(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Outpost in the Burbs presents Josh Ritter - Works in Progress + Songs You Know on Friday, May 17, 2024 at the First Congregational Church of Montclair. Doors are at 7:30pm, showtime is 8:00pm.
This is a special Works In Progress + Songs You Know solo show. Here's a note from Ritter about the event:
"I’ve realized that a necessary part of working on records is finding the material that hangs together. I write A LOT of songs, and not all of them play nicely with the others. The most useful (and fun) way to find a song’s heart is to periodically play some shows where I’m able to get it all out there and see how I feel about them. I’m really looking forward to these shows for the chance to get all these songs, and some that are old friends, out on the table for a good time."
Advance tickets are $45 and available for purchase online. Admission is $50 day of show. The First Congregational Church of Montclair is located at 40 S Fullerton Avenue in Montclair, New Jersey.
One of today’s most thoughtful and prolific voices, Ritter has been praised by NPR Music on his 2019’s widely acclaimed Fever Breaks album: “He remains a hydrant of ideas while embodying an endless capacity for empathy and indignation, often within a single song.”
In addition to his work as a musician, Ritter is also a national best-selling author, having released two novels to date: 2021’s The Great Glorious Goddamn of It All and 2011’s Bright’s Passage. Released to critical attention, Stephen King wrote in The New York Times Book Review that Bright’s Passage “shines with a compressed lyricism that recalls Ray Bradbury in his prime…This is the work of a gifted novelist.”
Josh Ritter released his eleventh studio album, Spectral Lines, last year.
“The Voyager spacecraft went up in ’77 and now it’s out there in a place that no one’s ever been before, and it’s sending back all these messages,” Ritter says. “I feel like songs do that in their own little way. They’re probes: they go out into the world, and sometimes you hear stories back from them, but really, they go off on their own.”
Outpost in the Burbs is a nonprofit outreach organization in Montclair dedicated to building community through music and volunteerism. For over 35 years, the Outpost has presented more than 450 concerts by internationally known artists such as Judy Collins, Roger McGuinn,, Jorma Kaukonen, Jimmy Webb, Richie Havens, The Jayhawks, Nick Lowe, and Dar Williams. In addition to presenting concerts, Outpost volunteers have donated many hours of their time through programs affiliated with Toys for Tots, the Human Needs Food Pantry of Montclair, the Community Food Bank of N.J., Dress for Success, MESH (Montclair Emergency Services for Hope), and a Community Food Program run by Outpost volunteers in Orange, NJ.
