YEP ROC RECORDS TO REISSUE TIFT MERRITT’S DEBUT ALBUM BRAMBLE ROSE

“There isn’t going to be a better debut album this year…in any genre.” –Associated Press 

Originally released in 2002, GRAMMY^®-nominated, singer/songwriter Tift Merritt’s debut album, Bramble Rose, was named one of the year’s best by The New Yorker and garnered rave reviews worldwide. Fourteen years later, and long out-of-print, Yep Roc Records will reissue a limited edition, remastered, vinyl-only LP February 19.

Taking a rare moment to reflect on the album, the songstress and her band will perform the album in its entirety in a special, one-night only performance at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC, February 26. Now available for pre-order, a select number of pre-sale tickets for the show will include signed vinyl. Produced by Ethan Johns, Bramble Rose features 11 original compositions and was recorded with her longtime band. Merritt recently entered the studio with some close friends to begin recording her next album.

“There was so much sweetness in that time, something pure in making a first record. We were so excited to be in the studio together, to be in Los Angeles – everything was ahead and everything was happening for the first time,” Tift reflects. “When I think of how all the miles I’ve seen began with this little seed, it gives me a great deal of hope. I could tell you 1,000 tender stories from those days. But maybe that is what those songs are.”

For his first solo release in 15 years, Don Henley included “Bramble Rose” (with guest vocals by Miranda Lambert and Mick Jagger) as the opening track on his country-leaning, star-studded Cass Country released earlier this year. “I’d wanted to record that song ever since I heard it,” recalled Henley of the title track in a feature for Newsweek.

Marking her fifth solo appearance on the show, NPR Mountain Stage included Merritt’s set as one of their favorite performances of 2015. The six-song set includes a performance of the title track, “Bramble Rose.”