{"id":29016,"date":"2019-05-14T08:57:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T12:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=29016"},"modified":"2019-05-14T08:57:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T12:57:56","slug":"on-stage-josh-ritter-goes-for-a-new-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=29016","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Josh Ritter goes for a new sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, <\/span>Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josh Ritter<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of singer\/songwriters who write great songs and have strong stage presence, you have quite a few good options this Tuesday and Wednesday with shows by Josh Ritter and Art d\u2019Ecco on May 14 and concerts by Lissie and John Shakespear on May 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ritter, will headline a show at the Keswick Theatre (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650,\u00a0www.keswicktheatre.com<\/a>) on Tuesday evening, is touring in support of his brand-new album \u201cFever Breaks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Josh Ritter, who is a singer, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist, a New York Times best-selling author, a painter, and a consummate performer, released the 10-song album on\u00a0April 26\u00a0via\u00a0Pytheas Recordings\/Thirty Tigers. \u201cFever Breaks\u201d was recorded at Nashville and features Jason Isbell\u2019s band, the\u00a0400 Unit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two separate session in Nashville \u2013 in July and in November,\u201d said Ritter, during a phone interview last week from a tour stop in Northampton, Massachusetts. \u201cBetween Jason and me and the musicians, lining up our schedules was a miracle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ritter was looking for something different with his new album \u2013 so he went with Isbell\u2019s band rather than his own long-time band \u2013 the Royal City Band.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been making music with the Royal City Band for 20 years and had never really branched out,\u201d said Ritter. \u201cI wanted to work with new people. I wanted to challenge myself. I just needed to put myself in a new situation. It\u2019s important for the art to shake things up and keep moving in a new direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI supported Jason and his band three years ago. I toured with them. They were cool, interesting people. I got to know Jason and his band.\u00a0 So when I decided to use new musicians, they came to mind immediately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ritter, Isbell, and Amanda Shires (Isbell\u2019s wife and a member of the 400 Unit) got together in Nashville and began working on the new project.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the songs I brought to Jason and Amanda, I realized that I didn\u2019t know the choices the 400 Unit would make,\u201d said Ritter. \u201cI didn\u2019t know where they would take my songs. It was a surprise every time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that the most important thing was for the album to be <\/span>a reflection of the moment we\u2019re living in. That was a guiding principle for some of the songs \u2013 and there are some dark moments. There\u2019s a lot of violence on the record, and there\u2019s a lot of desperation.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that Ritter is back on the road, he\u2019s back touring with the Royal City Band.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great communication and friendship with my band,\u201d said Ritter. \u201cMy commitment to the Royal City Band is total. We have such a long relationship and friendship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re out with me now — re-interpreting the new songs in a new way. They picked up the new songs really fast. I hope the audience comes and realizes the songs are different now that the way they were on the album. The album was a moment in time not something I expected to hold on to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for Josh Ritter \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/3opH6duKuaM<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at the Keswick, which has Penny and Sparrow as the opening act, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29 and $39.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Art d\u2019Ecco<\/p><\/div>\n

One way to describe Art d\u2019Ecco is to say that its music and its image is 180 degrees the opposite of jam bands like Phish or the Dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Art d\u2019Ecco, which is headlining a show on May 14 at Everybody Hits (529 W Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, https:\/\/everybodyhitsphila.com<\/a>), plays glam rock with a heavy influence of Berlin-era Bowie. Its leader wears make-up onstage and looks as if he was conceived through mid-1980s MTV videos. The songs are tight, and the look is glam-rock slick \u2013 no long jams played by grungy musicians in jeans and flannel shirts.<\/span><\/p>\n

