Merrie Ruth Amsterburg (born in March 1960) is an American singer-songwriter born in Ludington, Michigan, United States. Her music has folk, rock, and pop influences. She has won two Boston Music Awards, a Boston Phoenix Award, and a Jam Magazine Award. She uses several instruments in her songs, including the guitar, the trumpet, the mandolin, the Indian banjo, the bouzouki, the harmonium, and even a 1970s Kenmore washing machine. Prior to her solo career, she was the guitarist and singer for The Natives and Miss Understood.