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BEAST IN THE WILD

Event:                Josh Ritter

Date:                  Friday, November 22, 2013
Time:                 8 p.m.
Where:              Pollak Theatre, Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ
Sponsored By: Monmouth University’s Center for the Arts
Cost:                  $25/$35/$45 Contact Box Office for information on group rates
Box Office:       www.monmouth.edu/arts  or call 732-263-6889
Contact:            Eileen Chapman at 732-571-3512
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ (August 2, 2013) – The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University announced today that tickets are on sale for a November 22 concert starring singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. Scheduled for 8 p.m. on the stage of the Pollak Theatre, it’s an exciting addition to the 2013-2014 Performing Arts Series that brings Ritter to campus as part of his Fall 2013 Acoustic tour of the eastern US and Europe.
Those unfamiliar with the prolific musician and writer might be surprised to learn that one of the most critically hailed “emerging” singer-songwriters of our time can claim a deep vein of work that dates back nearly 15 years. Or that one of Ireland’s most fanatically followed performers is a lad from Americana, by way of Moscow — Idaho, that is.
Rich in references, alive with imagery, and delivered in a plainspeak style that’s not opposed to getting a little electrified now and then, the music of Josh Ritter is the brand of a singer who seemed to arrive fully formed at the time of his millennial debut — a man whose first major release featured both the wistful frolic “Me and Jiggs” and the somber vigil “Drive Away.”  On his seventh full-length studio effort “The Beast In Its Tracks,” Ritter imbues a staple of singer-songwriter life — the “breakup” album — with a quiet energy that turns shadows of a doubt into “Nightmares,” carries a torch that ignites the “Bonfire,” and reduces that rekindled flame to a trick of “A Certain Light.”
A cult favorite in Ireland since the time of his first self-released record, Ritter has gigged there extensively, kicking off international tours and issuing albums in advance of their US release dates. His acclaimed 2006 live recording “In the Dark” was done before a wildly appreciative Dublin audience, and on July 27 he appeared in support of Bruce Springsteen at a sold-out “Wrecking Ball” concert in Kilkenny, as part of his current multi-national summer tour with the Royal City Band.
A modern master of the narrative story-song who published his first novel, “Bright’s Passage,” in 2011, Ritter has counted among his admirers wordsmiths Dennis Lehane and Stephen King, as well as filmmaker Cameron Crowe. When he takes the stage of the Pollak this November, he’ll be playing one of the Garden State’s premier rooms for acoustic music, and the setting for some memorable “unplugged” sets by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, Colin Hay, Billy Bragg, actor-singer Jeff Daniels and many others. Ritter will be appearing with Royal City Band bassist Zack Hickman.
Tickets for the November 22 concert featuring Josh Ritter are priced at $25/$35/$45 and can be reserved through the Monmouth University Performing Arts Box Office at 732-263-6889, or online at www.monmouth.edu/arts. Tickets for other upcoming events in the 2013-2014 Performing Arts series at Monmouth University  — including Dawes (September 25), Keller Williams with Jake Shimabukuro (October 25), and Ani DiFranco (November 8) are on sale now. To schedule interviews, please contact Eileen Chapman at 732-571-3512.