Tift Merritt regales Free At Noon crowd with songs of love, resistance, and art

North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Tift Merritt is celebrating the release of her ninth studio album and first in nearly 10 years, Sugar, which dropped June 26. And as part of her victory lap, she ventured up north to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection to perform her first Free At Noon show.

Music lovers got some respite from Friday’s muggy, mid-90s heat at the Music Hall at World stage for an eight-song set from Merritt, and that’s not including the two-song encore that only they heard. Good news for those who tuned in to the broadcast: you can listen to the full performance, encore and all, in the player above.

Her performance began with “Locks,” from Sugar. Armed with a beautifully worn guitar, Merritt commanded the attention a full band would earn all by herself. Some solo performers are subdued and keep their shows low key, but Merritt was animated, endearing, and effervescent from the moment she stepped on stage.

“This is a great gig,” she said of performing midday before playing “Look What Love Just Did,” also from Sugar.

She swapped the well-worn guitar for a bright Gibson and played “Everyday Singing,” which she said was inspired by Rosetta Reitz, founder of Rosetta Records. That label aimed to help women in the ’70s jazz and blues scenes achieve greater success.

“I read some letters she wrote to her friend Dachine Rainer, who was an anarchist poet,” she said. “When I read these letters and they talked about being scared of nuclear war, they talked about raising their daughters, they talked about being broke, they talked about being tired, they wondered if they made a difference. And I thought, ‘oh my god that’s just like me and all my friends!'”

After the song, Merritt said she started singing again because she “wanted to put some love in the world, because the world is so confusing” before playing another new song, “Last Ditch Ultimatum,” which saw her move from guitar to keyboard.

At the close of the heartbreaking ballad, what sounded like Google Maps voice navigation from an audience member’s phone shattered the melancholic aura created by the song, garnering laughs from fellow attendees and Merritt herself.

Still at the piano, she played the title track from Sugar, then the lead track, “Finest Feelings” with mere seconds between the songs.

Merritt abandoned the guitar and piano and went a cappella for her seventh song, “Fate of Man Is Sarah’s Eyes.” She used a looping pedal to record and playback on repeat two separate vocal hooks that underscored the song’s lead vocals, recreating the album version faithfully for the live audience.

Her final planned song was “Someone To Watch The Band With Me,” another track from Sugar that Merritt provided a bit of background for.

“One of the things I do in my other life in academia is advocate for artists in the age of AI,” she said. “What I love about this job is that it’s dedicated to one of my very favorite feelings, which is going to see a band with my boyfriend. My hypothetical boyfriend.”

The song went over with great success, and Merritt kept the in-person audience in the venue with two encore songs.

First was 2012’s “Traveling Alone” from her album of the same name.

Her final song was “Good Hearted Man” from her 2004 record Tambourine.

“Somebody recently told me that this is my ‘tradwife album,’ and I went, ‘have you fucking met me,'” she said, eliciting laughs from those who stayed for the second encore song.

Her live version was much more contemplative than the album version, somewhat signaling the artist’s personal evolution over her nearly 30-year career as a songwriter and performer.