Josh Ritter: On making music, weathering storms, and returning to Ireland

“Everyone with six strings and the truth is out here,” laughs Josh Ritter, speaking from a busy cafe in Nashville, where he is attending the Americana Music Festival & Conference.

A cheery chap when he answers the phone to your Hot Press correspondent, Josh immediately quickfires a round of questions at me before I can get in any of my own. He’s enquiring about his beloved adopted home of Ireland, and emphasising how excited he is to get back there this Christmas.

When Josh does return in November, he’ll be touring in support of his new album, Gathering. Embracing a wide range of styles, Ritter’s ninth studio album is his most accomplished yet.

“I think that after releasing Sermon On The Rocks back in 2015, a change happened,” he says. “I kind of realised that I had gone as far I could with a certain voice, and that I really needed to strike out and find another one. I knew there was something out there that I was trying to find, so I just had to stare into an empty page and make it happen. I worked really hard at that. I recorded dozens of songs, and winnowed them all down to what I felt was a cohesive voice that would resonate.”

How would Ritter describe that voice?

“In a word – upheaval. I was dealing with so much change in my life, and there’s so much upheaval in the world we live in. Most people will know that I’m not drawn to writing of-the-moment songs, but no matter what happens, the present always seeps into the record.

“This period of time that we’re living in is so strange and filled with such tumult. I feel like if you’re writing honestly, you’re allowing yourself to be open to the things in the world that will influence you – and it’s impossible not to be influenced by this crazy time. I feel like the storms, the confusion and the mania on the record are a product of the current period we live in.”

That sense of tumult went beyond the songwriting process; it allowed Josh to switch up his normal routine in the studio.

“With Sermon On The Rocks, I went in with my hands very tightly on the wheel,” he admits. “I knew exactly what I wanted to hear and, I’ll be the first to admit, it wasn’t a democracy in the studio! But on this record, I was so excited to hear what everybody else had to say. I was working with my good friends in the Royal City Band, and they encouraged me to go in some directions which wouldn’t have been immediately obvious to me. I brought in a lot of tracks and I would play them a certain way, but I’d be thrilled to hear if somebody else in the band had an entirely new way of thinking about the song.”

Notably, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir appears on ‘When Will I Be Changed’, Gathering’s stand-out number. Ritter’s relationship with the iconic songwriter allowed him to examine his own place in American music.

“Working with Bob Weir taught me that I had to stay as open as I possibly can,” he reflects. “He’s someone who’s been a part of music history – in bright, shiny, capital letters – for five decades. His music is in the real bloodstream of the things that musicians do. Just getting to spend time with him, working with him and learning from him, was such an honour.”

The legacy of American artists like the Grateful Dead, as well as John Prine and Bob Dylan, runs through Ritter’s albums. But the singer is still humble when he speaks about his chance encounter with Glen Hansard and The Frames at the start of his career – a meeting that brought Josh to Ireland and kickstarted his remarkable journey. Now, it’s all coming full circle.

“I’ll be playing Vicar Street on the 15th anniversary of the first time I ever played that venue,” says Josh excitedly. “I treasure every chance I get to play in Ireland. It’s such a touchstone for me, a reminder of who I am, what I’m doing, and why I continue to do it. It’s a special place and it always will be.”

Gathering is out now. Josh Ritter plays Mandela Hall, Belfast on December 6; Vicar Street, Dublin (7 & 8); Dolan’s, Limerick (10); and Cork Opera House (11).