Families can have a lot of influence on a person’s musical tastes growing up. Tift Merritt, who views her work as a tribute to the country music of the 1970s, owes a lot to her father.

“My daddy was a Saturday musician,” she says. “He played piano and guitar on the weekends. Sometimes he’d call me in to sing and that was my favorite thing.”

It wasn’t long before Merritt began to make her own music, with her father’s blessing.

“He showed me four chords and sent me on my way,” she says. “I had always wanted to be a writer so I think it’s pretty natural that I play and I try to use my own words.

“I didn’t go to college for a while. When I finally did go, I met a drummer named Zeke Hutchins, who had been in a band in the ’90s. When they lost their deal, he had gone back to school too. We met each other. I gave him a demo and he showed up at my house with his drums.”

From that point, the duo assembled a band and things started to roll.

“I won the Chris Austin Merlefest songwriting contest in 2000 and that sort of got us attention outside of Nashville,” Merritt says.

The judges of this contest all raved over Merritt. One particularly influential individual knew he could help her out.

“[After that] we were managed by Frank Collari, who also managed Ryan, ” she says.

The “Ryan” she refers to is none other than Ryan Adams, former Whiskeytown front man and present Americana poster boy. Adams has always been supportive of Merritt and asked her to open a couple dates of his “Heartbreaker” tour, including one show in Los Angeles with Alanis Morrissette and Elton John in attendance.

Apparently, Collari could hear people mention Merritt only so many times before he had to take the compliments to heart. When Collari signed on to help form Universal’s Americana boutique label, he made Merritt one of their debuts.

“When Lost Highway started, he took us along with him when he became the A&R (artists and repertoire) man,” she says.

Even though she’s become a rather sizable blip on the national radar, Merritt still remembers where she started.

“I used to live out in the country,” she says. “I’d be trying to get us gigs and the closest mailbox was at the general store in this tiny little town. [The mail carrier] would laugh at me because I’d come in with all these packages. He’d say, ‘What are you doing? You’re sending out more mail than the whole town of Bynum.’ “

But Merritt insists that wasn’t much of a feat, considering the puny population of the North Carolina village.

“It’s a town of, like, 200 people. I’d say, ‘Well, I’m in a band.’ He’d say, ‘I don’t believe you. Until you come around here and play in my store, I’m not gonna believe you.’ “

Merritt quickly put all doubts to rest and booked a show on the porch.

“So we started playing at the general store,” she says. “We still play there and our P.O. box is there. All our fan mail goes there. Jerry is an integral part of the operation,” she says.

What does Jerry have to say about Merritt’s transition from such auspicious beginnings?

“He said I better come pick up my mail,” she says. “He’s real proud of us.”

Even Merritt herself has to be impressed that she’s come so far so quickly.

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” she says. “I would venture to say on the whole that what has really changed with us is that we play music all the time — rather than doing our day jobs and playing at night.”

Not only are Merritt and her bandmates playing all the time — they’re also playing almost everywhere.

Even though she’s only been on the road for a few months, Merritt already has some favorite places and memories.

“I always like playing in Austin [Texas], because I get to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas,” she says.

Merritt says that a particularly memorable venue was a famous Amsterdam cathedral that had been remade into a concert venue.

“The Stones have played there — everybody’s played there,” she says.

Perhaps practice playing in formerly religious surroundings has prepared Merritt for her first show in front of the Maintenance Shop’s trademark stained glass on Thursday.

Merritt says she’s ready to make her trip into the dead center of the nation.

“This is our first trip to the Midwest,” she says. “We’ve played Chicago and Minneapolis before. But this is our first trip to the Heartland.”

Merritt says that although she’s only been on tour since June, she’s not one who gets road-weary easily. She plans on playing around the country for at least the next year.

“I haven’t been on the road for years and years and years,” she says. “So maybe you should talk to me then.”