[Vision2020] Josh Ritter to Play Rendezvous in the Park

Tue Mar 17 17:02:58 PDT 2009

Here's a New York Times review from last spring of a concert that Moscow's own Josh Ritter performed in New York with classical violinist Hilary Hahn.   Carl Westberg Jr.
April 14, 2008
Music Review | Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter

Performers Simpatico, but Parallel

By STEVE SMITH

	 “Good evening, I’m Hilary Hahn,” the singer-songwriter and guitarist Josh Ritter said from the stage of the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
on Saturday. Scruffy and slightly rumpled despite his suit and tie, Mr.
Ritter didn’t try to disguise a sense of wonder at his surroundings.
“This is like storming the gates of irony,” he said.

At his side was Ms. Hahn, an accomplished classical violinist who
has recently made a concerted effort to reach new listeners in
nightclubs and bookstores that normally cater to indie-rock and folk
crowds. Here she reversed the concept, reasoning that a classical
audience might prove receptive to Mr. Ritter’s work. The
standing-room-only crowd seemed evenly divided between his admirers and
hers.

Too often, efforts to build bridges between classical and pop
audiences amount to dire musical hybrids that sell both genres short.
But Ms. Hahn chose her partner wisely. Mr. Ritter, a keen student of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Paul Simon,
combines erudition with abundant wit, mixing Peter and Paul of the
Gospels with Laurel and Hardy in the song “Girl in the War,” for
instance, without sounding pretentious. 

For much of the evening the two traveled on parallel tracks, Mr.
Ritter’s original songs countered by Ms. Hahn’s compelling accounts of
solo works by Nielsen, Bach and Ysaye. Their paths crossed when Mr.
Ritter sang the folk ballad “The Last Rose of Summer” and Ms. Hahn
responded with Heinrich Ernst’s staggeringly virtuosic set of
variations on that song, and again when her performance of Ernst’s
fantasy on Schubert’s “Erlkönig” was followed by his “Oak Tree King,” a
savvy vernacular recasting.

When they dipped into each other’s territory, both proved fully
capable. Ms. Hahn improvised lovely solos during several of Mr.
Ritter’s songs. In an encore, Mr. Ritter cautioned classical guitarists
to note the exits before he accompanied Ms. Hahn in a movement from a
Paganini duet, which he read from a music stand. He needn’t have
worried: his instrumental skills were more than equal to the task.

> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> From: thansen at moscow.com
> Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:41:57 +0000
> Subject: [Vision2020] Josh Ritter to Play Rendezvous in the Park
> 
> Courtesy of today's (March 17, 2009) Moscow-Pullman daily News and Omie 
> Drawhorn . . .
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------
> 
> OMG!! The line up for this year’s Rendezvous in the Park was just 
> announced and I was ecstatic to see that Moscow’s own Josh Ritter will 
> take the stage. I was introduced to Josh’s music shortly after moving to 
> Moscow three years ago, and have seen him twice: once at the University of 
> Idaho’s University Auditorium and the other time in Boise. We made the six-
> hour plus drive on a Saturday and returned to Moscow on a Sunday, but it 
> was well worth it. Josh’s accoustic performance of tracks from 2006’s 
> Animal Years in Moscow and his rockin’ performance that included music 
> from his latest CD “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter” had me 
> itching for a return hometown performance. And here it is…. Once tickets 
> go on sale, I am so there….
> 
> Did I mention he sticks around after each show to meet all his fans? Very 
> exciting!
> 
> Oh, and here is the rest of the line up……
> 
> Ritter returns to Moscow for summer Rendezvous
> Organizers of Rendezvous in the Park, Moscow’s annual summer concert 
> series, have announced this year’s festival lineup. 
> 
> The series will take place July 16-18 in East City Park on Third Street in 
> Moscow.
> 
> Singer-songwriter Carrie Rodriguez will open the festival on July 16. A 
> Brooklyn, N.Y.-based fiddler, Rodriguez recently released her second 
> album, “She Ain’t Me.” In December, she was honored by the Roots Music 
> Association as “Songwriter of the Year” in the folk category. Her Web site 
> is:
> 
> www.carrierodriguez.com
>  
> JJ Grey and Mofro will continue the concert series on July 17. From the 
> Jacksonville, Fla., area, Grey and his band, Mofro, perform funk, soul, 
> blues and rock. Their Web site is:
> 
> www.mofro.net
>  
> Finally, Moscow native Josh Ritter will return to his hometown on July 18 
> to bring the festival to a close. Ritter released his fourth full-length 
> album, “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter,” in 2007. His Web site is:
>  
> www.joshritter.com.
>  
> --------------------------------------------------------
> 
> "Absence" by Carrie Rodriguez
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws5vIZSROzc
> 
> "She Ain't Me" by Carrie Rodriguez
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON_P4rQQHHE
> 
> "Everything Good is bad" by JJ Grey and Mofro
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up5Yepoy9gc
> 
> "Lochloosa" by JJ Grey and Mofro
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2nO8KfdYk8
> 
> "Idaho" by Josh Ritter
> http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Idaho_Josh_Ritter.mp3
> 
> "Temptation of Adam" by Josh Ritter
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvCeCVmJAUA
> 
> Seeya at the Rendezvous, Moscow.
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>  
> Join us at The First Annual Intolerista Wingding, April 17th, featuring 
> Roy Zimmerman and Jeanne McHale.  For details go to . . .
> 
> http://www.MoscowCares.com/Wingding
>  
> Seeya
> there.
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
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>            http://www.fsr.com/
> 
> 

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