"These are great songs," wrote Gene Stout of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "written by a man with keen insight and a wonderful sense of humor."

Doug Bright, writing in Heritage Music Review, said, "Whatever his subject, Ritchie hits his target with a concise forcefulness that makes most other songwriters sound like poorly-designed robots."

Fast forward and Ritchie sits addressing an envelope containing a copy of the album - now on CD - to a fan in Louisiana.

"The master tape was so old we were afraid to unspool it and attempt a transfer," says Ritchie, "so JB (Jim Bachman of JB Productions in Seattle, WA) ran a copy of the cassette through his computers and was able to rescue the songs. You can hear everything...including how green I was as a producer; but the recording still has an essential energy that crackles. I think I like it more now that I did in 1984. It's great to finally have it safely out on CD."

A lot can happen in twenty-odd years. And it has. Ritchie has become a mainstay performer on the national touring circuit and has collected numerous songwriting awards along the way - a two-time finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk showcases, as well as a headline performer there; songwriting contest awards from the Napa Valley (CA), Sisters (OR) and Jubilee (CO) Folk Festivals. In both 2001 and 2005 he was the only double-showcase songwriter featured at the Walnut Valley Festival's new artist showcase in Kansas. Also in 2005 he was one of only a dozen finalists chosen from among more than twelve hundred applicants to showcase music at the Montain Stage Newsong Festival in West Virginia.

Three more CD's have followed Not Just Another Pretty Songwriter, each further underscoring Ritchie's reputation as a first-rate songwriter. He's performed at countless festivals and concert venues throughout the U.S. and in Canada, and continues to tour widely. He considers it the best job in the world.

"I come from a long line of blue-collar tradesmen," he says, "Carpenters. Farmers. Metal workers. My father was an electrician. I might have ended up doing something similar, but I discovered the guitar, and fell in love with words, and they spun me off onto this whole other tangent."

His transformation into musician began the summer of his sophomore year in college. "I was working on a wilderness trail crew in Montana," Ritchie remembers, "One of the crewmen had a guitar and in the evening after work he'd take it out and fingerpick the blues. I loved it. I remember thinking to myself, 'This is it. This I gotta learn.' That fall I bought my first guitar."

If Ritchie and his music have not exactly become household names, he shrugs philosophically. "There's a wonderful quote by the 19th century theologian Samuel Coley," he relates, '"The excellence of a circle lies in its roundness, not in it's bigness.' That's a very good way to think; and that's what I try to do in my work - make it excellent. Everything else will take care of itself." Time has proven him right on that account. Progress reports arrive in the mail, not from professional music critics, but from ordinary people with whom his music resonates deeply.

"Thank you for writing such thoughtful songs; I know they must be impacting many people. I thought you might like to know that they impacted me in a very meaningful way." - Rosemary; Texas

"I love your writing...clear, concise, using very simple language, and damned clever without ever seeming like you are trying to be." - Eric; Washington

"Terrific! Thanks so much." - Katie; Ohio

"You are an exceptional songwriter and performer." - Neil; Wyoming

"I love your music. Keep up the good work" - Don; California.

"...work of genius." - Bruce; Utah

Ritchie's songwriting is rich in roots influences - country, folk, swing, ragtime, with a bit of Piedmont and Delta blues mixed in. It's been described variously as "mongrel newfolk," "post-traditional," "modern americana" and "new acoustic." Labels aside, it's a potent mix that feels both up-to-the-minute contemporary and timelessly classic. Armed with an acoustic guitar, a keen eye for observation and an ear for language, Ritchie plies his trade. No bells and whistles here. What you see is what you get: first-rate songs, written with a poet's love of language and a storyteller's turn of phrase, performed with unapologetic enthusiasm by a player at the top of his game.