Ritt Deitz' Upstream Now Available


Ritt Deitz
Upstream

Ritt Deitz' Upstream Now Available


News

Wed, Oct 3, 2007

Ritt Deitz releases his fifth full-length CD of original and traditional songs, Upstream, on Uvulittle Records. Ritt spent the winter in the studio with longtime collaborators bassist Joe Meisel and guitarist / dobro player Craig Totten, sons Wilder (piano, percussion) and Mitch (percussion) and hammered dulcimer player Dave Foss. Singer-songwriter Sara Pace guests on backing vocals on four songs, including a lovely duet version of the Southern gospel standard "Wayfaring Stranger." Ritt's neighbor Andy Ewen, frontman of the Madison psychoblues quartet Honor Among Thieves, sits in on "Cloudy," an early Dire-Straits-like meditation on living by a road the highway department keeps widening every few years.

Upstream marks a musical turning point for Ritt with the regular addition of piano (Wilder), hammered dulcimer (Dave) and much more regular percussion (Wilder, Mitch). Upstream also features more backing vocal arrangements, creating a new ensemble feel unheard in his last two Uvulittle releases, After the Mountains and Collected (1999-2000). Ritt takes his quintet on tour to support Upstream this fall, with television and radio appearances in Madison, and live dates in Madison, Chicago, Louisville, Newport (KY), and Trempealeau (WI).