Josh Ritter

We went to see him in concert tonight, which was about the last thing I should have been doing on a frantically busy work day.

It was the right choice. The show was awesome.

The opening act was Dawn Landes, who along with a drummer and a bass player delivered one great song after another. She was good enough that I'd be happy to see a show with her as the headliner, and I will definitely buy some of her CDs. (Later, Ritter mentioned that they were married.)

Setting up for Ritter and his band took a lot longer than should have been necessary, but once they hit the stage, I forgot the wait almost immediately. I have never seen a performer who seemed so genuinely happy to be up there singing. I was never bored, never found a song dull, and loved almost all of the music. What I didn't love, I liked a great deal.

If he comes to your area, don't miss him.

As part of the encore, he played one of his songs that I particularly love, "Snow Is Gone." Check it out.



One of my favorite lines in this song is this one:

I’m singing for the love of it—have mercy on the man who sings to be adored

As I watched him on the stage, I realized that I need to allow myself to love more the things I do. I've spent a lot of my life tamping down my passions, because I lacked the control to let them out without also letting out the sometimes related anger, but maybe I have that control now. Dunno. I'll be pondering this topic for a while.

I am sure that I write for the love of it and not to be adored, and that makes me happy.