I’ve been listening to Josh Ritter since I was sixteen years old. His songs are simple, sweet, and catchy. As a teenager, it was hard to find music that both my dad and I would enjoy during long car rides, but I’d pop in a Josh Ritter CD, and we’d both sing along. His music is for everyone, as proven through the wide age range of his audience, and his voice sounds just as smooth live as it does on each of his albums. He stepped on stage with a genuine smile, such humility, and told the crowd how happy and grateful he was to be there.

The nostalgia hit hard when Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band came on stage opening with “Idaho.” Josh Ritter’s band members were given the name “The Royal City Band” in 2010, which I only just realized during the show is in reference to a lyric in his song “Thin Blue Flame.”

His newest album, produced by Jason Isbell, has similar folksy roots and tender ballads to his previous albums. A lot of times when artists are promoting new albums on their tours, that’s the primary focus of the show. I appreciated that Josh Ritter played a healthy mix of his earliest and latest writing efforts, a majority of which hold a surprising amount of biblical allegory. Out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning of his religious references, and in an interview with 90.9 wbur, a Boston radio station, Ritter states that he’s very skeptical about religion. He states that the “Golden Rule” of treating others the way we want to be treated shouldn’t belong to religion, but simply just to us as human beings.

Penny & Sparrow opened for Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, starting the night off with a positive, fun energy. They had the crowd laughing between songs, and thanked the audience for their silence during their set. They were clearly happy to be playing to a crowd that appreciates and respects musicians and their music.

Here are photos from Josh Ritter performing at Lincoln Theatre on May 17th. All photos copyright and courtesy of Shannon Jillen.