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After 8 years of searching, Dwight Ritcher has found home in New York City, and he is thriving.
He has a voice which invites unique connection to a song. His phrasing is understated, warm and moving, but at a turn, dynamically proud and powerful. While consumed with songwriting, Ritcher finds so much artistry in the moment of interpretation. When asked about this, Ritcher states, "I give all I have, and am always looking." A humble response from an artist on the brink of national attention.
His new release, "Radioman," is stirring up major label interest, and getting heavy college/alt radio spins. Ritcher's song, "Something Special," off his last record, "Drive around Town," has just been picked up by Lifetime Television to be used on their show "Missing," airing in January.
Ritcher has also finished up filming a featured spot in "Where's the music At?," a documentary about ten unsigned artists in NYC, which will be airing in independent theaters next year. He takes all this in stride. "This year has been a busy one...a year full of change. I'm grateful for all the new fans, and experiences, and I'm proud of my records—they're each steps in my history."
Dwight Ritcher's history begins n New Jersey. He grew up surrounded by music. Rock from the shore. Rap from the city. Pop in the schools. And jazz...His grandfather played piano/banjo, and had a big band in the forties. Dwight remembers him playing family parties as a kid, "Granddad would be playing stride and I'd be next to the piano playing telephone books with drumsticks, while my family danced and sang. His side of the family were all musical. His sister was a jazz singer, and his son (my uncle) played bass, and used to jam with Bruce Springsteen down in Asbury."
It was some years after that Dwight started playing professionally. He got his first paying gig playing the drums in a community orchestra's version of "Pirates on Penzance," and later, "My Fair Lady." At the same time, he was playing blues piano in the coffee houses, cutting his teeth on the music of Memphis Slim and Muddy Waters.
While at school in Vermont studying English, his keyboard playing lead him to form a guitar/fender rhodes duo that went on the play major Jazz and Blues festivals in New England. He later switched to guitar as his full-time instrument after falling in love with the playing of Albert King, Charlie Christian and Django.
Eight years later, after countless gigs in countless places, Dwight Ritcher is ready to take the national stage. He just needed to find home first.
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