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Local Singer/Songwriter Visits WRAL-FM |
Tift Merritt stopped by WRAL-FM to chat on the afternoon show. |
MIX’s Vanna Fox (left) & Jim Kelly interview Merritt on the air. |
WRAL-FM invited local singer & songwriter Tift Merritt to their studios for a chat with MIX Personalities Jim Kelly & Vanna Fox on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 at 4pm. The station gave the local artist a chance to introduce herself to people and show its support for the local community.
Merritt’s first album, Bramble Rose, debuted in June of 2002 to rave reviews. She wrote all the songs on the CD and performed them with her band, the Carbines, composed of members all from North Carolina. A Raleigh native, Merritt now travels all over the United States performing with her band.
She writes and sings in what has been called a country rock flavor and has been compared to Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow.
“The support of North Carolina fans enabled us to get a big record deal,” she said. “There’s a lot of NC in my record. It really is a hometown story.”
The 28-year-old plays guitar and piano and put together the album “live,” meaning she & the band were in the studio playing together when recording. Usually vocalists and musicians play individually when recording tracks. Another unique facet of Bramble Rose is that Merritt has her own band playing with her, rather than random musicians hired by her label.
“It’s a ‘real’ record,” she said. “I worked hard to get my band on the album.”
After the interview, Kelly played “Neigborhood” off of Bramble Rose.
“It’s great to get up with a rock band and have fun,” she concluded.
Merritt spoke at a hearing by the Federal Communications Commission in Durham last week. CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon also addressed Commissioners Michael Copps & Joseph Addelstein. Copps arranged the hearing to get input about media consolidation. The FCC is currently discussing removing the ownership cap for television stations, meaning that large corporations will have no limit in how many stations they can own.