CBC Music offered the following description \u2013 \u201cThere\u2019s more than a little David Bowie in both the sonic and fashion leanings of Art d\u2019Ecco, a performer who fluidly crosses musical and gender lines, creating highly memorable tracks \u2014 and sporting an unforgettable look. Often labelled \u201cneo glam,\u201d the music boasts hints of everything from ’50s pop to psychedelics, from Velvet Underground-era art rock to Grimes-inspired electronics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Art d\u2019Ecco agrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think fans should be dressed in jeans and t-shirts and see a band onstage dressed the same way \u2013 if you\u2019re going onstage to perform for people, you need to look like a show,\u201d said d\u2019Ecco, during a phone interview last week from his home in the Gulf Islands near Vancouver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m getting packed up to take the ferry to Vancouver. Then, I\u2019m off to Toronto to start the tour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mysterious Canadian glam-rocker\u00a0Art d\u2019Ecco\u00a0is touring in support of his stellar 2018 debut album \u201cTrespasser\u201d (Paper Bag Records) including stops in Toronto, Cincinnati, Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be my first time to play Philadelphia,\u201d said d\u2019Ecco. \u201cActually, it will be the first time I\u2019ve ever visited Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI moved all around Canada growing up \u2013 mostly in B.C. in Vancouver and Victoria. I was playing in bands in the Vancouver area. When I was in my late 20s, I got tired of playing other people\u2019s music.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gulf Islands of the Pacific Northwest have a unique vibe. The islands jut up through the brisk waters of the Pacific Ocean with lush, hushed red cedar and Douglas Fir skyscrapers. When d\u2019Ecco moved into his grandmother\u2019s cottage on one of the islands, he hadn\u2019t planned on creating a new project.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my grandmother\u2019s home that I knew from my childhood,\u201d said d\u2019Ecco. \u201cShe was living with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease and suffered a related phenomenon called ‘sundowning,’ which triggers increased agitation and anxiety around sunset.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to calm this lady down was to sit down at the piano and play for her. I would play \u2018Bohemian Rhapsody\u2019 and tell her it was Beethoven. She knew it wasn\u2019t Beethoven, but it still calmed her down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter she died, I remained in the empty house and got into songwriting again. It was a lonely, cold winter \u2013 grey and foggy. With an environment like that, you get introspective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Draped in memory, d\u2019Ecco gravitated toward the piano, spending the long, lonesome, quiet nights on the bench before the instrument. This is where Art d\u2019Ecco was created. He relocated to a new cottage, built a studio and barricaded himself with copies of Deerhunter\u2019s \u201cCryptograms,\u201d Bowie\u2019s \u201cLow,\u201d and a selection of krautrock records.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the genesis of \u2018Trespasser,\u2019\u201d said d\u2019Ecco. \u201cI started it in 2016. I researched records I really liked \u2013 chasing tunes and collecting gear. I made a studio with a lot of great analog gear and wrote a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe period that I was sonically trying to get to the bottom of was Bowie in the late 70s, Tony Visconti, Eno and Iggy Pop. I also went back to krautrock \u2013 bands like Can and Neu. I wanted to take avant-garde music through a pop filter. The first song I wrote for the album was \u2018Never Tell,\u2019 which is 100 per cent inspired by Roxy Music\u2019s \u2018Love Is the Drug.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After a while, d\u2019Ecco and his music were ready to escape from the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce that demo process finished, I brought it to Vancouver,\u201d said d\u2019Ecco. \u201cI worked with Jason Corbett from the band Actors in 2017 at his studio called Jackknife Sound. We spent a lot of time recording it properly. Then, I got lucky and signed with Paper Bag Records.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was working on the album, I was neurotic. I had monomania. I kept re-doing parts. It took about a year. The album was finally done at the end of 2017.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the album achieving closure, Art d\u2019Ecco moved forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018, I flew to Toronto to meet with the label,\u201d said d\u2019Ecco. \u201cThe album officially dropped on October 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI played 75 per cent of the music myself. On the road, I\u2019m out with a four-piece \u2013 bass, drums and two guitars. It\u2019s a rock band.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for Art D\u2019Ecco \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/90ifrQ1UFNo<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at Everybody Hits, which has The 1910 Chainsaw Company and S\u00d8L\u039bR as opening acts, will start at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lissie<\/p><\/div>\n

