Josh Ritter a singer/songwriter who has been getting rave reviews around the world, was all smiles Sunday night as he played to an adoring hometown crowd at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre in Moscow.
Ritter, 27, the son of Robert and Sue Ritter of Moscow, kept the capacity crowd laughing with his anecdotes and thoroughly entertained with his music.
Songs at Sunday's show ranged from one Ritter said was the first song he ever performed "professionally" -- at a Rotary Club picnic in Moscow -- to "Wings" from his 2003 album "Hello Starling," which since has been recorded by Joan Baez.
Besides providing the opportunity to visit friends, family and former classmates, the stop in Moscow allowed Ritter to introduce the other three members of his band to local fans.
Ritter performed in Moscow at the 2002 Rendezvous in the Park festival, but he didn't have his band with him. He was joined Sunday by Zack Hickman on bass, Sam Kassirer on keyboards and Dave Hingery on drums.
Ritter is in the middle of what legitimately can be called an international tour, with dates in the United States, Canada and Europe.
The tour started in New Brunswick, Canada, at the beginning of September. Following a short break, Ritter will continue the tour with a Tuesday show at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, Ore., and a Wednesday show at Neumo's in Seattle. The band will then make its way down the West Coast with shows in Eugene, Ore., San Francisco, San Diego and Hollywood.
The tour moves across the Atlantic in November with a dozen shows scheduled in Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom. The band then will do a quick run of shows down the East Coast of the United States before returning to Ireland for three shows to close out the tour.
In December, Ritter intends to knock off for about a month or so to work on songs for the band's next album, scheduled to be recorded in January.
Change of plans
Ritter attended Oberlin College in Ohio following high school, but the urge to become a professional musician soon became too much to ignore. He called one day and told his parents he was more interested in music than college.
"I told him 'if you're really more interested in music, what are you doing studying chemistry and biology?'" Robert Ritter said.
A few years later, the Ritters gave the same sort of advice to Josh's younger brother, Lincoln, who is now 23. After high school Lincoln began studying at a music conservatory, but later decided he was more interested in computer science. He is now working toward a Ph.D. in computer engineering at the University of Washington.
"Josh was one of those guys who could do anything," said Melissa Kleinert, a Moscow music teacher and a friend of the Ritter family. "He chose music and he seems to be very talented."
Old music
Ritter, who studied classical violin for 14 years, became interested in what his father referred to as "old music" when he was in high school.
"We had an old record collection from when we were in high school," Robert said. "Josh just started listening to some of our old records, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash. When he started listening, we started listening to them more."
It's not only "old music" that offers Ritter inspiration. He's an avid reader who says the writings of Phillip Roth and Mark Twain as well as things he sees in his travels have influenced his song writing as much as Bob Dylan.
In fact, the first song of Josh's that his parents remember was one he wrote about the Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti after learning about them in history class.
"After that, the songs just started pouring out of him," Robert said.
"He started writing about everything that happened in his life," added Sue.
Sue said that while she always liked "Beautiful Night," from a self-produced CD Josh made while attending Oberlin College, it's difficult to pick a favorite among her son's songs.
"I just can't. It depends on my mood," she said. "Depending on the place I'm at, the images in a particular song might be quite poignant."
At Sunday's concert Ritter introduced his song "Me and Jiggs," from "Golden Age of Radio," as "a song about painting your name on a water tower in a town that might be Moscow."
After Ritter decided to pursue a music career, he realized he didn't have many role models, his father said. That didn't stop or even slow him much, however. When the son of Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary visited Oberlin College, Ritter sought him out to talk to him and later even visited him at his home in New York. He also traveled to Seattle to talk to folk singer Heidi Muller.
"We've really come to realize that Josh is a very courageous person," Sue said. "He's been willing to go out on his own and explore possibilities."
She said she was "spellbound" watching her son perform on Sunday.
"I was pleased because I could really see he enjoyed what he was doing."
Even with his ever-growing recognition and critical acclaim, Ritter says his primary objective remains "making sure it's staying really fun."
For those who saw Ritter perform Sunday night there was no question he was having fun.
"It's an amazing job," he said in a recent interview. "There are times you just thank your lucky stars."
* For more information about Ritter or to order his music, look on the Web at .
Alan Solan can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 235, or by e-mail at .
