January 31, 2010

Naming Josh Ritter's band? I win!


Adam J. Taylor photo


Wow! I just learned that I won the contest to name Josh Ritter's band! From now on, they will be known as Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band. That's totally cool. I don't know what the process was, how the name was chosen, but it's just neat. Josh blogged about it recently on his Book of Jubilations saying:
"I have an amazing band. They rock, they roll with the punches, they keep me on my feet and are patient with me when I keep them on theirs. As we enter into what will be a busy touring year, we decided that it's time that they had a name. Guitarist extraordinaire Austin Nevins spearheaded this project, soliciting names from the rest of the band and from some of our nearest and dearest. We had some amazing, good, and hilarious entries, and the band and I voted on our favorites, narrowing the selections down to a single name. Who says Americans have lost their touch with the democratic process?

The winning name was "The Royal City Band," and we're very happy with it and excited to start using it.

The winning name was suggested by Rich Kassirer, brother of Sam Kassirer and editor of modernacoustic.com, and we thank him and Austin for it!

So, while I'll be touring solo with the Swell Season for the next month, upon my return "Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band" will be starting rehearsals for the big spring tour."


Nice shoutout! It's funny, because I submitted two, the other being Josh Ritter and the Wolves Underneath the Stairs, which I thought was funny though a little cumbersome. I think Austin had suggested Josh Ritter and the Last True Romantics, which I thought was awesome.
Anyway, I'm thrilled. Maybe they'll let me drive the tour bus now!