Josh Ritter (solo w/string quartet)
Josh Ritter is huge in Ireland. He was performing to 1000 people a night there before he ever had a record deal back in the States. Which makes complete sense when he attributes that success to his friendship with Glen Hansard of the Frames (and the movie Once). When his career was first getting off the ground, Ritter toured Ireland several times a year, supporting the Frames or headlining his own shows. The musical affinity between the two bands is unmistakable. Ranging from hauntingly poignant to raw and rollicking, Ritter’s songs get under your skin in much the same way Hansard’s do.
Ritter’s music appeals to smart listeners, as you might infer from a slogan that recently showed up on some of his merch: “Rock and roll with a lot of words.” If that description makes you think of Bob Dylan, John Prine, or Bruce Springsteen, you’re on the right track. Comparisons are inevitable when you’re coming up as a musician, and these names are tossed around a lot to describe Ritter’s sound. Not bad company.
Ritter has reinvented himself several times over, both in his approach to his individual albums and in his path through life. He calls Brooklyn home these days, but was born and raised in Idaho, the son of two neuroscientists. Ritter was himself studying neuroscience at Oberlin before being smitten with the grand tradition of folk music. At the fateful moment he decided he could drop his day job to try to make it as a full-time performing musician, he was working in a baby clothes factory in Rhode Island.
Touring has always been the engine driving Ritter’s career, with somewhere between 100 and 150 shows a year, and 2009 is no exception. Along with a packed schedule of fully orchestrated festival appearances, stripped-down intimate sessions, and everything in between, he’ll soon be back in the studio working on his next release. JOELLE JAFFE
