Renowned singer, songwriter, musician, artist and best-selling author Josh Ritter will continue his headline tour this fall with newly confirmed shows at Dallas’ Longhorn Ballroom, Houston’s Heights Theater, Austin’s Paramount Theatre, Los Angeles’ The Belasco, San Francisco’s The Fillmore and Seattle’s Moore Theatre among others. Ritter will be joined on the road by his longtime band, The Royal City Band. Tickets for the new dates go on-sale this Friday, May 12 at 10:00am local time. Full details can be found at www.joshritter.com/tour.
Additionally, Ritter is currently in the midst of his spring headline tour, which includes shows this month at Chicago’s Thalia Hall (sold out), Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, Washington, DC’s Lincoln Theatre, Boston’s House of Blues and New York’s Beacon Theatre. See below for complete tour itinerary.
The upcoming performances celebrate Ritter’s new album, Spectral Lines, which was released last month to critical acclaim via Thirty Tigers (stream/purchase here). Produced by his longtime collaborator Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Langhorne Slim), Spectral Lines finds Ritter expanding beyond the bounds of his previous work to create a record both atmospheric and profound. Dedicated to the memory of his mother, Ritter searches for commonality across these ten seamless tracks by exploring life’s most universal ideas—love, devotion and what it means to be connected, to both each other and to ourselves.
Critical acclaim for Spectral Lines:
“one of the most perceptive artists making music today…with Spectral Lines, Josh Ritter continues to blur the boundary between melody and mystique”—American Songwriter
“Josh Ritter is like a more open-hearted version of Leonard Cohen. His lyrics draw on the divine but he seems to see a little heaven in all the people around him”—Paste
“Spectral Lines stands as a heady revelation”—PopMatters
“a hopeful tapestry that encourages listeners to sit with each other in introspection, but not to forget to sing along”—No Depression
“His most adventurous album yet”—The Irish Times
“Richly atmospheric, sonically adventurous”—The Sun
“a thought-provoking sonic realm. Full of relaxing space and translucent melodies, Ritter seeks the profound in simple elements”—Nashville Lifestyles
“It stands well apart from any of his previous works...a symphony with subtle treasures, both musically and lyrically, within the movements”—Glide
“a powerful but quiet, highly-atmospheric set of songs; a set focused on life’s most difficult questions”—Americana Highways
“Primarily, this is an album that exalts the power of shared human experiences”—Hot Press
“The album never shies away from pain, from demanding tears to finding love to be an unwelcome sacrifice, but it also never fails to face it”—Spectrum Culture
“The melodic first track is driven by hopeful spoken-word lyrics that ultimately yield to Ritter’s signature vocals”—Cool Hunting
Adding to an already notable year, Bob Dylan performed Ritter’s song, “Only A River,” last month while on tour in Japan. The song was originally recorded by Bob Weir for his acclaimed 2016 solo album, Blue Mountain. Of the cover, Ritter shares, “I am speechless. I wrote the song in the stairwell of my dorm in college, 25 years ago. Music is a blessed traveler.”
One of today’s most thoughtful and prolific voices, Ritter has released ten studio albums to date including 2019’s widely acclaimed, Fever Breaks, of which NPR Music praised, “He remains a hydrant of ideas while embodying an endless capacity for empathy and indignation, often within a single song.” In addition to his work as a musician, Ritter is also a national best-selling author, having released two novels to date: 2011’s Bright’s Passage and 2021’s The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All, for which the film rights have recently been optioned for development. Released to critical attention, Stephen King wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Bright’s Passage “shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime…This is the work of a gifted novelist.”
In addition to Ritter (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar) and Kassirer (piano, organ, mellotron, synthesizers, drums), Spectral Lines also features Jocie Adams (clarinet, synthesizers, background vocals), Matt Douglas (woodwinds), Zachariah Hickman (upright bass, electric bass), Rich Hinman (electric guitar, pedal steel), Shane Leonard (drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass), Kevin O’Connell (drums, percussion, electric bass, electric guitar) and Dietrich Strause (acoustic guitar, electric guitar).
SPECTRAL LINES TRACK LIST
1. Sawgrass
2. Honey I Do
3. Horse No Rider
4. For Your Soul
5. Black Crown
6. Strong Swimmer
7. Whatever Burns Will Burn
8. Any Way They Come
9. In Fields
10. Someday
JOSH RITTER CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
BOLD on-sale this Friday, May 12 at 10:00am local time
May 9—Charlottesville, VA—Jefferson Theater*
May 10—Munhall, PA—Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead*
May 12—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall* (SOLD OUT)
May 13—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium*
May 14—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse*
May 16—Durham, NC—Carolina Theatre*
May 17—Washington, DC—Lincoln Theatre*
May 18—Glenside, PA—Keswick Theatre*
May 19—Boston, MA—House of Blues*
May 20—New York, NY—Beacon Theatre*
June 1—Park City, UT—Egyptian Theatre+
June 2—Park City, UT—Egyptian Theatre+
June 3—Park City, UT—Egyptian Theatre+
June 4—Park City, UT—Egyptian Theatre+
June 6—St. Louis, MO—City Winery+
June 7—St. Louis, MO—City Winery+
July 27—Portland, ME—Thompson’s Point^
July 28—Burlington, VT—Waterfront Park Concert Series^
August 12—Lyons, CO—Rocky Mountain Folks Festival*
September 29—Dallas, TX—The Longhorn Ballroom*
September 30—Houston, TX—The Heights Theater*
October 1—Austin, TX—The Paramount Theatre*
October 2—Santa Fe, NM—The Lensic*
October 4—Tucson, AZ—The Rialto*
October 5—Solana Beach, CA—Belly Up*
October 6—Los Angeles, CA—The Belasco*
October 7—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore*
October 10—Portland, OR—Revolution Hall*
October 11—Seattle, WA—Moore Theatre*
November 4—Groningen, NL—Take Roots Festival
*Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band
+Josh Ritter solo acoustic
^supporting Gregory Alan Isakov
