David Menconi at On the Beat: By the time Tift Merritt plays her next hometown show at the end of this month, things should be moving forward with the release of her new album. "See You on the Moon" is tentatively set for release in May. Merritt came home to North Carolina to record, doing the work in November at Durham's Overdub Lane with noted producer Tucker Martine. And while it's not as conceptual as 2008's "Another Country," the album does have thematic elements.
"Well, I didn't leave and go off to Paris this time, although I did spend some time there writing," Merritt says by phone from her New York City apartment. "The story is more in the music this time. Jay [Brown] and Zeke [Hutchins] and I all had grandmothers die last summer, within a week of each other. Those kinds of ties that bind each other and our families all made their way in there."
Merritt may offer up a song or two from "Moon" on Jan. 30, when she plays Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall. She's opening for Kris Kristofferson, a favorite that Merritt hopes to entice onto her radio show.
