New music from Josh Ritter - Spectral Lines comes out tomorrow (4/28)!

ALWAYS a good day when the music of Josh Ritter is involved!

One of today’s most thoughtful and prolific voices, Ritter has released ten studio albums including 2019’s widely acclaimed, Fever Breaks, of which NPR Music praised, “He remains a hydrant of ideas while embodying an endless capacity for empathy and indignation, often within a single song.” In addition to his work as a musician, Ritter is also a national best-selling author, having released two novels to date: 2011’s Bright’s Passage and 2021’s The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All, for which the film rights have recently been optioned for development. Released to critical attention, Stephen King wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Bright’s Passage “shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime…This is the work of a gifted novelist.” High praised (& deservedly so) indeed!

For fans like myself, Josh's music requires two phases of listening - First, I devour the record from start to finish a few times just to get a sense of the tone, the musicality, and the superb production values his works always bring. Second, I dive in deeper - Paying closer attention to the lyrics as he truly is one of the more literal singer-songwriters out there & his gift of turning just the right phrase or choosing his words to so wisely that they enhance the final result. It's truly an astonishing / enjoyable thing to experience.

In celebration of this new record, Ritter and his band, the Royal City Band, will be running through our area no less than THREE TIMES in the next few weeks to perform tracks from this project as well as play some fan favorites.

He'll start things off NEXT week on Tuesday night, May 2nd, by kicking off the Non-Commvention at World Café Live in Philadelphia. That's a tough ticket to get since he is appearing along with Nickel Creek and Natalie Merchant, but those performances are also supposed to be simulcasted on WXPN (88.5 FM), so you can always listen along.

Your second opportunity comes on Saturday, May 6th when Josh & the Royal City Band roll into nearby Reading to perform at the Miller Center for the Arts. That show will be more extensive than his Philly gig since he'll be headlining that show.

The last chance to see the gang will be as the historic (& acoustically wonderful) Keswick Theatre in Glenside on Thursday, May 18th. Bonus points for that show as the equally incredible Amythyst Kiah will be opening that show & those two talents, at one venue, promises to be a magical, unforgettable evening of music - I, for one, CANNOT wait!

For more info on all of this stuff, click onto www.joshritter.com or check out the two videos from the new record that I have posted below...