A fruitful year for Tift, sans tomatoes

If you go to former local Tift Merritt's homecoming show this weekend, bring along some tomatoes. But not the kind you'd throw to express displeasure. Make sure they're fresh and ripe and juicy -- like the ones Merritt used to buy at the State Farmers Market, when she lived in Raleigh and her practice space was right down the street.

"Man, I am so missing the Farmers Market," Merritt says with a sigh, calling from her New York City apartment. "I've not had a good tomato sandwich all summer, and it's killin' me."

Aside from the tomato deprivation -- which she'll be able to cure when she plays Raleigh's NC Museum of Art on Saturday -- Merritt has had a pretty satisfying year. Her latest album, "Another Country" (Fantasy Records), came out in February to rave reviews and Merritt's first-ever appearance on the Billboard 200 album-sales chart.

Since then, Merritt has toured as far away as Norway; made the television-talk-show rounds from Jay Leno and David Letterman on down; played the fabled Grand Ole Opry in Nashville; sung with legendary figures Emmylou Harris and Charlie Louvin; and taped a half-dozen more interviews for her public-radio show, "The Spark" (marfaspark.com).

Indeed, Merritt has been working so hard that her only recent stretch of time off came when Emmylou Harris (for whom Merritt was opening) had to cancel some dates due to a death in the family. That gave Merritt a few precious free days at home in new York.

"I slept in, did some home repairs, got lost in the city, walked along the river," she says. "All those things I've not gotten to do since going on tour. So that getting cancelled was a cloud, but there was a silver lining."

Even though "Another Country" has only been out for about six months, Merritt already has more new music in the pipeline. This fall will see the release of "Please Break the Stillness of the Middle of the Night," a digital-only mini-album with outtakes, covers and a few new originals.

One of those new originals, "Wayward and Weary," will also appear on the upcoming DVD version of "Gonzo," director Alex Gibney's documentary about Hunter S. Thompson (the late gonzo journalist who committed suicide in 2005).

"I saw the movie, which covers the span of his life and death, and this period of him aging and watching the world," Merritt says. "It really affected me. He'd become this old man who wanted to leave. So the song is about what he must have been feeling at the end of his life."

"Wayward and Weary" is one of Merritt's few recent compositions. With all the touring this year, she hasn't had much time for songwriting -- or planning her wedding.

Merritt and longtime boyfriend/drummer Zeke Hutchins got engaged this past spring, although they haven't set a date yet. So that will probably have to wait until next year.

"I think I'll have some time to write in the fall," Merritt says. "I'm gonna hibernate then, if I have to. Right now, we're just working like crazy. And the wedding, I've not had one minute to think about. We're thinking very small and quick and intimate. Just this morning, we were even discussing running away. It's hard -- we just want to be married."