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| Instrument = [[Acoustic guitar]], [[electric guitar]], [[piano]]
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| Genre = [[Folk]]
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Revision as of 22:21, 29 August 2008

Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter born in Moscow, Idaho on October 21, 1976.

Biography

Ritter was born in Moscow, Idaho in 1976, the son of two neuro-scientists. At age 18, after hearing a copy of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan’s “Girl From The North Country” that Josh's parents owned, Josh attempted to write songs on a lute that his father had built, before abandoning the lute and buying his first guitar at K-Mart.

Ritter began writing songs as a teenager, while still teaching himself to play the guitar. He attended Oberlin College to study neuroscience, but later changed his major to the self-created "American History Through Narrative Folk Music". While attending Oberlin College, Josh recorded his self-titled debut Josh Ritter at a recording studio on campus, at the age of 21. After graduating, Josh moved to Scotland to attend the School of Scottish Folk Studies for six months [1]. Josh then moved back to Idaho for a few months, before deciding to move to Providence, Rhode Island, where he worked temporary jobs by day and played at open mic nights in the evenings. During this time, Ritter sold copies of his self-published debut. As an early sign of his success to come in Ireland, Ritter found on a trip to Ireland that his album sold particularly well at open mics there. With the money from merchandise sales, Ritter was able to quit his day job and devote himself to music full-time.

A year and a half after recording Josh Ritter, Ritter recorded his second albumGolden Age of Radio for $1000 and self-released it. The album was recorded in 3 different studios: Soundgun in Philadelphia, Electric Cave in New Hampshire, and the basement studio belonging to a friend. [2] Josh was in the process of promoting Golden Age of Radio when he met Jim Olsen, head of independent record label Signature Sounds, who offered to remaster and rerelease Golden Age of Radio after hearing Ritter play. The song "Me & Jiggs" was subsequently released as a single in Ireland, where Ritter was quickly becoming a word-of-mouth success, first opening for The Frames, then headlining his own shows. Ritter's third record, Hello Starling, which was produced by Dave Odlum, a former guitarist for the Frames, reached #2 on Irish charts.

His style is in the tradition of folk music and ballads. He is influenced by the lyrics of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Leonard Cohen, and the works of Mark Twain.

Ritter appeared at the 2002 Newport Folk Festival, Oxegen 2005, and has headlined with artists such as Joan Baez, who later released her own version of Ritter's song "Wings" on her album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar. He was signed by an American label, V2 Records, in 2005 and Hello Starling was subsequently re-released. He began performing and touring in a crossover duo with the classical violinist Hilary Hahn in 2005.

Ritter's fourth album, 2006's The Animal Years, and fifth album, 2007's The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, each received a warm critical reception.[3][4]

Ritter is touring this summer, including a stop at The Electric Picnic in Ireland on August 30th.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

  • "Hello Starling (Snow Is Gone)" (May 31, 2004, UK single)
  • "Man Burning" (2004, Ireland promo-only single)
  • "Thin Blue Flame" (2005, U.S. promo-only single)
  • "Girl in the War" (April 11, 2006, US promo-only 7-inch)
  • "Lillian, Egypt" (May 29, 2006, UK single)
  • "Wolves" (July 25, 2006, U.S. promo-only single)
  • "Right Moves" (October 15, 2007, UK single)
  • "Mind's Eye" (January 2008, Irish single)

See also

References

  1. ^ Interview with Triste Magazine
  2. ^ dreamsawake.com - Interview - Josh Ritter
  3. ^ Metacritic page for The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
  4. ^ Metacritic page for The Animal Years


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