Singer-songwriter Tift Merritt is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her breakthrough album “Tambourine” with a two-part release arriving on 29th August 2025 via One Riot Records. The release is made up of the vinyl reissue of the original album and “Time and Patience,” an intimate companion piece featuring home-recorded demos and never-before-heard material from the early 2000s. Together, the two releases highlight Merritt’s living legacy while offering a rare window into the emotional journey behind one of Americana’s most beloved voices. Prior to the release of these albums, Merritt will perform live in the UK for the first time in 8 years, at London’s Oslo on 25th June 2025 and at the Glastonbury Festival on 27th June 2025.
Originally released in 2004, “Tambourine” earned Merritt a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album as well as much critical acclaim. The record was produced by George Drakoulias and featured contributions from Mike Campbell, Maria McKee, Neal Casal, and Don Heffington.
“Time and Patience: Tambourine Kitchen Recordings” is a new collection of intimate home demos and original songs that capture the raw beginnings and enduring emotional current of the “Tambourine” era. Recorded in her North Carolina kitchen in the early 2000s—with nothing but a spiral notebook, her voice, and her dog Lucy watching—these recordings offer a rare glimpse of an artist reaching, reckoning, and writing her way into the world.
“When I hear my 27-year-old self belting these songs, I hear my dreams,” Merritt writes in the liner notes. “I hear my intentions, and those intentions are true. Writing songs and singing them was where I went to be free.”
You can listen to ‘Good Hearted Man (Kitchen Recording)’ below. The “Tambourine” reissue is dedicated to the late Neal Casal and Don Heffington, cherished members of Merritt’s studio band. You can pre-order “Tambourine” (20th Anniversary Edition) vinyl and “Time and Patience” here.
UK and European tour dates are listed below, and tickets, with the exception of Glastonbury, can be sourced via her tour page.
Tift Merritt 2025 Tour Dates:
June 19 – Paris, France – Supersonic Records
June 25 – London, UK – Oslo Hackney
June 27 – Pilton, UK – Glastonbury Festival
June 29 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVredenburg
June 30 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Muziekgebouw Eindhoven
July 1 – Milano, Italy – Art Library *
July 2 – Galzignano Terme, Italy – Amphitheatre of Venda *
* with Andrew Bird
I first heard Tift when she was a guest vocalist on one of the albums by the country groupTwo Dollar Pistols. What a voice! Since then I’ve been lucky to see her perform in the UK a number of times and also at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco as well as in New York. I’m sure we are all familiar with that tired refrain “if the world was a fair place she’d be selling s***loads of albums and filling out arenas.” Alas …
A pity her latest visit to the UK is fleeting. Let’s hope for a proper one soon.
Frustrating that her show in Hackney is the same night as Bright Eyes. thought we wouldn’t see her over here again but if this is the start of a Tift renaissance I’ll be very happy.