Tomorrow morning, you’ll hear Bob’s interview with musician Josh Ritter. During their talk, Josh tells Bob that his new album, "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" was inspired, in part, by Paul McCartney’s album "Ram," which was McCartney’s first record after the break up of the Beatles. (To clarify, "Ram" wasn’t McCartney’s FIRST solo album, but rather the first album he released after theBeatles officially broke up. His first solo album was "McCartney," made, in-part, before the Beatles officially split.) Listening to "Ram," the connections between it and Ritter’s new record are obvious. As Josh says in the interview, it sounded like McCartney was just letting a lot of the past go and really trying to throw ideas up in the air and see where they landed. "Conquests" is so much a departure from Ritter’s other records, it definitely has that same feeling of escape and experimentation. It’s one of the few times I can remember a musician citing an album as an influence and me actually recognizing it. As a non-musician it is satisfying to make those connections. I recommend a back to back listen of "Conquests" and "Ram" to hear it for yourself.
Steve Lickteig