Josh Ritter

Born in Moscow, Idaho, in 1976, Josh Ritter emerged around the turn of the 2000s as a folk and Americana singer-songwriter, balancing acoustic ballads with reserved rock. After a self-released debut in 1999, he drew attention with "Golden Age of Radio" (2001, reissued 2002) and developed a dense narrative style on "Hello Starling" (2003) and "The Animal Years" (2006). For a time based in Boston and often associated with the American indie and Irish scenes, he and his band The Royal City Band crafted concerts that mix intimate songs with more electric arrangements. Albums such as "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" (2007), "So Runs the World Away" (2010), "The Beast in Its Tracks" (2013) and "Sermon on the Rocks" (2015) continued his story-driven writing, marked by religious imagery and snapshots of everyday life. Ritter has collaborated notably with Jason Isbell, who produced "Fever Breaks" (2019), and has written for other musicians including Bob Weir. With "Gathering" (2017) and "Spectral Lines" (2023) he pursues a modern folk vein blending country, pop and rock influences, while also maintaining a parallel career as a writer and solo performer.