Josh Knight

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Josh Ritter 2008

Joshua Ritter (born October 21, 1976 in Moscow , Idaho ) is an American singer and songwriter from the Americana area.

Childhood / youth

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

Motivated by the local folk scene, after graduating from high school, he went to Oberlin University, Ohio , to study biology and pursue a career similar to his parents, but soon discovered that he was spending more time with his guitar than with his studies - under among other things, he was one of the co-founders of the Oberlin Folk Festival. He drew the conclusions from this and switched to folklore studies and similar subjects.

Early career

Josh Ritter began his professional musical career at open mic nights in Boston , Massachusetts , where everyone was given a few minutes to sing their pieces. He then played some novelty tunes, so that even today like demanded even at concerts Mining song over a gold mining in Idaho who blows his partner into the air, or Stuck to You , a chant in the tradition of Johnny Cash's A Boy Named Sue on the impossibility of combining science and love, but also pieces that have become classics in his repertoire such as the ballad Potter's Wheel . In 1999 his self-written repertoire was large enough to record a self-published 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), the long player simply titled Josh Ritter shows a hopeful country- folk talent in the process of maturing and had Stuck to you as Hidden Tune, which gives the album , which is still only available directly from the artist and now and then via Road Records in Dublin , cult status among fans. Zack Hickman still plays for Josh Bass today, while Darius Zhelka now concentrates on his management and only occasionally appears on stage armed with a tambourine to enthusiastic audience reactions .

Ireland

Shortly before Christmas 2004 in Vicar Street in Dublin, Josh Ritter Ireland as a whole and the band The Frames in particular expressed his thanks: "Thanks to you I was able to give up my job and concentrate on the music." The Frames played in 2001 in Boston and her singer Glen Hansard happened to see Josh at an open mic night and spontaneously hired him to open up his band's next tour of Ireland.

A short time later, his first single Me & Jiggs from the album Golden Age of Radio was released on Independent Records in Ireland and Signature Sounds in the USA and, where he quickly became a superstar in Ireland. His third album, Hello Starling , entered the Irish charts at number two and went gold. In June 2004, he played in the sold-out Dublin Castle, a palace garden that holds just under 10,000 spectators.

Josh's collaboration with The Frames continues to this day; he poached her drummer Dave Hingerty, her former member Dave Odlum produced Hello Starling , and Ritter and The Frames tour together every now and then.

The rest of the world

The world outside of Ireland is slowly catching up, thanks largely to word of mouth on the streets and on the internet . In Great Britain he played with Joan Baez , Josh Ritter experienced continental Europe for the first time live in 2004 in the opening act of Irish singer and songwriter Damien Rice , in the USA and Canada he plays in medium-sized clubs and now Australia can see him too. So far, all of his albums have been hard to come by outside Ireland, but after Ritter signed with the V2 label in early 2005, Hello Starling was reissued and the album The Animal Years was released.

music

Josh Ritter is one of the exponents of country folk and mentions Johnny Cash , Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as influences. Critics also like to compare his acoustic instrumentation and lyrical lyrics to Nick Drake , but fans tend to deny any great similarities with his work.

Most likely under the influence of Neil Young , whose Hey Hey My My he likes to quote live, he made the step to the electric guitar with The Animal Years . The angry ten-minute protest song Thin Blue Flame from this album means such a big musical step forward, away from the traditional country singer, who impresses with romantic ballads, rural stories and honky-tone kstomps, and towards the political songwriter, who doesn't shy away from shock tactics to speak his mind.

Other artists also enjoy working with Josh Ritter's pieces, such as the Irish singer and songwriter - and former Eurovision participant - Mickey Harte and the great Joan Baez , who covered his ballad Wings on her album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar . His music is also heard on television, for example, Come and Find Me by Golden Age of Radio served as the closing music for the episode Relationship Work in the American series Six Feet Under .

Albums

  • Josh Ritter (1999)
  • Golden Age of Radio (2001)
  • Hello Starling (2003)
  • The Animal Years (2006)
year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US
2007 The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter US79 (2 weeks)
US
2010 So Runs the World Away US41 (5 weeks)
US
2012 Bringing in the Darlings US122 (1 week)
US
EP
2013 The Beast in Its Tracks US22 (2 weeks)
US
2015 Sermon on the Rocks US49 (1 week)
US
2017 Gathering US88 (1 week)
US
2019 Fever breaks US89 (1 week)
US

Backing band

  • Zack Hickman (bass)
  • Dave Hingerty (drums)
  • Sam Kassirer (keyboard)

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Josh Ritter on IMDB
  2. ↑ Josh Ritter in the US charts (Billboard)
personal data
SURNAME Knight, Josh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ritter, Joshua (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow , Idaho , United States