Josh Ritter

Joshua Knight ( born October 27, 1976 in Moscow, Idaho ) is a singer and songwriter, who is currently seen as a major talent in the field of Americana.

Childhood / youth

Josh Ritter grew up as the son of two professors neurology together with his younger brother Lincoln a few miles outside the small college town of Moscow in the northwest of Idaho on. He played violin as a child, but had otherwise claims to little access to music since he was a few years too young to experience the musical explosion in the northwest around 1990 (grunge, Northwest bands ) aware. Only at 17, on a school trip to the state capital of Boise, he discovered the music of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, and came with one album of his new hero back home. A short time later he bought his first guitar and began to write songs for him a form of self-expression that had it not been in the sports- crazy high school available.

Motivated by the resident folk scene, he went to completion of high school to Oberlin University, Ohio, to study biology and pursue a similar career like his parents, but soon discovered that he with his guitar spent more time than with the study - under others, he belonged to the founders of Oberlin Folk festival. He drew the consequences and switched to folklore studies and similar subjects.

Early career

His professional musical career began Josh Ritter in Boston, Massachusetts at open mic nights, where everyone got a few minutes to sing his pieces. He was playing some Novelty Tunes, the still at concerts like demanded Mining song about a gold rush in Idaho who blows his partner in the air, or Stuck to You, a chant in the tradition of Johnny Cash's A Boy Named Sue the impossibility to unite science and love, but already plays the classics in his repertoire, like the ballad Potter 's Wheel now. 1999 was his self-written repertoire then large enough to accommodate a self misplaced album. Recorded at home in Idaho with the help of Zack Hickman (bass, organ, harp ), Tom Graves (cello) and Darius Zhelka (drums and Spooky Sounds) shows the simple Josh Ritter titled album a hopeful country-folk talent in the maturation and had stucco to you as Hidden Tune, which gives the only directly available to today in Dublin by the artist and every now and then about Road Records album among fans cult status. Zack Hickman still plays bass for Josh, while Darius Zhelka is now focused on its management and only now and then armed with a tambourine to enthusiastic audience response appears on the stage.

Ireland

Shortly before Christmas 2004 in Vicar Street in Dublin Josh Ritter Ireland spoke on the whole, and the band The Frames, in particular his thanks: "Thanks to you I was able to quit my day job and concentrate on the music." The Frames played in 2001 in Boston and their singer Glen Hansard saw Josh randomly at an open mic night and hired him as the opening act spontaneously for the next Ireland tour his band.

A short time later he published his first single Me & Jiggs from the album Golden Age of Radio at Independent Records in Ireland and Signature Sounds in the U.S. and, with it within a short time became a superstar in Ireland. His third album Hello Starling debuted at number two in the Irish charts and achieved gold status. In June 2004, he played at a packed Dublin Castle, a castle garden that holds nearly 10,000 spectators.

Josh's collaboration with The Frames stretches to this very day; it has its drummer Dave Hingerty lured her former member Dave Odlum Hello Starling has produced, and both Knight and The Frames tour now and then together.

The rest of the world

The world outside of Ireland pulls, mainly thanks to word of mouth on the street and on the internet, slowly. In the UK he played with Joan Baez, Continental Europe experienced Josh Ritter in 2004 in the opening act of the Irish singer -songwriter Damien Rice live for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, he played in midsize clubs and can now also Australia see him. So far were hard to get all of his albums outside of Ireland, but after Knight had signed with the label V2 in early 2005, Hello Starling was reprinted and published under the album The Animal Years.

Music

Josh Ritter is one of the exponents of country folk and primarily named Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as influences. Critics its acoustic instrumentation and lyrical texts are also often compared to Nick Drake, fans, however, tend to deny big similarities to his work.

He likes to quote live well, especially under the influence of Neil Young, the Hey Hey My My, he did with The Animal Years the step to electric guitar. The angry, almost ten minute protest song Thin Blue Flame by this album is such a big musical step forward, away from the traditional country singer, who impressed with romantic ballads, rural stories and Honkytonkstomps and towards the political songwriter who does not shy away from shock tactics to his mind to say.

Other artists like to work with Josh Ritter's pieces, the Irish singer and songwriter - and former Euro Vision participants - Mickey Harte and the great Joan Baez, who has gecovert on her album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar his ballad Wings. In addition, his music is heard on television, so served Come and find me from Golden Age of Radio as the final music for the entailment work of the American series Six Feet Under.

Albums

  • Josh Ritter ( 1999)
  • Golden Age of Radio ( 2001)
  • Hello Starling ( 2003)
  • The Animal Years ( 2006)
  • The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter ( 2007)
  • So runs the world away ( 2010)
  • The beast in its tracks (2013 )

Band

  • Zack Hickman ( bass)
  • Dave Hingerty (drums)
  • Sam Kassirer (Keyboard)
453988
de