In-Studio Performance: Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter, who has been dubbed one of the :100 Greatest Living Songwriters" popped into the WUMB air studio on October 14th to chat with Dave Palmater about his new album Sermon On The Rocks. He strictly played tracks from the record, including "Where The Night Goes", "Young Moses" and "Cumberland", in anticipation of it's October 16th release.

Sermon On The Rocks is much more lighthearted, fun and carefree than his previous releases. Describing the departure from his previous style Ritter says that he "realized that [he] didn't have to take things so seriously all the time".He feels that he is at a point in his career where he could start to keep all of his music sounding the same, but that was something he was afraid of. So he chose to experiment with his sounds instead and have the opinion of, "this song [may not] really be me but I'm going to finish it and maybe it will become something".

Ritter recorded the album in New Orleans and co-produced it with Trina Shoemaker who has worked with artists from Emmylou Harris to Queens of The Stone Age. He chose to record the Sermon On The Rocks in New Orleans because it was a place he had passed through on tour and wanted to stay. He rented a big house and brought his family and friends along with him, wanting to reflect New Orleans Culture, "Wanting to live in the bloodstream for a little while.

Dave asked Ritter which song from the  he would choose to play if only asked to play one. The album has strong themes of Autumn and heading back to where you came from, and for that reason he chose to close out the interview with "Homecoming". Josh Ritter is playing a sold-out show at The Sinclair tonight but he will be back in Boston this winter.

-Kendall Stewart