"I've been from here to Lawrence, KS."

Josh Ritter is one of my favorite songwriters. His new album, The Animal Years, is brilliant. You can stream it from his site. Ritter's soulful ballads have fit well in my playlist recently, and my increased listening was justified by preparation for his concert in Lawrence next week. Until I sat down to write and tried to link to the Bottleneck's schedule and found this. Are you kidding me? I wonder if the 6:45 a.m. woman had anything to do with this. I won't lament the newest eraser mark on my calendar, but I will mention the irony in him canceling a Lawrence, KS concert, as the city is the subject of one of his best songs.

Some songs to check out from the new album:
One More Mouth, Wolves, Girl in the War, Lillian, Egypt.

If you're a Runner's World subscriber, Josh is this month's featured personality in the I'm a Canceller...er, Runner section.