Folk ON Folk: Josh Ritter

Welcome to the first edition of Folk ON Folk! That is, the coverage of folk music by a local folk musician, myself. I hope to bring awareness to more people of Wisconsin's importance in the broader story of folk music, and specifically Madison's place as a hotbed for local folk music, as well as being a great tour stop for more established folk artists.

What is folk music? I have a very broad definition of the term, and in fact, probably broader than most. To me, folk music can be electric, folk music can be played with a band, and folk music can have a disco backbeat if it wants to. Folk music is about the songs and the words, and in my opinion the test of a "good song" is if it can be reduced to the simplest form and still capture attention (example: acoustic guitar and voice, or perhaps a bazouki and voice if thats your thing). I guess by this definition we could take a song like "Baby One More Time" by Brittney Spears and reduce it to acoustic guitar and voice and it would sound like crap, the shoddy writing would be exposed without any of the "studio magic" to hide it. On the contrary, if you've ever heard Sun Kil Moon's acoustic take on Modest Mouse songs you will know that there is some crafty writing going on in that rock band, and Modest Mouse stripped down could indeed qualify as "folk music". Am I going to be reviewing a Modest Mouse show ever? Probably not, though they do kick ass. The focus for now will be on "folksingers", the traveling troubadours that hone their craft in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Stephen Foster, and going all the way back to the middle ages and before, to the folksingers who were just unfortunate to live before a time when recorded music could keep their names around. Enough babble and explanation of the rules, the first such troubadour is Josh Ritter.

Folksinger or rockstar? Josh Ritter definitely makes the argument that one can be both, and why not? He came out with a full band, and extra guitarist, keyboardist, drummer and bassist (with one exceptional moustache I might add). Armed with an electric guitar (gasp!) the band jumped right into a rocker of a tune, I believe it was one off of the new album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. I haven't actually gotten around to picking up this album yet, but am still enjoying my copy of The Animal Years thoroughly, and will have to get the new one now too. After a few electric songs Josh traded his axe for an acoustic guitar, performing some of my favorites, such as "Wolves" and "Monster Ballads". I must admit, that even after making the case for electrified folk music, I do prefer the sound of an acoustic guitar. My favorite part of the show, in fact, was about 5 or 6 songs in when the band departed and it was simply Josh Ritter and an acoustic guitar. It was amazing how intimate he could make the High Noon Saloon feel, even though it was a sold-out and anxious crowd, with his solo versions of "Here at the Right Time" and his cover of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel #2" (a favorite cover choice at my own performances as well). One moment the crowd had been rowdy, dancing and drinking, and the next moment they were completely silent, as if they had melted into a 10 person crowd at a small coffee shop show. My favorite song of the night was one off of the new record that I was unfamiliar with. "The Temptation of Adam" is a SONG, dig? I know there are songs and then there are songs and then there are SONGS, the kind you wish as a songwriter that you had written. Its a song about love in a missile silo during or after WWIII, pure genious:

"I think about the Big One, W.W.I.I.I.
Would we ever really care the world had ended
You could hold me here forever like you're holding me tonight
I think about that great big button and I'm tempted"

After a few more rowdy band tunes they left the stage and Josh Ritter returned solo for "Girl in the War", the song that originally pulled me into his material. Again, the crowd was silent and the lights dimmed low, the intimacy propelling the simple song to new heights in the ears of this listener (I'd honestly gotten a bit sick of the song after hearing it too many times, but was redeemed this night). Finally the band came back for one last rocker, "Lillian, Egypt", which I had hoped that they would do. Josh Ritter is one weird dude, telling a story in the middle of the song about Swedish immigrants traveling across the Pacific Ocean on a quest to "wagons east" across America until settling in Wisconsin and planting the seed of disco, upon the telling of which the band broke into a disco groove to finish out the song with the "la la la la" audience sing-along chorus.

Josh Ritter truly is a rockstar... and a folksinger, and he proved both equally at the High Noon Saloon. He had a smile on his face the entire time, and genuinely seemed to love Madison. Here's hoping that means he'll be back again real soon!

p.s. Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture above, I forgot my camera at home!