''Josh Ritter'' is the debut album by American singer-songwriter
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...
. It was self-released in 1999.
Humorous
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
-inspired songs such as "Hotel Song" and "Stuck to You" evoke comparisons to
John Prine
John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...
, while ballads "Letter from Omaha" and "Leaves and Kings" seem inspired by
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
and
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, whom Ritter frequently cites as influences.
Three versions of this album have been pressed; a digipak in 1999, followed by a jewel case package in 1999, then a digipak again in 2008. Superficially the 1999 and 2008 digipaks are similar, but the interior artwork and disc art differ among all three versions.
Track listing
All songs written by
Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...
.
#"Leaves and Kings" – 3:26
#"Beautiful Night" – 2:42
#"Hotel Song" – 2:08
#"Paint Your Picture" – 3:41
#"Angels on Her Shoulders" – 3:21
#"Morning Is a Long Way Down" – 3:30
#"Potter's Wheel" – 3:20
#"Letter From Omaha" – 3:09
#"Last Ditch Effort (See You Try)" – 3:11
#"Paths Will Cross" – 3:02
#"Pretty Polly" – 3:52
#"Horrible Qualities" – 11:25 (contains bonus track "Stuck to You")
Personnel
*Josh Ritter –
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
, guitar, piano
*Zack Hickman – bass, organ,
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
*Tom Graves – cello
*Darius Zelkha – drums, "spooky sounds"
References
External links
Josh Ritter official websiteLyrics
{{Authority control
Josh Ritter albums
1999 debut albums
Self-released albums