Americana musician Josh Ritter will release his new album, I Believe in You, My Honeydew, September 12 via Thirty Tigers (pre-order/pre-save here). Ahead of the release, his new song, “You Won’t Dig My Grave,” is out now. Listen/share HERE.
The songs on Honeydew are songs for my Muse, my invisible and blinding companion of long-standing. I hope it enjoys them. I hope that it experiences a bit of what it’s like to be human, a bit of what it’s like to be lonely, scared, uncertain, joyful, righteous. I believe in you, my honeydew.”
I Believe in You, My Honeydew follows Ritter’s 2024 release Heaven, or Someplace as Nice, which he recorded with legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and his acclaimed 2023 full-length project, Spectral Lines.
Throughout his decades long career, Ritter has released 12 albums and earned the respect of countless music legends, with artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Bob Weir having performed and recorded his songs.
Ritter worked with frequent collaborator/producer Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Langhorne Slim) as well as live group, the Royal City Band: Kassirer (piano, organ, synthesizer, accordion), Zachariah Hickman (acoustic and electric bass, thumb piano, mandolin), Rich Hinman (guitars, pedal steel, mandolin) and Ray Rizzo (drums, percussion).
Of the project, Ritter shares:
“I lived in the woods when I was a kid. I used to believe (and maybe I was right) that I could walk out of our front door, across the gravel road and, pointing myself north, I could walk to Canada, never once leaving the tree line. Wonder was a temple with no walls, and the Muse was still just a ripple in the ponderosas.
I felt no fear. I’m 48 now. Decades have passed. There have been times I felt my inspiration, my Muse, had passed along with them. And then, not too long ago, I decided that instead of waiting for the Muse to write me a song, I would write the Muse a song instead. I started referring to my Muse as my Honeydew. And this album was born.
The songs on Honeydew are songs for my Muse, my invisible and blinding companion of long-standing. I hope it enjoys them. I hope that it experiences a bit of what it’s like to be human, a bit of what it’s like to be lonely, scared, uncertain, joyful, righteous. I believe in you, my honeydew.”
Ritter will tour starting in August. Tickets will be available for pre-sale starting June 11 at 10:00am local time with general on-sale June 13 at 10:00am local time. A portion of the proceeds from pre-sale tickets sold via joshritter.com will be donated to Immigrant Defense Project. Pre-sale sign up and full details can be found at www.joshritter.com.
I Believe in You, My Honeydew follows Ritter’s 2024 release Heaven, or Someplace as Nice, which he recorded with legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and his acclaimed 2023 full-length project, Spectral Lines.
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.”
TRACK LIST:
1. You Won’t Dig My Grave
2. Honeydew (No Light)
3. Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)
4. Noah’s Children
5. Wild Ways
6. Thunderbird
7. Kudzu Vines
8. I’m Listening
9. The Wreckage of One Vision of You
10. The Throne
2. Honeydew (No Light)
3. Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)
4. Noah’s Children
5. Wild Ways
6. Thunderbird
7. Kudzu Vines
8. I’m Listening
9. The Wreckage of One Vision of You
10. The Throne
TOUR DATES:
August 9—Three Rivers, PEI—Cloggeroo Festival (solo show)
August 10—Truro, NS—Marigold Cultural Centre (solo show)
August 20—Westport, CT—Levitt Pavilion*
August 21—Portland, ME—State Theatre*
August 22—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground*
August 23—Easthampton, MA—Arcadia Folk Festival
August 24—Lowell, MA—Lowell Summer Music Series*
November 1—Rochester, NY—Concerts at Beston Hall
November 2—Grand Rapids, MI—St. Cecilia Music Center
November 3—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
November 4—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre
November 6—St. Louis, MO—The Sovereign
November 7—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
November 8—Minneapolis, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
November 9—Des Moines, IA—Hoyt Sherman Place
November 12—Pittsburgh, PA—Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
November 13—Washington, D.C.—Lincoln Theatre
November 14—Philadelphia, PA—Keswick Theatre
November 16—New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel
August 10—Truro, NS—Marigold Cultural Centre (solo show)
August 20—Westport, CT—Levitt Pavilion*
August 21—Portland, ME—State Theatre*
August 22—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground*
August 23—Easthampton, MA—Arcadia Folk Festival
August 24—Lowell, MA—Lowell Summer Music Series*
November 1—Rochester, NY—Concerts at Beston Hall
November 2—Grand Rapids, MI—St. Cecilia Music Center
November 3—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
November 4—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre
November 6—St. Louis, MO—The Sovereign
November 7—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
November 8—Minneapolis, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
November 9—Des Moines, IA—Hoyt Sherman Place
November 12—Pittsburgh, PA—Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
November 13—Washington, D.C.—Lincoln Theatre
November 14—Philadelphia, PA—Keswick Theatre
November 16—New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel
No comments:
Post a Comment