songwriting is sharper and both the band (featuring members of the Jayhawks and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, among others) and George Drakoulias’s production are tighter and more focused. The crisper backdrop allows Merritt’s Dusty-Springfield-by-way-of-Loretta-Lynn voice to blossom, switching from the death-of-a-small-town lament of “Laid A Highway” to the spirited roadhouse come-on of “I Am Your Tambourine” to the gospel country-soul of “Shadow In The Way” and shining throughout. – Marc Hirsh

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