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AFTER THE MOUNTAINS is Ritt's latest batch of beautiful, straight-ahead songs. This is solid acoustic roots rock. The songs move seamlessly from single, lingering melodies to the train-like stomp riffs that fans know from Ritt's vibrant live shows. Like this Kentuckian when he's on stage, Ritt's recordings are the fruit of years of playing - traditional music and rock and roll, in band after band, with pals, family and the occasional rival. The Onion says, "He works the same side of the street as Greg Brown and Bruce Cockburn, with songs that are concurrently earthy, ethereal, and intelligent. "Bluebird" never specifically references politics or the economy, but it is infused with the struggle between rural and urban, family and philosophy, haves and have-nots. "The Fire Song" follows with a sense of looming despair and dark desperation that would feel right at home in the hands of Calexico." Ritt's latest record--his fourth--features longtime pal and high-school bandmate "Kentucky Jim" Faris on the standup bass, son Wilder Deitz on piano, veteran collaborator Craig Totten on dobro and guitar, and a host of other live-show regulars. Pike 27 leadman Dave Purcell calls Ritt's songs "gritty and intelligent" and "sweet, gentle and smoldering."