I don't want to be overly philosophical, but I think there are things you earn for yourself as you go. Tift Merritt More Quotes by Tift Merritt More Quotes From Tift Merritt You have to be vigilant about keeping your own fire alive. Tift Merritt vigilant alive fire Sometimes when you're writing on a ukulele, you're in a totally new land, rhythmically or melodically. Tift Merritt ukulele land writing My work is has always been very, very personal. Tift Merritt A tremendous amount of energy is freed up when you feel that your vision is actually respected and cared for by the people you're working with. Tift Merritt vision energy people I think you need a concrete, real-world metaphor to talk about inner life without feeling like a jerk. Tift Merritt feeling think you life I wanted to dedicate myself completely to the things that matter to me and let everything else go, and I think that's a really rewarding thing. Tift Merritt myself think me matter I think you have to ask questions that are scary to ask, and you cannot apologize for that, and you cannot worry what anyone else thinks about your journey. Tift Merritt think you journey worry I really love music, and I definitely love playing music and getting to be a part of music. Tift Merritt definitely playing music love Music is like a really sacred, awesome thing. That first 45 minutes to two hours that you're on stage spending time with music every night is always really great. Tift Merritt you music time night I think that there are a lot of things that come along with being a musician, but I don't want to whine about them. I don't want to complain about my job. Tift Merritt job things think want My point of view as a writer has to be a lot more ego-less than just like being some performer on stage with a hairdo. Tift Merritt view like point-of-view stage I'm always kind of surprised how much I'm associated with country music. Tift Merritt how always music country I think, at the end of the day, I have an outsider's heart. Tift Merritt end-of-the-day day think heart You can always boil down the life of a musician to touring, playing, and writing. Tift Merritt down you writing life I was thinking about how a playlist is really so inadequate as opposed to a mixtape because it takes seventeen days to really make a mixtape with a homemade cover that you like and that you'd give away. Tift Merritt how like you thinking I'm a writer, first and foremost, and I sort of take my cues from the songwriters of the '70s, who are talking about what's really important to them. Tift Merritt about who important talking As much as I love being a singer-songwriter, I love throwing down on stage and letting it all out. Tift Merritt down being stage love I travel in a Ford Econoline van with a trailer. So it's not quite so glamorous. Tift Merritt trailer quite glamorous travel In France, I discovered that I love writing in the city. There's such an intensity to being in the city that matches the intensity of what you're experiencing in your head. Tift Merritt city you writing love France was very opposite of the show-business experience I'd been living; I was anonymous and alone. I wore no makeup, wore the same clothes every day. And I wrote and wrote and wrote. Tift Merritt alone day makeup experience