Traveling Alone

Tift Merritt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yep Roc Records
• ASIN: B0089N7RWO
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,376 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

For Traveling Alone, Tift Merritt's Yep Roc Records label debut, Merritt put together her dream cast to make a record that was real, raw and live off the floor. Recorded in Brooklyn in 8 days, this album was produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket), features a guest appearance by Andrew Bird and a band that includes Marc Ribot (Tom Waits), Eric Heywood (Pretenders, Son Volt), John Convertino (Calexico) and longtime collaborator Jay Brown. These songs were written and traveled by Tift Merritt.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth It October 11, 2012

By Kerry Moon

Format:Audio CD

You'd think after four albums, Tift Merritt might run out of good songs. But no, "Traveling Alone" doesn't waste a chord. And while they're all good, a couple more make the List of Tift's great songs.

Tift's debut album, Bramble Rose, contains her earliest work, among them several masterpieces including "Trouble over Me" and "Are You Still in Love with Me." Later came "Still Pretending," "Mille Tendresses," "Keep You Happy," all beautiful love songs with more than a little poignancy (I guess Mille Tendresses fits that category - it's in French).

My favorite song on her previous album is "Papercut," and there's something there that foreshadows the melancholy undercurrent of "Traveling Alone."

Tift Merritt has matured nicely as an artist and as a woman. She's remained strong in the face of adversity, and she's remained true to herself. She's never sold out, but she's never given up.

Each of her albums maintains an old-school sense of the record as a whole, not just a collection of songs. "Traveling Alone" fully accomplishes that aspiration.

You'll really need to read the book of lyrics accompanying the record to get the full benefit of Tift's poetry. But of course you'll have to listen to the record to get the full benefit of Tift's music. And her voice is the cherry on Jack Horner's thumb.

The song that grabs me by the heartstrings is "Too Soon to Go." The melody is truly beautiful, and the words will make you cry.

The song that best captures the essence of the album is "Spring." Is it optimistic or fatalistic? Is Tift Merritt reflecting on the struggles and disappointments of life, or reveling in the rewards of the struggle? "It is a mystery like a lover's touch, brings a blossom from a winter's bud ... I wonder if there ever was a flower here at all."

She comes to the conclusion, though, "But it's worth it."

I'm glad she thinks so. I have no doubt. It was certainly worth it for me.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars She only looks like the girl next door. When she sings... October 2, 2012

By Jesse Kornbluth TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Because it's fairly obvious I have a soft spot for female writers and musicians, I get more than my share of CDs by female singer-songwriters. Most seem doomed --- they're not Nashville, they're not pop, and on the few college radio stations that champion American Roots, the genre generally begins and ends with Emmylou Harris.

But "Another Country" made me hopeful about a singer I knew nothing about. Tift Merritt's songs were smart and soft and deep, and she had a honey voice that a country singer would kill for, and, on the CD cover, she was beautiful in a girl-next-door way.

Fool that I am, I thought I could help her break out of the pack.

So we met.

Our conversation was thoroughly confusing. Tift Merritt is an astonishingly nice person, not a mean bone in her body and all that. She is also tough bordering on ferocious. Not about getting somewhere, although she was clearly not immune to the charms of stardom --- her determination was about her work.

Fool that she is, she thought there was real value in making music that mattered, music that aspired to art.

"Traveling Alone" might just qualify. It could not be more timeless, less trendy. It has just the right proportion of kick-ass songs to whispered meditations. She's supported by first-class musicians and a highly regarded producer. It's so well written that a line like "beauty is defiance in the face of death" is a throwaway. Maybe, just maybe, the planets are aligned in her favor this time.

I couldn't resist a rematch.

JK: A CD has become a collection of 99 cent singles to download. But this feels like a real album, not a shot at single hits.

TM: Exactly.

JK: Isn't that suicidal?

TM: The thought of making work that's easily consumed and quickly forgotten --- what's the point? I want my work to be cohesive, to age and improve like old leather.

JK: The theme of this CD is right in the title: traveling alone. Dare I ask you to elaborate?

TM: At the end of the day, we're alone. There are hard truths in that.

JK: Which reminds me: There are no songs about your relationship with your husband.

TM: I felt it was important for me to stand on my own.

JK: Standing alone --- standing erect, as it were --- do you feel more spine?

TM: Yes.

JK: How does that manifest?

TM: I no longer care what anyone thinks.

JK: How's that working for you?

TM: Quite well. I don't want to be overly philosophical, but I think there are things you earn for yourself as you go. And there are things that happen when you're 37 --- you see it's not a joke. It feels now or never.

JK: Don't scream: if it's now or never, why not go for a big hit?

TM: When I was nominated for a Grammy, my label dropped me --- I have a wariness about trying for a hit.

JK: So this is the most artistic CD you can make?

TM: Yes. I took a risk. I went my own way --- I made this record on my own. I paid for it. That was important for me.

JK: Do you know the story of `Dancing in the Dark?' Bruce Springsteen finished a CD. Jon Landau, his producer, said it was great --- but it lacked a hit. Bruce, annoyed, wrote `Dancing in the Dark' in, like, 20 minutes.

TM: Do you know how many times I've been told this story? And how many times it worked? Not once!

JK: There's a beautiful duet with someone who sounds like Roy Orbison. But Roy's dead. So who plays Roy?

TM: Andrew Bird. I wanted to write a duet. But Andrew lit the Roy candle in the studio.

JK: Bird is just one of the important musicians on this CD. But they don't play much. Why not?

TM: They're great musicians, but not great egos. At one point, the drummer, John Convertino, said, `Here's my contribution to this song --- I'm not playing.'

JK: So this is my take: `Traveling Alone' is an adult experience, not for kids, and the smarter you are, the more you can get from it.

TM: Thanks. I like the higher denominator.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tift Finds Her Sweet Spot October 2, 2012

By A. Orr

Format:Audio CD

I am not YET prepared to declare this is Tift's best recording effort to date. However, I am prepared to say it feels like her most organically consistent and delightful work and to declare it as my favorite.

I've been reveling in Traveling Alone since obtaining a copy at Tift's CD release celebration on 9/21 in Carrboro, NC. Suffice it to say, Tift serves up a sensuously satisfying eleven course musical meal; eleven elegantly simple and straightforward songs deliciously seasoned to cook at a low simmer. This album is so understated and subtle that I predict you'll find it imperceptibly sneaking up on you until, by the conclusion of this meal, you realize your feeling satiated and not wanting the afterglow to end - which by the standards of any musical cookbook, is the mark of a great album and impeccable taste.