Recommended: The Magnificence of Josh Ritter

I’ve been meaning to write a post about Josh Ritter for a while, but was hoping to connect it to an album release or some other actual event.  But, since he’s not scheduled to release a new album anytime soon, I thought I’d just plunge in and tell you about him anyway.

First, I have to give credit to Andrew Hershberger here, as he’s the one who initially brought Ritter to my attention.  I’m not exactly sure what it was that led Andrew to send me one of Ritter’s songs a few years ago, but he was spot-on in assessing my musical tastes.  Josh Ritter is about as good as it gets, and I now feel compelled to share his goodness with you.

Since fans and music critics alike are completely unable to describe an artist without referencing other artists (”Oh, the Fleet Foxes?  Simply put, they kind of sound like Crosby, Stills and Nash; but also Bon Iver, and maybe with a little bit of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir — nay, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus — thrown in for good measure.”), you’re probably looking for that kind of analysis.  The most frequent comparison for Josh Ritter is Bob Dylan, since they are both folksy singer-songwriters who use vivid imagery in their songs.

It works, I guess, on a basic level.  But Ritter is his own artist.  In his six albums, we hear a wide variety of musical styles that’s impressive for someone who is still relatively young (he’s only 31).  He mixes traditional folk music with blues, southern soul, bluegrass and about nine kinds of rock music.  And this stylistic diversity, combined with his uncanny ear for storytelling, makes him a totally unique act. He’s able to craft complex, interesting lyrics that remain relevant.  It’s easy to write quirky nonsense lyrics that seem interesting (Beck has perfected this), but Ritter actually manages to create depth with his words.

My goodness, I am just gushing here.  And I’m not even being paid for it.  Let me try to get things under control.

In terms of where you should start, my personal favorite album of his is The Animal Years, his fifth release.  It’s his most consistent work, and probably the most lyrically interesting, mostly focusing on America as it is torn between religion and war.

His most recent release, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, is a bit more uptempo and rockable.  Is that even a word?  Rockable?  Whatever.  Writing music criticism makes my head hurt.

So that’s where you should start.  Get his two latest releases, and work backwards from there. I’ve even installed a nifty little widget at the bottom of the post that lets you preview one of his songs.  This song, Girl in the War, is among my favorite songs by Ritter.

For more previews, you can check out his MySpace page, which has a nice sampling of tunes.

There you go.  Now run along and have a nice weekend, fully equipped with the music of the greatest American songwriter since Bob Dylan!  Or Bruce Springsteen!  Or Buddy Holly!  Or Leonard Cohen!

What?  Leonhard Cohen was Canadian?  Scratch that.

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