I went to see Josh Ritter today! It was a jam-packed WXPN Free-at-Noon show. And it was fabulous!
Josh Ritter has been around for a while. He's 40 years old, with a bunch of successful albums to his credit. And today he released a new album called Gathering. The song that XPN is featuring from Gathering is a song called Showboat. I first heard Showboat, which is a very catchy pop-like tune, on the radio several weeks ago, and it made me realize that, although I knew a little about Josh Ritter, I really didn't know his music well at all. So I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this new album. And, after today's Free-at-Noon concert, I'm a big Josh Ritter fan.
Josh is a happy fella. Wearing all black, but not acting dark at all, Josh smiled thoughout the show and pranced around the stage, singing songs from his new album. Some upbeat rockers. A (self described) cowboy song. And some spiritual ballads. Josh's four member band (a lead guitarist, a bassist, a keyboard player, and a drummer, along with Josh's acoustic guitar) were outstanding. And the whole show, as pretty much required for a show that's being live broadcast on the radio, was very well choreographed. What was supposed to be a 30-minute set turned into a well-received 50 minute free show for XPN members (and a few others).
Showboat would be a great song to feature. But, if you listen to WXPN, you'll hear it (and, if you don't listen to XPN, you can buy Showboat or find it on Spotify). So today let's feature a song that is one of the spiritual ballads that Josh played today. It's called Thunderbolt's Goodnight. And it's beautiful. So here's a "Lyric Video" of "Thunderbolt's Goodnight," and here is a live performance of Josh doing "Thunderbolt's Goodnight" last year at a show in Cleveland.