JOSH RITTER: Hello Starling

Josh Ritter

Hello Starling

© 2003 Signature Sounds Recordings (701237128023)

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His is the rare type of songwriting: untouched by affectation, embroidered with a quietly plaintive voice and sparse melodies, and with words expressive of another time and place - intangible and idyllic, full of longing and nostalgia.

notes

Hailing from the small town of Moscow, Idaho, Josh Ritter's songs are a rare gift of natural, intuitive beauty. Born in the late '70s to two neuroscientists, Josh bought his first guitar from the local K-MART after hearing the Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash classic "Girl from the North Country." He began Oberlin College with the intent to follow in his parent's scientist footsteps, but instead, discovered songwriting and the music of artists like Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, and Leonard Cohen. He graduated and then moved east for its close proximity to historic folk clubs like Club Passim in Boston. On a shoestring budget he recorded his critically acclaimed break through album Golden Age of Radio in 2001 at various tiny, one-room studios on the East Coast.

In the fall of that year, Josh pressed up several thousand copies of Golden Age, which quickly sold and funded more touring. A copy found its way into the hands of Jim Olsen and Signature Sounds Recordings, and the record was released nationally in the US in January 2002. Critics called the modest album "stunning," "elegant," and "damn near perfect," landing Josh in the pages of Details, The New York Times, and Maxim. "Come and Find Me," the modest anthem of Golden Age, was featured over the end-credits of HBO's uber-hip series Six Feet Under, and several successful tours followed.

Meanwhile, at a Boston open mic that spring, Josh met Glen Hansard, the lead singer of The Frames. Hansard invited him to open a string of shows for the band in Ireland. Josh's career took flight in Ireland, buoyed by the single "Me & Jiggs," which entered the Irish Top 40 and helped gain Josh full blown cult status, complete with sold-out headline tours, late-night TV appearances, and his very own cover band in Cork. Josh ran the gamut at the Irish "Hot Press" Reader's Poll Awards, landing in the Top 5 for Best International Folk Act, International Male Songwriter, and International Male Singer, putting him in the company of Springsteen, David Gray, and Johnny Cash.

Josh would spend much of 2002 splitting his time between the US and Ireland, sharing bills with such eclectic artists as Beth Orton, Liz Phair, Damien Rice, and Joan Baez, as well as a celebrated appearance at the 2002 Newport Folk Festival. In the process, he garnered impressive acclaim not only for Golden Age of Radio but also for his richly textured and intimately engaging live shows. Publications like The Village Voice, The Washington Post, and The Irish Times scrambled to describe what made Josh's music so "stunning." Sold-out shows in New York, Boston, and Dublin, as well as a trip to the Sundance Film Festival kicked off 2003 in style.

In February of this year, rested, refreshed, and more than ready to make a new record, Josh entered Black Box studios in rural France with his touring band and Irish producer David Odlum (The Frames, Gemma Hayes) to record Hello Starling. Recorded and mixed in only 14 days in an old dairy barn in the French countryside, the thick stone walls, high ceilings, and vintage gear (much of it Curtis Mayfield's old equipment), made for a record which sounds conversational and honest and shimmers with a new-found confidence. The 11 songs on Starling retain the feel and flow of another era; these are catch-tunes and earnest lullabies that rekindle the warm glow of a young Springsteen or Leonard Cohen in both their literacy and honest enthusiasm. "Kathleen," a summer anthem about waiting around a party to drive a girl home, is a live favorite; "Rainslicker" moves and sways with all the dust-stained imagery of the Clientele; and the show-stopping beauty of "Baby That's Not All" suggests an artist at the peak of his new-found powers.

The legendary Joan Baez recently recorded "Wings," the haunting ballad at the center of Starling, for inclusion on her new album, placing Josh alongside artists such as Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, and Natalie Merchant.

reviews

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  • Hello Starling
    author: Karin Synnestvedt

    I love this CD. This is one of those rare CDs where virtually every tunes is great!

  • I'll be yours for a song
    author: Geonn Cannon

    Another great CD by Josh Ritter. There's no other artist out there (now that Warren Zevon has passed) who I absolutely positively have to get their whole discography. Josh Ritter is definitely worth having a "complete set."

  • Enchantingly wonderful
    author: Duncan

    This album will rank in coming history as one of the best folk album made.

  • Love it all! It's what I listen to when I just want to chill.....
    author: Kathleen

    I was originally hooked because of "Kathleen" since that is my name....then I listened to the other songs and decided to buy the CD. I love the Dylan influence, the music is great. I'm also into lyrics, and the songs really grabbed me and got me thinking.

