Tift Merritt – The Tuning Fork (Concert Review)

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Tift Merritt started her show a little shakily, with sound issues and a couple of false starts in the first few numbers. She handled them like a pro, however, quipping that the missing left channel in her keyboard in one song was akin to her dress which kept trying to fall off her left shoulder.

The  crowd was so silent and stiff that I was wondering if they were actually awake or just propped up like dummies in their chairs –  probably something she found unsettling too as she repeatedly commented on the hushed room and asked if everyone was “doing all right”. Only a few culturally specific jokes fell flat in the antipodean crowd, but that is to be expected when the performer hails from across the worlds biggest ocean. But her ongoing tirade against the mercenary nature of Air NZ that flew her over the Pacific was amusing if not all too familiar.  Shame on them though, overcharging exorbitantly for carrying her guitar.

This easy charisma, humour, and banter continued between songs throughout a powerful set of diverse songs, as the tunesmith from North Carolina meandered confidently between instruments.

Acoustic songs delivered with an apparent ease which belied a high level of musicianship, as Merritt is particularly adept at creating a rhythmic structure with just her own guitar, and injecting life and texture into the various parts of a song by varying her strumming patterns, muting, and emphasis of beats in the bar in subtle yet evocative ways.

She treated us to several songs from the latest album, Travelling Alone, and these went down very well.  Her new material is more narrative driven and less lyrically in tone, which suits her style well.

At times Joni Mitchel-esque, with her pitch-perfect voice hovering over a cyclical cascading strum, recalling the sound of the 70’s queen of American folk in voice and lyrical pattern often.

Merritt sings of sad things in a way that makes them

As shown in The Other Side, she writes lovesick narratives with the metaphor of distance and isolation employed perfectly.  A trip across state becomes a symbol of so much more.

The sound Merritt belts out on some of the soulful piano-driven songs is reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan in full flight, and she – like her Canadian counterpart – also uses dynamics very masterfully to bring a powerful verse down to a quiet and delicate coda.

Many of her songs paint pictures of specific events, such as the poignant narrative which she introduced as being inspired by her going to smoke in a cemetery in her teenage years.  Somehow the existential anxiety of life and the timeless powerful truths are woven together in exceedingly pretty songs.  They are romantic, yet never overly saccharine.  They tell stories, at times of love lost, at times of the joys in life, but never descend into the mundane introspection and self-analysis of too many singer songwriters. These songs are earthy yet ethereal,  lovely yet gritty – shining like a diamond in a coal face, as Emmylou Harris reportedly called Merritt.

I would like to see her with her full band, and when asked, she hinted that a trip down under is in the pipeline after the new album is completed.  It will be one not to miss for any fans of solid songs and strong musicianship.

It is an indication of her songwriting class and skill that Mick Jagger is recording a cover of the delicate country song Bramble Rose – her performance of it reminded me at times of the stark beauty of Wild Horses so it perhaps is no surprise.  Merritt is a world class singer, songwriter and guitarist that has all three talents in roughly equal measure and hence can perform solo acoustically with incredible grace and power.

As an aside – can I encourage Tuning Fork to invest in more chairs? Sitting on the floor is not an ideal way to enjoy a quiet and sensitive act such as this one.  A less generous reviewer would let it cloud their judgment!

All in all though, a highly enjoyable show by a very talented artiste.

Stephen Allely

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