On May 15, Lissie will return to the area for a show at the at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>). It will be her final stateside show prior to heading to the U.K. for tour in May followed by a Scandinavian tour in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

After releasing her stunning U.K. Top 10 album \u201cCastles\u201d\u00a0last year, Lissie has returned in 2019 with \u201cWhen I\u2019m Alone: The Piano Retrospective,\u201d which was released on April 5, 2019 on Cooking Vinyl. It is a stripped-down sonic collection that reinterprets songs from her first decade in music along with covers of Fleetwood Mac (\u201cDreams\u201d) and The Dixie Chicks (“Cowboy Take Me Away\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided I wanted to do this project back when I was touring \u2018Castles\u2019 in early 2018,\u201d said Lissie, during a phone interview last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had done these piano promo events. I realized I loved singing with so much space around me. It was such a pleasure to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a revelation for the veteran singer\/songwriter \u2013 in a very good way.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Lissie, \u201cWhen you take a song out of its production and strip it down to its basic elements, you get the heart of the song. You find out whether it can stand on its own, whether it\u2019s a good song. When they come down to their basic bones, are these really meaningful pieces that stand on their own?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCastles\u201d was released in March 2018 on Lionboy\/Thirty Tigers. Additionally, the album\u2019s hit single \u201cBest Days\u201d reached the Top 10 on Triple A Radio.<\/span><\/p>\n

Written predominantly from Lissie\u2019s farm in northeast Iowa, \u201cCastles\u201d represented a new openness in her approach to songwriting and recording. Having moved out of the music industry machine and back to her native Midwest, the grounding she found living and working on a farm ushered in a period of exploration.\u00a0\u201cCastles\u201d is a portrait of an artist who has always been on the move and is finally creating a sense of permanency.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI started writing songs for \u2018Castles\u2019 in 2016 and spent a year working on the album,\u201d said Lissie. \u201cThe song \u2018My Wild West\u2019 was about leaving California, going back to the Midwest and buying a farm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The album was also informed by some painful, personal problems Lissie had experienced in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into the writing of \u2018Castles,\u2019 I had been in this confusing and painful relationship,\u201d said Lissie. \u201cMaking \u2018Castles\u2019 was very much a cathartic experience. I re-evaluated what I want \u2013 to use my music to chronicle my experiences\u2026which are also universal experiences. I\u2019ve found that audiences can relate to the songs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCastles\u201d was an album with which Lissie expanded her sound, reached out for new sonic palettes, and incorporated synths and drum machines into her sound. \u201cWhen I\u2019m Alone: The Piano Retrospective\u201d\u00a0subtracts these elements, removes the noise and puts Lissie\u2019s songwriting bare for an emotive and powerful listening experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI recorded a lot of the album in Berlin,\u201d said Lissie. \u201cI reached out to Martin Craft to see if he wanted to work on the project. When I was on tour in Europe, I\u2019d stop in Berlin for a few days. Jo Dudderidge and Martin shared piano duties and arrangements. All the Berlin tracks were recorded at Martin Craft\u2019s studio there and the arrangements came quite naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI spent time in Berlin in July and October, and I was done in December. We finished the final mixes around Christmas. It was creatively satisfying to take these songs I\u2019ve played 10 years with a band and play them this way. It\u2019s a supplement to the rest of my work rather than a new thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really feel that \u2018When I\u2019m Alone\u2019 is to be held in the same realm as my last two albums (\u2018Castles\u2019 and \u2018My Wild West\u2019). They were big albums with a lot of people involved. This is beautiful piano arrangements tapping into things that already existed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, it gives a lot of space to my voice \u2013 giving my voice a moment to shine unencumbered. I just wanted a lot of room. I\u2019m hitting notes in a way I\u2019ve never done before.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

