Simon Ritt

Along with Kelly Knapp, Simon Ritt has been the driving force behind THE DARLINGS ® - Boston's award winning country/rock mavericks. Influenced by everyone from Hank Williams to the British Invasion they have secured a Boston Music Award and won The Jim Beam Country Music Talent Search in Nashville, TN. They've played in punk-rock dives and old time country fairs and have opened for many of the best acts on the road including The Derailers, Jim Lauderdale, Kelly Willis, The Real Kids, The Bottle Rockets, Dash Rip Rock and Tom Petty to name a few. ______________________________________________________Moving to Boston in the 1980's Simon kicked around with a few outfits before starting The Darlings. As a kid he played some of his earliest gig's with the late, great Johnny Thunders, an experience of a lifetime that remains with him to this day. Later Ritt joined Unattached, Boston's hardest drinking band. Alice Cooper would go on to record 'Trash', an Unattached song and the title track to what would become the Coop's best selling record ever. Together with Joe Mazzari, Ritt helped form Two Saints, an unabashed celebration of 70's stadium rock. In the early 90's Two Saints toured the U.K. twice where they ate bad food, played on crappy 'borrowed' gear and smoked spliffs the size of a 4 cell flash light!______________________________________________________ On occasion Simon performs sans The Darlings under his own name. The music you'll hear at a Simon Ritt show is an organic mix of classic country, loud rock and ill-defined blues.