On this morning's show, Ian was delighted to welcome American singer-songwriter, and all round cool-as-a-breeze guy, Josh Ritter back into studio, to tell us about his upcoming gigs and his 9th album "Gathering".
We last seen Josh back in December 2013, so there was a lot to talk about outside of his music too...
Firstly, Josh chatted about his ambitious daughter Beatrix. Although she only recently started kindergarten, he knows she has her eyes set on the world, "I feel like our job is done".
The texts then came flooding in from all his adoring fans, who are extremely excited to have him back in Ireland for his selection of shows with The Royal City Band.
"Josh Ritter's albums have come out at all the major landmarks in my life"
"His new album is savage!"
Then there was a lady who named her daughter after a line from one of his songs, and another lady caller who has an amazing anecdote (or three) of how Josh's music has had such a bearing on her life,
"so I had some of the lyrics of that song tattooed on my foot."
We also learned of a good deed Mr.Ritter did for an Irish fan over a decade ago - a class act!
The artist was totally blown away by all the messages and good will towards him, and says he always feels like an "adopted son" because "this is the first place I started playing".
Josh played his latest track "Showboat" live in studio for us and it was incredible. What a voice! He said it's about "big talkers" (and we all know a few of them).
Josh is the epitome of a gentleman and a very calming presence to be around.
You can listen to the full interview here:
For more fun like this, and everything in between, tune into The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show every weekday morning from 7am.