This brief tour by Lissie is a special run of piano duo shows in May featuring\u00a0Jo\u00a0Dudderidge\u00a0from UK’s\u00a0The Traveling Band<\/a> on piano.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Lissie is partnering with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold on their upcoming tour will go to support Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its work to safeguard the earth — its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Lissie, \u201cI have been a longtime supporter of the amazing organization NRDC which combines the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 600 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s more important than ever to defend and protect our precious natural world. I thank NRDC for all of the incredible work they do. I am proud to partner with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold on this tour will go to NRDC and their work to safeguard the earth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on NRDC, go to www.nrdc.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for Lissie \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/PCYPIaJYsBs<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at the Ardmore Music Hall, which has Christine Irizarry as the opener, will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $21.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

John Shakespear<\/p><\/div>\n

Indie-folksinger\/songwriter John Shakespear, who will perform at Bourbon & Branch (705 North Second Street, Philadelphia, 215-238-0660,bourbonandbranch<\/a>philly.com<\/a>) on May 15, has been singing in front of people most of his life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shakespear, who now lives in Nashville and is a part-time professor at Vanderbilt University, grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When he was a youngster, he attended St. Paul\u2019s Choir School in Harvard Square and was part of an all-boys choral program which required four hours of choir practice or music lessons a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is now on the road \u2013 touring in support of his debut album \u201cSpend Your Youth,\u201d which was just released on May 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Spend Your Youth\u2019 was recorded at Bear Tone Studio in Waltham, Massachusetts,\u201d said Shakespear, during a recent phone interview as he traveled through Virginia from a show in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to as gig in Washington, D.C.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was produced by Devon Dawson. He and I had been talking about doing a recording project for a while. I recorded it there at his studio which is also a church. We started working on the album in May 2017 and tracking finished in August 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe long period to make it was partially because I had moved from Massachusetts to Nashville. It was mixed by Greg Giorgio at Tarquin Studio in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Even though I was living in Nashville, I went back to Massachusetts and Connecticut to make the album.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Music wasn\u2019t the only thing that drew Shakspear to Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also a fiction writer,\u201d said Shakespear. \u201cA couple years ago, I applied to a creative writing program at Vanderbilt. On the other hand, music was the tipping point. Nashville is a great place for Americana and my music is a mix of Americana and indie rock.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up in Cambridge. I went to college at Princeton University because I wanted to get away from home. I studied creative writing at Princeton. After I graduated, I spent a year in Phnom Pen, Cambodia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Massachusetts drew him back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to Somerville,\u201d said Shakespear, who is a child of an Argentine immigrant father and a Boston-Irish mother. \u201cI played in a couple bands — including Atlas Lab \u2013 and I also did solo work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to Nashville to work on my solo project and, last year, I taught fiction at Vanderbilt. I\u2019m a singer\/songwriter whose influences are Leonard Cohen and Fleet Foxes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the songs on \u2018Spend Your Youth\u2019 have bene around for at least four years. The song \u2018Wanderluster\u2019 was written Cambodia. Some of the newer stuff was written in early 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was inspired by some of the stuff that was happening politically at the time. I don\u2019t think this album is explicitly political \u2013 except in a couple places. I do think it\u2019s about delivering something that\u2019s going to connect with people emotionally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Video link for John Shakespear \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/ciBtbL7kTW4<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show at Bourbon & Branch, which also features <\/span>Port Arthur, The Still, and Small Voice,<\/span> will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times If you\u2019re a fan of singer\/songwriters who write great songs and have strong stage presence, you have quite a few good options this Tuesday and Wednesday with shows by Josh Ritter and Art d\u2019Ecco on May 14 and concerts by Lissie and John Shakespear on May 15. Ritter, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7441],"tags":[11507,6269,11508,11506,10535],"class_list":["post-29016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-art-decco","tag-featured","tag-john-shakespear","tag-josh-ritter","tag-lissie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29017,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29016\/revisions\/29017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}