Tift Merritt got her start in the alt/country club scene in North Carolina. Fronting and shouldering the majority of the songwriting for a band called the Carbines, she saw one deal with Sugar Hill records go south, only to be discovered by Ryan Adams and brought into the Lost Highway fold for her critically acclaimed 2002 debut Bramble Rose. Bramble would eventually be released by Universal, but Lost Highway tapped George Drakoulias to produce this her sophomore effort, Tambourine, and he's definitely pushed the young country siren further toward the cross-over Sheryl Crow line, than might have been wise at this stage of her career.

The comparison is obvious to any ears - not that we won't be needing a new Sheryl Crow - but I think Tift would have been better served to have stuck to her roots for a while longer. I mean have you ever heard of her? Evidently the crossover plan was premature. The album opens with 3 strong tunes that belie where the rest of the album is going - "Stray Paper," Wait it Out" and "Good Hearted Man" have a more soulful Mowtown sound (similar to the best songs of Shelby Lynn) sadly much of the rest of the record devolves into predictable ditties that smack as much of Bonnie Raitt as they do Sheryl Crow.

This isn't to say that I don't recommend this album, I guess I would give it a qualified thumbs up. Tift handles the tough-but-tender vocals like a pro and the album is diverse enough to find it on the positive side of the ledger. She also has a facility with lyrics that is put nicely on display by Drakoulias who keeps her vocals out in front of the back-up twang and jangle. I also admire the fact that Tift has stuck with the Carbines as her studio and touring band. After all I'd read about this record I expected it to be a little more compelling than it is, still it's not too shabby, and again Sheryl's Crows-feet are getting deeper and Tift is definitley warming up in the on-deck circle