Recording in Durham Hits Tift Merritt's "Sweet Spot"

Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Tift Merritt's roots are planted firmly in the Triangle. While she now calls New York City home, Tift frequently returns to her native North Carolina on tour. Durham, however, is where she comes to record. Her last two studio albums, 2008's Another Country and 2010's See You On the Moon, were recorded at Durham's Overdub Lane Studios. Merritt recorded her newest single "Sweet Spot" in the days following her October 2011 show with alt-country band The Jayhawks at Durham's Carolina Theatre.

“Sweet Spot” will premiere Monday, Jan. 30th at 9pm EST on the CW’s Hart of Dixie's Valentine’s Day episode titled “Rise Again,” with Tift playing at the fictional small town of Blue Bell, Alabama’s annual Valentine’s dance. Monday, Jan. 30” at 9 p.m. EST.

“I had fun pretending to be Ingrid Bergman for a day on the film lot,” said Merritt. ”There was so much great movie history around. We also had a very good game of gin rummy going in my trailer between takes - I think I'm owed some money from that, come to think of it.”

Merritt is currently in the studio recording a new album with a cast of new and old friends including Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket), Marc Ribot (Tom Waits), Eric Heywood (Son Volt), John Convertino (Calexico) and her longtime bass player and harmony singer Jay Brown. The new album will include a version of “Sweet Spot” recorded with the full band.

Merritt has built a unique and critically acclaimed body of work of sonic short stories and poignant performances, including albums Bramble Rose, the Grammy-nominated Tambourine, Another Country, and her latest release See You On The Moon.