In France, I discovered that I love writing in the city. There’s such an intensity to being in the city that matches the intensity of what you’re experiencing in your head. – Tift Merritt
When I was nominated for a Grammy, my label dropped me – I have a wariness about trying for a hit. – Tift Merritt
I was thinking about how a playlist is really so inadequate as opposed to a mixtape because it takes seventeen days to really make a mixtape with a homemade cover that you like and that you’d give away. – Tift Merritt
I think you have to ask questions that are scary to ask, and you cannot apologize for that, and you cannot worry what anyone else thinks about your journey. – Tift Merritt
Sometimes when you’re writing on a ukulele, you’re in a totally new land, rhythmically or melodically. – Tift Merritt
Music is like a really sacred, awesome thing. That first 45 minutes to two hours that you’re on stage spending time with music every night is always really great. – Tift Merritt
My point of view as a writer has to be a lot more ego-less than just like being some performer on stage with a hairdo. – Tift Merritt
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. – Tift Merritt
I wanted to dedicate myself completely to the things that matter to me and let everything else go, and I think that’s a really rewarding thing. – Tift Merritt
I don’t want to be overly philosophical, but I think there are things you earn for yourself as you go. – Tift Merritt
I’m a writer, first and foremost, and I sort of take my cues from the songwriters of the ’70s, who are talking about what’s really important to them. – Tift Merritt
As much as I love being a singer-songwriter, I love throwing down on stage and letting it all out. – Tift Merritt
France was very opposite of the show-business experience I’d been living; I was anonymous and alone. I wore no makeup, wore the same clothes every day. And I wrote and wrote and wrote. – Tift Merritt
I really love music, and I definitely love playing music and getting to be a part of music. – Tift Merritt
I think that there are a lot of things that come along with being a musician, but I don’t want to whine about them. I don’t want to complain about my job. – Tift Merritt
I think you need a concrete, real-world metaphor to talk about inner life without feeling like a jerk. – Tift Merritt