  • Beautiful
    author: Mary

    Beautiful tunes, beautiful lyrics, beautiful instruments...just beautiful. A must-buy for anyone.

  • gorgeous cd
    author: dorothy

    This cd is gorgeous! Buy it! You will not be disappointed.

  • Josh brings the magic when he plays Live!
    author: Dawn Rachelle

    I got to see Josh play his hometown in Moscow, Idaho, the place that inspired a few of his songs, including Wings, and Me and the Jiggs on Golden Age. It was cool to hear him talk about places and towns that I knew, being from the area as well. He was so moving and inspiring, if I didn't have a smile plastered on my face I had tears in my eyes. Nothing on any of his albums compares to what you get from him live. He's got something special, there is no doubt about that!

  • Beautiful!
    author: Michele

    I don't think there's a song on this CD that I don't love (or at least LIKE ALOT). I heard Josh on a local radio station, looked him up online and immediately bought the disc. Flying down the highway with the top down on my convertible with "Kathleen" blasting will remain a wonderful memory of the summer of 2004. Thanks Josh!

  • Great lyrics and gentle guitar playing....a new favorite.
    author: Dori Pynnonen
  • I love it. Kathleen is a song you have to turn up loud!
    author: priscilla

    I heard Josh on the NYC radio station and said this is a c.d I have to have. Wonderful songwriter,singer. buy it

  • wonderful
    author: Nicolai

    This album is so wonderful, I really love Ritters songwriting.

  • author: dave

    josh ritter is an excellent song writer. this cd is haunting and beautiful. 'wings' is one of my favorites, but they are all great. every songs a gem. not since the days of dylans 'blood on the tracks' or r.e.m's 'green' have i wanted to listen to an album/cd over and over. thanks josh, stick to your guns and keep growing. i'm going to dig out all the lyrics i ever tried to write and use them as firestarters.

  • A lesson in the art of how to write simple but engaging songs
    author: John Parkes

    A little more polished than his last album but every bit its equal.Hello Starling wears its influences subtely but effectively.Once again shades of Dylan & Nick Drake's pastoral elegance.A splendid lesson in the art of writing simple & yet at the same time totally engaging songs.

  • A beautiful album in every way
    author: Anna

    Gentle melodies, toe-tapping tunes and the most divine lyrics make this album a brilliant follow-up to Golden Age. It's already one of my favourites. And CD Baby are the most thoughtful distributors I've come across - perfectly suited to Josh's approachable style.... many thanks

  • I love this CD. I haven't heard anything so great since 1966.
    author: Helen Foster
  • buy this album!
    author: maggie

    cohen meets dylan meets lightfoot. this album has some wonderful tunes. very mellow, and very easy to digest. this is not to say that the songwriting is simple, however, because ritter's lyrics are brilliant and timeless.

  • Vibrant folk music. It's time you discovered Josh Ritter.
    author: Adam G.

    I discovered Josh Ritter when he opened for Greg Brown in Rutland, VT. Josh is a great singer/songwriter and a funny and engaging performer. I highly recommend both Hello Starling, and Golden Age of Radio (I haven't heard his debut recording).

  • Love this album! I cant stop playing it.
    author: Catherine

    This is a great CD. I like every song. Cant stop playing it.

  • music makers, take a lesson from this young one
    author: Daviel

    Josh Ritter really expands his style with no disappointment. though the beautiful You Dont Make it Easy Babe stays close to home (ever heard of Bob Dylan?)...songs likeCalifornia, Bone of Song and Kathleen travel above and beyond. Still spitting out show stopping lyrics, I think this album marks a huge growth in Ritter's vocal and musical talent. Yes, yes!

  • The kid did it again
    author: Yael

    Although it has a slightly poppier sound than the first album, Josh ritter still has the power to melt me again and again. Delicious melodies, beautiful lyrics, he sings from a place with wings. Buy it, J-man does not disappoint. -also, CD baby should be supported as an awsome distributer.

  • Best album I've bought in years!!!
    author: Louise

    Wow! That sums this album up. I can't stop listening. It has amazing songwriting and lyrics. No words seem good enough to describe the songs or the delivery. Every song is a gem.

  • Timeless
    author: Bruce Lomet (CHINASKI)

    Timeless isn't a word to be tossed around lightly, but this album is IT. "Bone of Song" is one of most beautifully written and performed songs I have heard. Other favorites include, "Rainslicker", "Bright Smile" and "California", but there is no letdown in this album at all. After you buy this album, you might get a feeling that you didn't find this album, but rather it found you.

  • Nice album
    author: Casey

    Kathleen is a great song. I actually prefer this album to his first. I saw him open up for the Frames in Chicago in early 2003 and can't wait to see him again in Oct.

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