One of Josh Ritterโs fondest memories from years of touring unfolded in Tucson a dozen years ago.
The folk-pop singer was in the middle of a headlining show at Solar Culture downtown when he spotted Joan Baez in the audience. She was apparently in town visiting a friend and popped in to see Ritter in actionโshe had hosted him as her opener on a 16-city European tour earlier that year.
After the show, Baez and Ritter went outside the small club near the railroad tracks on East Toole Avenue.
โThere was a train rolling by โฆ and she said, โThe next train that comes by weโre going to smash pennies.โ So we did that and then she left like a dream into thin air,โ he recalled during an early December phone call from home in Brooklyn, New York.
But she left Ritter a gift, โa big, huge bottle of bourbonโ that she put on his tour bus.
โAnd it said โFrom Joan Baez, THE Famous Folk Singer.โ She had capitalized it,โ he said with a laugh. โThatโs the best thing that could happen anywhere.โ
Ritter might be tempted to take another stab at penny smashing on the Tucson rails when he and his Royal City Band take the stage at the Rialto Theatre on Sunday, Jan. 17.
He comes here with โSermon On the Rocks,โ his critically acclaimed months-old album. We asked Ritter about the album and the show.
Channeling the female perspective through his songs: โIt started with (the third cut on the album) โHenrietta, Indiana.โ I always imagined the narrator as a girl. โฆ I thought, โThis is interesting.โ Iโve never had an experience before where I decided I was going to carry through. And when I went to record the record it just felt really good to do (narrate some of the songs from a female perspective). It felt like a demarcation I had never crossed before. I liked it; it was cool.โ
Chapters of a much larger book: โItโs almost a directionless journey that has these flashes of color in it. So much of the record has mountaintops in it. I always imagined there is an eye in my mind that dilates and thatโs where the images come from.โ
The evolution of โSermonโ: โWhat I tried to do on my record is let the songs be the songs. Donโt try to refine them to a certain point where they are bloodless.โ
Letโs be honest โ itโs all about his fun: โI just made a record and designed the shows so I could have fun. This is the first time I ever realized that oh, man, Iโm 39. I should be having the most fun I can possibly have with my music. And I really feel like thatโs as close to an artistic statement that I can have.
โThis is the most fun I have ever had. I am so excited about this band. They are tearing down the barn. They are not even burning it.โ
