Josh Ritchie at Musiikki Cafe

Sun. November 9th Musiikki Café & Whiskey Bar TBA
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Josh Ritchie at Musiikki Cafe

So Much More Than A Dream Album Release
Event can be attended in person In-Person Event Venue is part of the Downtown Kingston Business Improvement Area
Music Folk / Celtic / Latin / World Funk / Soul / R&B Pop / Rock / Indie
Sun. November 9th + Add to Calendar Musiikki Café & Whiskey Bar (No Minors)
8:00pm - 11:00pm TBA

Artists

Josh Ritchie

Event Description

Josh Ritchie / So Much More Than A Dream
Release Date: Oct. 17, 2025
Meriläinen Music

By the time an artist makes their third album, it’s a safe bet they’ve learned a few lessons. In the
case of Canadian singer/songwriter Josh Ritchie, those lessons led to taking control of all
aspects of So Much More Than A Dream, with the result being a dynamically powerful 11-song
collection that blurs the lines between modern rock, experimental folk, and contemporary r&b.

In some ways, it’s the sound of our age, where genres are fluid, and an artist has the tools at
their fingertips to take any idea and construct a unique sonic landscape out of it. In film
parlance, it’s been called “the auteur theory” for decades, and for Josh Ritchie, it guided his
vision throughout the making of So Much More Than A Dream.

“I think with this record I’ve learned how to use the studio as an instrument,” he says. “I have
always loved recording and especially recording myself. It’s become an integral part of how I
write and compose music but making this record just felt different. I felt more control over my
craft, limitations became opportunities, and everything in the room became a tool of expression.
Maybe it was luck, or experience, or both, but every experiment seemed to come off, and all the
parts just glued together so easily. It’s like everything I could imagine came to life.”

In short, So Much More Than A Dream can be described as a concept album telling the story of
a young adult searching for peace and purpose in our increasingly turbulent world. It’s hardly a
stretch to say that theme mirrors much of Ritchie’s life to this point, having grown up BIPOC in
Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula. Much of his music to date has been a product of his experiences, but
on So Much More Than A Dream he pours his soul into each song, as on the first single,
“Numb,” which asks the increasingly common question, “Do you believe in anything at all?”

Josh clearly believes in many things, and wants you to believe in them as well. On the anthemic
“Celestial,” he firmly pins his heart to his sleeve, running through the list of things that sustain his
spirit, with love firmly at the top. Later, on the stunning ballad “Vancouver,” he sounds like a
young Leonard Cohen, surveying the wreckage of his life amid the wreckage of the inner city.
But it’s “Small Town Boys” that Josh highlights as a personal triumph.

“There are a lot of great things about the part of Ontario where I grew up—and still live in—but
for a mixed race kid who wore loud clothes and sang in choirs, it was far from easy. I’m the kind
of person who would rather decant a nice pinot noir than crush a Busch Light in the back of a
pick-up truck. ‘Small Town Boys’ sums up those feelings. But it’s the arrangement that I am
most excited for people to hear. I think it encompasses my sensibilities as a musician. It’s quirky
but very thought out. There’s also a section with me on guitar and my dad Rob on the keys
playing in tandem that was purely improvised and is just so raw and organic. It’s a really fun
track overall.”

It’s a significant moment in any artist’s life when a new creative path opens, and there’s an
overwhelming sense of that on So Much More Than A Dream, an album that not only reflects
Josh’s life journey, but also makes an undeniably original musical statement in an age when
everyone seems to be searching for “authenticity.” To return to film analogies, Josh likes to cite
a line from The French Dispatch, made by one of his favourite directors, Wes Anderson:
“However you go about it, just make it seem like you did it on purpose.” There is no doubt that
Josh Ritchie does everything with purpose.

Venue

Musiikki Café & Whiskey Bar
73 Brock St.
Open / Operational

Event Poster

Josh Ritchie at Musiikki Cafe - Nov 4th @ Musiikki Café & Whiskey Bar

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