Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances." She has been compared to artists like Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris. Merritt has released five studio albums to date: two for Lost Highway Records, two for Fantasy Records, and one for Yep Roc Records. Her live albums so far are Home Is Loud released in 2005 and Buckingham Solo released in 2009.