Biography
Ritter was born in
Moscow, Idaho, in 1976, to two neuroscientists. At age 14, after hearing a copy of
Johnny Cash and
Bob Dylan’s “
Girl from the North Country” owned by his parents, he 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". At the age of 21 Josh recorded his first album
Josh Ritter
at a recording studio on campus. 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 moving to Providence, Rhode Island, then Somerville, Massachusetts where he worked temporary jobs and played at
open mic nights. During this time, Ritter sold copies of his album and was spotted by
Glen Hansard and his band
The Frames, who invited him back to Ireland. 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 eventually 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 album
Golden Age of Radio
for $1000 and self-published it. The album was recorded in three different studios: Soundgun in Philadelphia, Electric Cave in New Hampshire, and a friend's basement studio.
[2] While promoting
Golden Age of Radio
, he met Jim Olsen, head of independent record label
Signature Sounds, who offered to remaster and rerelease the album 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 and
Ron Sexsmith headlined the Friday night Singer-songwriter event at the Hotel Viking at the 2004
Newport Folk Festival. He also appeared at
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 a British 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]
On April 7, 2009 Josh Ritter reissued his second album
Golden Age of Radio
as a two-disc Deluxe Edition. The first disc contains the complete original studio album. The second disc contains solo acoustic versions of the original tracks, b-side and remixed tracks, and two music videos.
[5]
On May 9th, 2009 Ritter married fellow musician
Dawn Landes in Branson, MO.
Discography
Albums
- Josh Ritter
(1999, self-released)
- Golden Age of Radio
(2000, re-released January 22, 2002, Deluxe Edition 2009)
- Hello Starling
(September 9, 2003)
- The Animal Years
(March 20, 2006 in UK, April 11, 2006 in U.S.)
- In the Dark - Live at Vicar Street
(November 24, 2006, Ireland only)
- The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
(August 21, 2007 in U.S., October 1, 2007 in UK)
EPs
- Me & Jiggs EP
(2002, Ireland only)
- Come & Find Me EP
(2002)
- 4 Songs Live EP
(February 22, 2005)
- Good Man EP
(August 18, 2006, Ireland only)
- Girl in the War EP
(August 29, 2006 on iTunes, November 27 2006 in UK)
- Live at The Record Exchange EP
(January 30,2007)
- Live at the 9:30 Club
(April 19, 2008)
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)
- "Lillian, Egypt" (May 29, 2006, UK single)
- "Wolves" (July 25, 2006, promo only)
- "Mind's Eye" (October 15, 2007)
- "Right Moves" (December 17, 2007)
- "Empty Hearts" (March 31, 2008)
- "Real Long Distance" (May 5, 2008)
Other contributions
- ''Sweetheart: Love Songs (2004, Hear Music) - "Tonight You Belong To Me, featuring Blake Hazard"
- Acoustic 05
(2005, Echo) - "Kathleen"
- Acoustic 07
(2007, V2 Records) - "Girl in the War"
See also