Henry Merit
New Ep, Life the Way I Want it, Out now
Henry Merit is a singer/songwriter from the North Shore of Boston, MA, now based in Nashville, TN. Self- proclaimed as the “long lost emo Beatle,” Merit plays a blend of folk rock and indie pop, mixing catchy choruses with confessional lyrics. His sound draws to mind artists such as Elliott Smith, the Beatles, and the Shins. Beginning his career at the age of 9, Merit played lead guitar in the rock band, Black Diamonds. In the band’s eight year existence, it released two EPs and played Boston venues such as House of Blues and the Hard Rock Cafe. The band earned the Guinness World Record for the World’s Youngest Professional Rock Band. As a solo artist, Merit has played Boston mainstays such as The Middle East Upstairs, The Jungle, and Midway Cafe, as well as appearing at clubs in as far as Nashville, Denver, New York and Los Angeles. His intimate debut EP, Highly Influenced, was released in 2018, followed by, Box on the Ear, in 2019. Merit reemerged with his single “Starting Over” in January 2022, followed by the single, “Frank,” in May 2022. The upbeat song was produced by Boston music scene veterans Dan Nicklin and Nate Leavitt at Henley Row. His latest single, “Suburbs,” was described as a “buttery-smooth scoop of suburban melancholy” (617 Reviews). Produced by singer-/songwriter Robert Harrison (Cotton Mather, Future Clouds and Radar) in the Texas Hill Country, the song completed a coming-of-age trilogy of singles. In the fall of 2022, Merit toured the eastern United States, kicked off by playing at the Lovelane Hoedown, headlined by Barenaked Ladies in Wayland, MA, and ending in Austin, TX. A new EP, Life the Way I Want It, was released on April 12th, 2024.