Ritt Deitz & Wilder Deitz
Grace Episcopal Church 116 W. Washington Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Paige Millburg
Ritt Deitz and Wilder Deitz.
press release: On Saturday, February 23, 2019, Wisconsin-based singer-songwriter Ritt Deitz plays an intimate duo-format show with his son, musician Wilder Deitz, in support of his 2018 Uvulittle Records, "Horses and Smoke."
A regular player at listening rooms and house concerts throughout Wisconsin and the Ohio Valley, acoustic roots rocker and Uvulittle recording artist Ritt Deitz grew up in Florence, Kentucky, and has been writing and recording since the age of eleven. The Onion’s AV Club called Ritt’s songs “concurrently earthy, ethereal and intelligent” and compared him to songwriters Greg Brown and Bruce Cockburn. According to Madison's Isthmus, "Deitz combines rugged mountain sonics with an aesthetic that’s closer to ragtime than anything else. At times, he resembles Tom Waits in his ability to marry sophistication with down-homeness, which he puts on full display in his ninth album, Horses and Smoke." Deitz also founded and directs the East Side Acoustic Ensemble, a two year-old pop-up community acoustic ensemble in Madison.
Wilder Deitz, folk/jazz pianist and leader of the neo-soul Wilder Deitz Group, grew up playing and touring with his dad and will join him on piano, guitar, accordion and vocals at this show at Grace Episcopal. Wilder's work is featured prominently on Horses and Smoke, and he plays regularly with his dad's quartet.