Josh Ritter and Thoughts

I was fortunate to be able to see two Josh Ritter shows in Nashville this past Friday. That’s right, two shows in one night! If you enjoy good songwriting and a contemporary approach to “folk-rock,” and haven’t already heard of Josh Ritter, then I would recommend checking him out. He has been getting a lot of national attention lately and Friday night showed why.

He played a short set by himself at Grimey’s, and for those of you not in the Nashville area, Grimey’s is one of the coolest record stores I have ever been to. The store was packed and Josh seemed genuinely happy to be playing to his devoted fans. Afterwards, we rushed over to wait in line at the Exit In for the main event, where Josh and his band played one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

Every once in a while I go to a show and I’m reminded (not that I ever forget) why I love music so much. Not only did he sound great, but Josh was charismatic, told stories, thoroughly enjoyed himself, and actually interacted with the audience. I know, audience interaction should be a no-brainer right? But I’ve been to shows where the artist just stands on the stage, puts in their 75 minute contractual obligation and basically just goes through the motions. Josh seemed to truly appreciate the fans who support him.

And not to distract further from the live music (which was really the best part of the show), but Josh also had some really unique merch available as well. In addition to the usual t-shirt/CD/poster fair, he was selling songbooks with chords and lyrics as well as stationary with phrases from different songs on each piece. I haven’t seen either of these items sold at any artist’s show before. I especially liked the song book, which would make a great gift for musicians (hint, hint, for any family and friends reading).

After the show I was thinking about what a great time I had and came to the following conclusion: no matter what the future has in store for the music business, there will always be a place for talented artists like Josh Ritter who 1) write their own songs, 2) play their own instruments, 3) play great in the studio and on the live stage, 4) respect and appreciate their fans, and 5) work hard. Take a look at Josh’s current fall tour schedule to see how busy he and the band are on the road.