Like a lot of folk singers, Josh Ritter is a natural storyteller–so much so that he can even put “novelist” on his business card (he published his first novel in 2011). Ritter puts Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash in the same company as Flannery O’Connor and Philip Roth, all artists that have had a profound influence on his own work.
On “Getting Ready To Get Down,” which originally appeared on Ritter’s 2015 album Sermon On The Rocks, Ritter sings of a small-town girl who is whisked away to Bible college but still ends up learning truths about the wider world. Even if the details are particular, it’s open-ended enough to appeal to anyone who’s had to escape the tyranny of conformity. Download a Studio 1A version of the song below.
–Art Levy
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