Josh Ritter

Lots of acts pay lip service to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen - how could you not at least profess to like them? - but Josh Ritter may be the only young act whose songwriting does justice to his clear influences. The guy's some kind of prodigy, his songwriting literary in the best sense, but as a performer Ritter really sets himself apart from all his po-faced and pretentious peers. Ritter was all smiles at the Park West last night, as he always is, and he looked like he was having an even better time than his fans, as he always does. You can see him in action below. It's all great stuff, but my money's on "The Temptation of Adam," about two missile silo operators in love, one of whom contemplates initiating World War III from the safety of his shelter just so he can be stranded with his sweetheart forever.