Josh Ritter
Words: MacKenzie Pause
Photo: Ray Gordon

Appearing:
March 9, 2008
Langerado Music Festival, Big Cypress Indian Preserve

Josh Ritter approached the microphone with his guitar ready. The cameras took their places as the lights and sound made last minute adjustments. While Ritter's stance showed a poise and confidence needed for a national television performance, his smile showed a humility endearing to anyone. That smile has become a well known trait of the native Idahoan singer-songwriter's performance, and he definitely has a lot to be happy about.

On January 22, Ritter and his band took the stage of the historic Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to start 2008 off with their second appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. As the new year begins on a high note for the eclectic performer, 2007 sent Ritter touring the U.S. and Europe in support of his latest release on Sony, The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter.  While comparisons vary from Dylan to Springsteen, Ritter shares elements of the greats, but creates his own style through storytelling and unabated orchestral compositions that will satiate any cravings for ingenuity.

As Letterman held up the vinyl Conquests album to introduce the singer/songwriter, the same smile that brought Ritter to this late night moment in his music career almost lent itself to the world of neuroscience.

"My parents are both neuroscientists," Ritter began. "I thought that I would be, too. Music and science are so closely related. I think a good musician is a good scientist. They'd rather cut themselves away from the normal rules of thinking. They want to do something that nobody else ever had. Looking back, it's easy for me to understand why I was going to do science. It fulfilled all those sorts of feelings. It's just that I wanted music more." 

Choosing music led Ritter to Oberlin College where his self-designed degree in American History through Narrative Folk Music played a large role in the path his writing would take.

"In every age of historical moments songs come out that have lasted," Ritter began. "One thousand years before that there were just people writing songs about stuff that happened to them. That's just what they did. Every social movement transfers them like that, so it's great to learn about it. It also makes you feel kind of calm on the days when you start to freak out about things. This stuff went on long before you were alive and it will go on long after you are gone. The only thing we can really hope for is that someone will remember one rhyme of yours and use it somewhere down the line." 

Longtime friend Kate Filanowski will remember more than just a rhyme. To help in her battle with breast cancer, Ritter put together Songs For A Friend, two sold out solo performances in Boston, combined with an Ebay auction campaign to raise money for her growing medical costs.  The fans showed their support by purchasing autographed items and even a chance for Zack Hickman, Ritter's bassist, to serenade the winner with Nessie the Tuba, a sousaphone shaped like the Loch Ness Monster. The creative concept has gained support from friends and fans alike.  

"It's rare that you find something that you can do that has an immediate effect," Ritter said. "There was support from people all over the world that don't even know her. These are people that have never met her, but they helped. I'm just so proud of everybody."

Although Ritter still performs solo on occasions like Songs For A Friend and the Aimee Mann Christmas Show, he has taken on a full backing band. Zachariah Hickman (bass, guitar, tuba and heavy lifting), Liam Hurley (drums, percussion and yelling), Sam Kassirer (piano, keys, accordion and weird sounds) and Austin Nevins (guitar) give Ritter's songs profound depth, as well as an intense live performance.

"Playing with the band gives you the confidence to really step out and use your voice in a whole bunch of different ways," Ritter said. "The band is watching you, and they want you to do well. They are sort of spreading this net under you and no matter what happens, they'll pick you up. That's really important for someone to feel that. There are a number of times every night that you're just really going for it, then you go in a different direction, and they are right there. I think that's something you get from lots of practice and lots of bad sandwiches in dressing rooms."

Whether or not the sandwiches were tasty in the Letterman dressing room, the band proved their camaraderie as they tore through a vivacious performance of "To the Dogs or Whoever." Millions of viewers witnessed Ritter's charisma through the fast-paced folk rock song and the raw energy he shares with his band mates. 

Ritter's style continues to evolve with each album. His narrative lyrics give another layer to his musical storytelling, so it's not surprising to find out he is working on a novel.

Ritter said: "Right now, I'm thinking a lot about the voice, and a whole bunch of different stories. I spend a lot more time thinking about stories, thinking about the person behind the song. What's this character singing about? Do I even need a character? A lot of songs now don't even have characters. The singer is implied to be the character, and I always thought that is something that has sort of crept in. Some of my favorite stuff right now is by people who retain a character. I love Lupe Fiasco. He sings about different people. He has a song about skateboarding. Can you imagine a hard hip hop guy singing about skateboarding with his girlfriend? It gives you something to latch on to besides emptiness."

Galileo once said that man's worst deception is his own perception. In the world of some self-loathing singer-songwriters, this idea seems to translate into the verbal vomiting of songs that read more like diary entries. Ritter, however, steps outside his skin and into character.

With so many songwriters popping up all the time, it can be hard to tell the dilettantes from the innovators. Josh Ritter, in contrast, creates something new. Maybe it's his lineage from neuroscience, his major in American History through Narrative Folk Music, or just the natural ability to compose well written folk songs.

Catch Ritter, his band and maybe even Nessie at the Langerado Music Festival March 9.

joshritter.com