Josh Ritter Preps New Album ‘Gathering,’ Pens Essay for NPR
Brittney McKenna
Posted On July 19, 2017
Earlier this week, Josh Ritter shared a new song, “Showboat,” via NPR Music. Ritter fans should appreciate the new tune, which considers heavy topics like vulnerability and authenticity over crunchy guitars and a happy-go-lucky beat.
Along with the new track, he penned an essay (which you can also listen to him read aloud at the same link) about the process of writing his forthcoming album Gathering, which is slated for a September 22 release date.
“This record is the product of a strange and interesting time,” he writes. “When I started writing Gathering, I felt tired of living in the shadow of my earlier self, my earlier work — but more than discouraged, I felt charged with the possibility and the freedom of cutting myself loose from my own and others’ expectations. I began with an exciting sense of dissatisfaction, and what emerged, as I began to find my voice, was a record full of storms.”
Ritter also shared the album and single artwork, both of which he painted himself while writing songs for what would become Gathering. He worked on the album with his longtime Royal City Band and engineer Trina Shoemaker at the Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York. Bob Weir guests on the track “When Will I Be Changed.”
Gathering is the follow-up to Ritter’s 2015 album Sermon on the Rocks. No Depression will have a feature on Ritter in our forthcoming Winter issue.
Listen to “Showboat,” see the Gathering track listing, and check out Ritter’s upcoming tour dates below.
GATHERING TRACK LISTING
1. Shaker Love Song (Leah)
2. Showboat
3. Friendamine
4. Feels Like Lightning
5. When Will I Be Changed (feat. Bob Weir)
6. Train Go By
7. Dreams
8. Myrna Loy
9. Interlude
10. Cry Softly
11. Oh Lord (Part 3)
12. Thunderbolt’s Goodnight
13. Strangers
JOSH RITTER & THE ROYAL CITY BAND TOUR
October 22—Dallas, TX—Granada Theater
October 23—Birmingham, AL—Saturn
October 24—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse
October 25—Carrboro, NC—Cat’s Cradle
October 27—Boston, MA—House of Blues
October 28—Portland, ME—State Theater
October 29—New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel
November 1—Pittsburgh, PA—Mr. Smalls
November 2—Washington, DC—Lincoln Theater
November 4—Northampton, MA—Calvin Theater
November 5—Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer
November 8—Toronto, ON —Opera House
November 9—Chicago, IL—The Vic
December 2— Berlin, DE—Passionskirche
December 3—Nijmegen, NL —Doornroosje
December 4—Amsterdam, NL—Paradiso
December 5—London, UK— O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
December 6—Belfast, UK—Mandela Hall
December 7—Dublin, IE—Vicar Street (seated show)
December 8—Dublin, IE—Vicar Street (standing show)
December 10—Limerick, IE—Dolan’s
December 11—Cork, IE—Cork Opera House
January 12—Austin, TX—ACL Live at the Moody Theater
January 13—Houston, TX—Heights Theater
January 15—Tucson, AZ—Rialto Theater
January 16—San Diego, CA—Belly Up
January 17—Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
January 19—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
January 20—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
January 24—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom
January 25—Seattle, WA—Neptune
January 26—Spokane, WA—Knitting Factory
January 27—Boise, ID—Knitting Factory
January 29—Denver, CO—Ogden
January 30—Lawrence, KS—Liberty Hall
January 31—Minneapolis, MN—Fitzgerald Theater
February 16—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium
