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| Mark performing in New Jersey. |
| As many visitors to my site know, I am first and foremost a huge Josh Ritter fan; I started with a cd in my car and catching them live in a little bar - like everyone else. So how did a trip to Ireland come about? Well, the legend now goes like this: After many, many times seeing Josh perform and getting to know them, the website came to be. Doesn't matter how, except to say that I have so much respect and love for Josh's music that trying to spread the word online and connect with other fans was a MUST. At one of the many shows, one of the guys in the band said, "You gotta get over to Ireland." At the time, a trip to Ireland was out of the question - a laughable impossibility, even unnecessary. But they said it'd be worth it. Darius, Josh's manager and drummer even said, in telling me how great the shows would be, "Don't say I didn't warn ya." But c'mon, Ireland is FAR. Right? |
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| GOING TO IRELAND: The "Why and How" |
| Josh and Band at the Mercury Lounge, NYC. Fall, 2003. |
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| Then two things happened. Revelation #1 came when I was lucky enough to hear the live version of "Snow is Gone" from the yet-to-be-released Irish EP. I couldn't believe it. Josh's popularity in the US has not yet reached the level it is in Ireland; I had grown accustomed to enjoying the songs live with other fans who were generally hearing them for the first time. A "crowded" show would be 75 people. Perhaps 9 or 10 of them would know the songs well enough to lip-sync a few lyrics. When I heard "Snow is Gone" performed at Vicar Street in Dublin, I was in shock. The amount of people clapping, stomping, and belting out every word with Josh was amazing. Talking to Josh on the phone one day, he reminded me that the fan noise I was hearing was coming through nothing but the vocal microphone onstage (!). I made up my mind: I had to get to Ireland to experience that enthusiasm. |
| But actually booking a flight, taking the time off from work, and most of all going to a country I've never been before - SOLO - made it all seem like a silly idea. But Revelation #2 - the final push I needed - was when my brother and I saw Mark Geary perform for the first time. A mutual friend introduced us after the show, and Mark not only represented his countrymen as incredibly friendly and talented, but reiterated what Josh and the gang had already told me: "You gotta go." I'll always remember Mark standing there, arms crossed, looking at me like I was crazy for thinking I couldn't easily go. Whatever issue I brought up - money, booking a flight, where I'd stay, who I'd tag along with - Mark dismissed them immediately. "You gotta go..." |
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| TAKING FLIGHT Good vibes start before even leaving... |
| So I did some research, announced my planned trip on my website, and got something I didn't expect: advice, support, and help from all over - whether it was American fans who encouraged me, or Irish fans who had already begun to welcome me - I was humbled. "Don't tip the bartender," "Look to the right first, before crossing the street - not left," and get familiar with words like "langer", "shite," "feckin." "Cheers" means "thank you", not "bottoms up." Reminders for a naive, Yankee visitor... Suddenly the trip was becoming a reality. I was PSYCHED. |
| TURNING POINT: At the airport waiting to fly out, I sitll had many unanswered questions and last minute uncertainties: how I'd get down to Cork for the second show, if my unconfirmed hotel reservation there would leave me on the streets, and if I'd be on my own the whole time. But then I would meet two people that would immediately change my trip: Flora (who works for Josh's record label Signature Sounds) and Emily (Erin McKeown's manager), two of the coolest girls you can meet. I had never met them before, and they happen to be flying out on the same flight. Oh, this was a good omen... |
| The uncomparable Flora and Emily, in Galway. |
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| Next Page, "First Day, Show #1: Galway" |
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| Josh Ritter Fansite Homepage |
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