Everybody lies

posted on Saturday, March, 22nd, 2008 in current obsessions

The above is a quote from one of the songs of Josh Ritter. And I’m completely, absolutely in love with the guy! In a completely platonic way, but still…

I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but you can actually fall in love with someone just by listening to him sing. I know, because I just did.

Just ignore Letterman and listen to this song. Isn’t this guy just incredible?

Before one of his songs was included on the House Soundtrack I had never heard of Josh Ritter. (Yes, I do live in a cave.) When I heard that song, though, I knew I had to check out what else the guy has done. And what can I say? Blown away doesn’t even begin to cover it.

I downloaded his last 3 CDs and I have been listening to them ever since. They are from start to finish incredible – and, believe me, it’s a very rare occurence to hear me saying something like that!

His voice is not perfect, but it’s … real, for want of a better word. Actually, he reminds me a bit of Bruce Springsteen in that regard (he even covered one of my favorite songs of his – brilliantly, I might add). He sings with so much feeling and such sincerity that I couldn’t help falling for him. And that was before I ever saw him. I’d be hard pressed to say which song is my favorite, they are all so very good. And that’s not even counting the sometimes wacky lyrics, which are fantastic as well.

From the live album I listened to it sounds like his concerts are quite the party. He seems to really bond with his audience and even without seeing him I could hear that he has an amazing presence on stage. As luck would have it, he is just touring Europe. Tomorrow he does the last concert in the Netherlands, then he goes to the UK and does a couple of shows there before finishing off the tour back home in the US.

Now, there’s no way I can afford to fly to London or Leeds on such short notice, but I could drive to Groningen tomorrow… It’s only about 600 km after all. And even though I couldn’t find out how much the tickets are, at least it looks like the show is not completely sold out.

I could say this was providential timing, but of course in reality I can’t afford to drive all the way to the Netherlands just for a concert, either. The gas alone would come to more than 120 Euros. So I guess, for now I’m stuck with listening to the CDs and hoping he’ll do another tour next year. Ah crap, being a responsible grown-up really sucks sometimes!

But instead I did have some fun checking out everything I could find about the guy online. Not only did he turn out to be quite cute, he also has got a beautiful website. With links that grow little flowers when you move the cursor over them. Sweet. And you can download quite a few of his songs for free, how nice is that?

Then there’s a special fansite, where you can listen to his song “Good Man” – which featured on House - and also download the mp3. For free.

But wait, there’s more! Also on the fansite, there’s a page where you can download almost the complete setlist of a show he did at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles last March – just him and his acoustic guitar all alone on stage. Gave me goosebumps. He’s amazing. Have I mentioned how much in love I am with his voice?

And here you can listen to all the tracks of his newest album “The Historical Conquest of Josh Ritter”. Do yourself a favour and check it out (especially “To the dogs or whoever” and “Rumors”)!

The man really is awfully generous with his music. I hope there are enough people left who actually buy the CDs. I for one definitely will. You won’t hear that from me often, but some music is actually worth paying money for.