Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author from Moscow, Idaho. He performs and records with The Royal City Band under the name Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, and is associated with americana, contemporary folk, folk, folk rock and singer-songwriter music.

Background

Born in 1976, Ritter starts out at Oberlin College planning to follow his parents into science, but instead turns to songwriting. He grows up with two neuroscientists as parents and buys his first guitar from a local K-Mart after hearing Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash’s “Girl From The North Country”. After graduating, he moves east to be closer to historic folk venues such as Club Passim in Boston.

Career

Ritter records his breakthrough album, Golden Age of Radio, on a shoestring budget in 2002 at a number of small one-room studios on the East Coast. He develops his sound across later releases and issues a run of albums and EPs, including Josh Ritter, Hello Starling, The Animal Years, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, So Runs the World Away, The Beast in Its Tracks and Sermon on the Rocks, as well as several live and EP releases.

Recognition

In 2006, Paste magazine names Ritter one of its “100 Greatest Living Songwriters”. His writing is noted for its narrative style and for its distinctive Americana sound.

Side project

He is also listed as a member of The Cake Sale.