Cheerful, slightly autistic Idahoan Ritter is a singer songwriter’s singer songwriter. Rolled into a renovated DMH for a Friday night. Refinished interior with removable seats, the Hall is morphing into a go-to midsize venue with good acoustics and sight lines. I’ve seen Ritter several times, at SCSU with Jamie Cullum, at some church in Westport with his female companion of the moment, on a double bill with The Low Anthem at Toads, his hyper-bubbliness was historically off-putting for me. On this evening, I was able to get a fuller picture as to the nature of his internal ecstasy IV. Autistic has entered my observations, his speech gets ahead of himself, his effusive praise for his band mates ( that “put up” with his style) is not off-putting, but endearing when viewed in this light. Makes sense when you read that Ritter gave up neuroscience in favor of music. For twenty years he has made solid recordings packed with thoughtful lyrics and deft song craft. On this evening he is joined by piano/accordionist and lead guitar/pedal steel. Ritter stayed with acoustic guitar, his wide-eyed intersong banter further supported my “on the spectrum” claim. The set pulled from all aspects of his career including a recent Jason Isbell produced slab recorded in New Orleans. Ritter wore a pink floral suit that looked like it was fashioned from upholstery ripped from a south Florida loveseat. Josh told a story about his Idaho homestead which he purchased because it had a lo-fi subterranean writing room. The near capacity crowd was rapt and constant touring has snowballed a decent fan base. Closed with his signature hit “Kathleen” that had most audience members belting out the anthemic lyrics.
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