Josh Ritter Shares How His Latest Tour Is a Show of “Resilience” Against Bullies (Exclusive)

Josh Ritter is standing up to bullies the best way he knows how—through music. American Songwriter spoke to the singer amid his A Book of Gold Thrown Open tour, and he explained how his current is show is a direct response to the state of the world today.

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“Right now, we’re living in a time of bullies,” he said. “What I feel like bullies rely on is the promulgation of a belief that single people can’t do extraordinary things, that we are all so separate from each other, that we could never work together and be a community.”

“What I am getting out of these shows is a sense of resilience,” he added. “With bullies, sometimes the way you beat a bully is you outlive him, and you continue doing acts of kindness to the people that you don’t know, and you continue helping people across the street, and doing those things in spite of the bullies. That’s what I’m picking up and trying to reflect during these shows.”

Josh Ritter’s Tour

While the tour follows the release of Ritter’s latest album, I Believe in You, My Honey Do, fans can expect to hear songs from all of his different eras during the concerts.

“I chose a long time ago not to dwell on any single album too much when I play a show. I like to play a whole range, and typically I play from many of those records over time,” Ritter said, before noting that his newer music specifically lends itself well to the “solo-ish” nature of his latest tour.

“That kind of desire to reconnect sort of dovetailed really nicely into this tour,” he said. “… I’ve been very lucky that like, in general, I get to go out and play these shows to a ton of people, and they’re coming to see me play, and they’re singing my songs… My bucket is full right now with gratitude.”

That intimacy is also felt through fan-submitted dedications, which he reads live on stage each night. The message—which can be submitted via an online form—can be anything from a show of support to one of empathy or gratitude.

“It’s not easy always to say the thing that you want to say to someone. Sometimes it helps if somebody else is involved. Sometimes it also helps a large group to hear someone opening up their heart,” Ritter explained. “… It’s been beautiful because it really gives a little spark of something more personal to the show. It gives something for me to think about when I’m going to sleep at night.”

Josh Ritter’s Year Ahead

Soon, fans in Nashville will have the chance to experience it all when Ritter plays Ryman Auditorium on May 2.

“It’s not a place you get used to playing… People call it the Mother Church, and I understand that in a way,” Ritter said. “… The first time I stood on that stage, I was really affected by that. The second time was the same. It doesn’t seem to wear off. It’s cool as hell to be there.”

Those who attend that concert, Ritter promised, are in for “a beautiful show.”

“I’m pulling out all my stops,” he said. “I’m just really excited about having a beautiful evening.”

After his time on the road wraps, Ritter will head home to work on all of his creative pursuits.

“The stuff has been unexpected to me, so I think I can expect that it’ll probably be unexpected to other people,” Ritter said of the music he’s currently writing. “I think that the most exciting thing about art is looking forward to the future. That’s the real currency. It gives you a reason every day to think, ‘What’s going to happen today?’ As far as that goes, I feel like I’m very lucky right now.”

Photo by Jake Magraw