Tift Merritt at Oslo Hackney

Tift Merritt

Oslo Hackney, 25 June 2025

Back in London for the first time in seven years, it was wonderful to see Tift Merritt live once again playing a random London show ahead of Glastonbury and, I'm happy to report, she still sounds as great as ever.

It's actually been even longer than seven years for me though, as the last time I saw Merritt was playing her special classical/folk crossover show with Simone Dinnerstein at the Purcell Room back in 2013. I did wonder why she was suddenly playing a show in London when she hasn't had an album out in some time, but she answers that herself near the end of the show: not only is she playing Glastonbury but she is also over with colleagues from Duke University: she's Practitioner-in-Residence there and apparently "explores storytelling through musical archives". That, along with raising her nine-year-old daughter Jean (who is here tonight and actually sells me a vinyl copy of her album See You On The Moon), is the reason for her absence it seems, so she has been plenty busy.

Funnily enough when I first arrived I was noticeably the only woman there although when I went to the merch table to buy my album, there was one other girl buying a t-shirt and she was talking about how the same older men lining up at the front of the stage, were the exact same ones at the Margo Price show last week. And she was absolutely right, it made me laugh, they were the exact same faces and they were certainly dedicated as I heard them talk about how they had seen Merritt on her first UK tour 22 years ago! As nice as that was, I was thankful when more women eventually turned up and I even spied some young women with flowers for Tift at the very end, so it wasn't just all the usual old geezers.

Oslo Hackney is such a tiny venue, so it was exciting to know we would be seeing Merritt in such an intimate space but even more refreshing was the fact that for once there was no support act and that Merritt would be starting the show at 8pm! Because I've been to so many shows recently (absolutely no complaints there), this was a nice change and it was wonderful not to be hanging around for ages waiting for the main attraction.

Tift did indeed arrive on stage right on time, looking incredible and unchanged aside from the pair of glasses she was wearing. I always forget just how petite and lovely Merritt is: in many ways it's shocking that she never had that big breakthrough to commercial success because not only does she have the voice and songwriting talent, but she is strikingly beautiful, in a very natural way. She looks fantastic tonight, wearing a fitted white jacket, jeans and high-heeled black boots.

I think she started the set with All The Reasons We Don't Have To Fight from See You On The Moon (I didn't take a note of the songs and setlist.fm is incorrect for once!), and again I had forgotten just how animated she is when she plays: she swings and sways and often moves back from the microphone, bending with her guitar and then holding it up aloft, she is definitely not just a folky singer, standing still at her microphone, Tift seems to put all her passion and feeling into every song and can't help herself from moving. 

She tells us how long it's been since she was last here but she has enjoyed not touring and then realises that sounds like a diss to us and laughs "I didn't mean it like that," she says. I shout, "well, we missed you!" (something so unlike me I must say, obviously she moved me to do something I never do) and she really sweetly looks at me and says smiling, "I missed you too!" It was such a nice moment.

She also tells us that she has been busy, not just with her daughter and her role at Duke University, but preparing a 20th anniversary version of her classic album Tambourine and, hurrah, recording a brand new album (her first in eight years), which should be out later this year, and will be playing some new songs from it tonight, which is more than fine with all of us there!

There were many new songs played tonight so it's hard to remember them all but there was one played on the keyboard that she said was about the threat of AI. She told a story about how a friend was reading her the end of Paradise Lost aloud and how beautiful it was, then she went home and read a story about how we can better use AI, so that it acts more human, which angered her because, she said, she doesn't just assimilate being human, she just is a human being. She then sang a song about the beauty of being human. It sounded great: witty and impassioned, and went down a treat with the audience.

Another song, she told us was inspired by old letters she had read between two friends during the 70s and 80s, one who lived in New York and the other in London, both were artists and activists, and how they navigated their lives, the way we all do, managing lots of different aspects while maintaining a friendship. This one was played on guitar (she had to put back on her glasses for it because she needed to check the chords as she played, it was so new), and again was just beautiful storytelling.

The final one I can remember, was played using her loop pedal. She first tried it and the pedal wasn't working and almost abandoned the whole thing but she managed to get it working by doing that simple trick of unplugging it and plugging it in again! She then sampled a live vocal refrain (twice so they overlapped) and sang a song with a chorus that went "I make my way imperfectly," accompanied by only the vocal loops and no guitar or keyboard. Despite the problems at the start, it sounded brilliant, I can't wait to hear the finished version on the new album.

Halfway through Merritt complained of being too hot (it was a really hot day for London) but she didn't want to take off her jacket. She eventually did take off her jacket (she still looked great), but not before telling us that they had left her beer bottles in her dressing room but no bottle opener (the cheek) and she desperately needed a cold beer! Thankfully someone in the audience got her the biggest can of cold beer and she was able to continue with a big refreshed grin. It was funny, because I always remember the time she came on stage wearing thick tights and fur-trimmed boots during another London heatwave many years ago, and, while we were all sweating, she told us that the temperature would be considered mild for her hometown in North Carolina. 

Other than the new tunes, there were, of course, lots of old favourites like Another Country, Traveling Alone and Bramble Rose. She even told an entertaining story that Don Henley had emailed her once asking if he could cover Bramble Rose. But while she had written it about the vulnerability of being a young woman, Henley wanted to change it about a love triangle which he would sing with Miranda Lambert and Mick Jagger! 

She also talked about the 20th anniversary of Tambourine and how she is looking forward to re-releasing the album and a record of demos that she found for the album. She spoke about how when she recorded it, the label just said, "we don't hear a hit" and someone shouted "we don't hear a single" and she said, "not just that, but we don't hear a hit" and how disheartening it was. Thankfully the album has endured and she paid tribute to it by playing us some of its greatest tracks: Plainest Thing, Write My Ticket, Stray Paper and Good Hearted Man. Hearing these songs tonight, it's crazy to think anyone could listen to that record that think it wasn't anything but incredible, because those songs are just perfect.  

There was also a lovely moment where she talked about her influences and the women who inspired her like Bobbie Gentry and, more than anyone, Jean Shepard. She wanted to pay tribute to Shepard tonight and as we were such a quiet, well-behaved audience (this was a theme of the night: she must usually play to much more rowdy audiences in the States, someone even shouted "we like to listen!" when she jokingly commented on it again), she was going to perform one of her songs off-mic. We then got an absolutely stunning version of A Satisfied Mind, with Merritt standing right at the edge of the stage, playing her acoustic guitar and sounding glorious, her voice so strong and clear, echoing naturally around the venue. It was definitely a magical moment.

When she returned for the encore a couple of people shouted out for the song Virginia, No One Can Warn You and first she said, "Oh, I haven't played that one in a while" but after a stumble she played a beautiful version of it. She said it was written about her mother and it hits differently now she is a mother herself. The final song was another new song played on the keyboards, which she said she wasn't sure about if it was good enough for the album and our reaction will let her know. It was a ballad and showcased her beautiful, husky but strong voice and went down incredibly well, so I'd say it's a shoo-in for the new record.

Merritt seemed overwhelmed with all the good feeling towards her and kept saying how, although it was nice to be off the road for a while, how lovely it was to be back. At the end she even went and shook hands with most of the old fellas at the front of the audience. I did put my hand out but I was skipped over (probably not on purpose but it did make me a little sad).  

Despite that, this was a wonderful show and it happily reminded me of just why I've always loved Tift Merritt and her music. What a treat it was to hear all the new songs too. I'm so happy she's back.