Traveling Companion was also released as a bonus album to the deluxe and expanded editions of Tift Merritt's acclaimed album Traveling Alone. It was recorded in 2013 at Brooklyn’s Mason Jar Music studio with guitarist Eric Heywood (Son Volt, Jayhawks) and features 10 previously unreleased acoustic tracks that are among the best Merritt has ever recorded. There’s a genuine immediacy to the acoustic format that brings out the best in Merritt’s vocal talents, and her covers of Tom Waits’ “Train Song” and Joni Mitchell’s “For Free” are honest and compellingly done. “Traveling Alone,” “Drifted Apart," and “To Myself” from Traveling Alone come ever closer into view, with Merritt’s every vocal curl adding intent and meaning. It’s a chance to hear her as if she were performing an acoustic show in your living room, with no crowd to distract you from the discipline and beauty of “Country Cemetery” and “Real Good on My Own” (which she surely is).