Cliff Ritchey

Cliff Ritchey gathers his songwriting inspiration from the simple country life he surrounds himself with in Markleville, Indiana. In 2004 he released his first solo album This Is Front, followed by All Kidding Aside (2006), Seasons (2013) , The Second Half (2017) featuring the song “Honey Baby” which won 1st place in the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition (featured judges Andrew Marlin, Rodney Crowell, & Johnny Williams) and 3rd place in the International Songwriting Competition (featured judges included Tom Waits, Lorde, Ziggy Marley & and others). Stylistically Cliff’s songwriting ranges from acoustic heartfelt Americana/Folk tunes to songs with complex progressions and melodies that fit tightly inside a simple acoustic production. His latest album For the Lost and Let Down (2019) is exactly this and is steeped in the sounds of musical greats like Johnny Cash, Ryan Adams and Ron Sexsmith. Cliff has also served as a touring guitarist for Jon McLaughlin, Josh Kaufman (winner of The Voice Season 6) and Latin recording artist Jaci Velasquez in addition to raising a family and maintaining a full schedule as a commercial photographer.