Scott Ritcher (born September 27, 1969) is an American magazine publisher, graphic designer, musician, and politician from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Magazine

Ritcher is the publisher of ''K Composite Magazine'' and runs a small publishing house, also called K Composite. The magazine contains interviews of his friends and other people who are not famous. The publication has been featured in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', and on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio (NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial issu ...

''.

Music

Ritcher is the former proprietor of the Slamdek Record Company, which released early recordings by influential

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

bands, including

Endpoint An endpoint, end-point or end point may refer to: * Endpoint (band), a hardcore punk band from Louisville, Kentucky * Endpoint (chemistry), the conclusion of a chemical reaction, particularly for titration * Outcome measure, a measure used as an e ...

Rodan is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film ''Rodan'', produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous ent ...

Jawbox Jawbox is an American alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1989 by J. Robbins (vocals/guitar), Kim Coletta (bass), and Adam Wade (drums). After the trio released the album ''Grippe'' in 1991, Bill Barbot (guitar/vocals) join ...

, and Ritcher's own bands, Sunspring and Metroschifter. The label's first release was a cassette tape by the synthesizer band Pink Aftershock in 1986, and its last was a Sunspring retrospective CD in 1995. Slamdek pressed 44 different records during its nine years in business. Sunspring reunited on May 14, 2010, to play a benefit concert for Jason Noble of

and

Rachel's Rachel's were an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist Jason Noble played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with core members violist C ...

. Ritcher's first solo album, ''Scott Ritcher'', was released in 1999. ''Nashville Geographic'' followed in 2001. In 2016, he issued the EP ''Simple Orbits'' and his latest, ''The Kentuckian'', came out in 2019. Discography * ''Scott Ritcher'' (1999) * ''Nashville Geographic'' (2001) * ''Simple Orbits'' (EP – 2016) * ''The Kentuckian'' (EP – 2019)

Politics

In 1998, Ritcher entered politics as the Reform Party's candidate for

Mayor of Louisville The history of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as a city is considered to have started on February 13, 1828, the date of the first city charter. From the time of its first organization as a village, on February 7, 1781, until its incorporati ...

. Though he spent only $1,000 on the campaign, Ritcher had a respectable showing at the polls and finished third of four candidates. Ritcher announced his candidacy in early 2008 as an independent candidate for

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...

from District 35. A controversial lawsuit brought by the Democratic incumbent, Denise Harper Angel, eventually disqualified Ritcher from the race. Angel's suit alleged that some of the signatures gathered on Ritcher's ballot petition were those of voters living outside the lines of Kentucky's State Senate District 35, and therefore inadmissible. Reporting on the verdict, the political site ''Page One Kentucky'' published the entire court order and noted, "while votes for Ritcher will no longer be counted, the court still backs Ritcher's honesty by plainly stating that the district boundaries that create the 35th Senate District are confusing."

Other activities

In 2008, the Louisville ''

Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...

'' reported that Ritcher's company K Composite "has completed the sale of its

social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

site EggFly.com to a startup company, Ikimbo 2.0 of

Radnor, Pennsylvania Radnor is a community located approximately 13 miles west of Philadelphia, in the Main Line suburbs. It straddles Montgomery and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. The community was named after Radnor, in Wales. Radnor is home to Cabrini Universi ...

." According to the bio on his campaign website, Ritcher has been a contributor to '' LEO'', '' Velocity Weekly'', ''

College Music Journal CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'', and public radio's ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

''. He has also appeared as a newspaper photographer in the 1999 film '' The Insider''. Ritcher moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 2009 and now holds dual citizenship there and in his native United States. The musician has appeared in a number of television commercials, including advertisements for

Nordea Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a European financial services group operating in northern Europe and based in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the successive m ...

, Boxer, and Direkto, with

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. Gustafsson currently competes in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA ...

References

External links

*
''This American Life'' episode #128: "Four Corners"

''K Composite Magazine'' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritcher, Scott 1969 births Living people Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Singers from Kentucky Rock musicians from Kentucky American graphic designers