Joe Martyn Ricke
Singer, Songwriter,
Poet, Raconteur
from deep in the heart
Joe’s new album, “Why We Glow” will be released in late March or early April on Spotify, Amazon, Itunes, YouTube, etc. Of course, you can request a physical CD or LP on the Contact page. If I have to mail it, I will sign it! The highly-praised 2023 collection (see below), “Little Clarissa and Other Stories” is available on all the platforms or by requesting your own CD on the Contact page.
NOLA COUNTY RADIO, New Orleans
**“Joe Martyn Ricke . . .makes such great music! A great musical find for me this year. His new album, Little Clarissa, is produced by the amazing David Beck. I’m super stoked that this is out in the world!
Jimi Palacios, NOLA Country Radio, Ameripolitan Awards, DJ of the Year 2023
**“Joe Martyn Ricke blew the house away with his Texas swagger and his passionate singing and songwriting.”
George Schricker, The Wild Rose Moon
**“Joe Martyn Ricke "is a storyteller in the finest sense of the word, with a poetic flair….. He’s a wicked good multi-instrumentalist, and his easy style and witty intros give way to a compelling delivery that will hold a small room, or an entire concert hall.”
Julia Meek, Host of “Meet the Music,” Public Radio, WBOI
**I met Joe Martyn Ricke 2 nights ago in New Braunfels...This (“Little Clarissa”) is one of the greatest things I have heard in 30 years. This is PRO...PRO! Music that makes you think! I was blown away by every line he sang.
Tommy Taylor, Multi-Platinum-Grammy Winner, Drummer, Singer/Songwriter, Producer
UPCOMING SHOWS
April 19 Joe Martyn Ricke @Bandera Music Festival Benefit 11th Street Cowboy Bar Bandera, TX (1.55 pm, but come for the whole day!!)
April 25 The Ricke Brothers @Poodies Hilltop Roadhouse Spicewood, TX, 6-8
May 2 Joe Martyn Ricke and Friends @The Gaff Bar Port Aransas, TX 7-10
May 10 The Ricke Brothers @The Gaff Bar Port Aransas, TX 7-10
May 13 Joe Martyn Ricke @WBOI Meet the Music with Julia Meek WBOI FM, Indiana Public Radio, Fort Wayne, IN
May 14-6 International Congress of Medieval Studies @Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI Papers on C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, Chaucer Reading, Comic Pseudo-Paper, and singalong
May 17-21 TBA Midwest Rambles
May 22 Joe Martyn Ricke and Friends @Meat & Drink Wimberley, TX 6-9
May 23 The Ricke Brothers @Poodies Hilltop Roadhouse Spicewood, TX 6-8
May 29 The Ricke Brothers w/Kathrine Lewis (fiddle) @Dog n Bone Pub Dripping Springs, TX 7-10
May 31 Joe Martyn Ricke and Miracle Machine Album Release Show w/RD Black opening @Redbird Listening Room New Braunfels, TX 4-7
June 8-15 Amiens, France
June 27 The Ricke Brothers @Poodies Hilltop Roadhouse Spicewood, TX, 6-8
** to book use contact page or email
jsricke@gmail.com
“Little Clarissa and
Other Stories”
In eleven songs, Joe takes his listeners through a musical and emotional rodeo ride worth taking. From the soaring fiddle of Katie Shore, to the incredibly nuanced production of David Beck, the album sonic textures complement Joe Martyn Ricke’s signature from-the-heart style.
Sometimes euphoric (“Sing about Your Love”), sometimes heartbreaking (“Beautiful Eyes”), and sometimes both in the same song (“Our Road”). Sometimes the best description is haunting, or maybe haunted (“Raven”).
As a practicing poet, Joe’s attention to the details of life and the voices of real people is obvious, but never at the expense of the musicality expected from Texas hill country songwriting. One listener summed it up by rephrasing the final line of the album’s title track (“it’s heartbreaking beautiful world”) — it’s a heartbreaking beautiful album.
“The title track “Little Clarissa” is an epic coming of age story. . . “Beautiful Eyes” sounds like Cat Stevens, with its finger picking and vocal effect . . . Andrew Blanton, for Americana Highways
“A great musical find for me this year!”
Jimi Palacios, NOLA COUNTRY RADIO, Ameripolitan Awards DJ of the Year, 2023
