Today, Ritt Momney, the rising lo-fi bedroom artist from Salt Lake City, releases his long-awaited, stunning debut album, Her and All of My Friends. This record is highly influenced by Jack Rutter's (aka Ritt Momney's) Mormon upbringing and estrangement from the church; Her and All of My Friends is a raw, emotional collection of beautiful melodies.
Rutter's first single from HAAOMF, "On Love (An Alternative Response To Almitra's Request),"'s title is a nod to Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, a book consisting of 26 prose poetry fables. Rutter traces a lot of parallels between this book and HAAOMF. The second single from HAAOMF, "(If) the Book Doesn't Sell," is a narrative that dives deep into the personal history and relationship Rutter has with his Mormon upbringing after he stopped believing and left the church, a reoccurring theme mentioned throughout the album. "It's a call for everyone out there who thinks they have 'the truth' to sit down and let me find my own," shares Rutter. "I realized that I didn't have to feel guilty for 'falling away' and I began noticing some of the very toxic aspects of the church's culture - specifically its emphasis on the 'one true church' idea and how that perpetuates pride, judgment, and the trapped, guilty feeling that had largely defined my life since sophomore year of high school."
Her and All of My Friends is a collection of songs Rutter began writing and producing after graduating high school in 2017. He explores the emotional toil of growing up and moving on (or, rather, the inability to do so). "The summer after graduation, about 90% of my friends left on missions and my girlfriend went off to college. This sense of loss and loneliness, coupled with the religion stuff I was grappling with at the time, caused for a really, really hard year and a half or so. I was really depressed, but I was really thinking a lot. And I like to think of this album as a collection of those thoughts."
1. I
2. Lew's Lullaby
3. Command V
4. On Love (An Alternative Response to Almitra's Request)
5. Surely, You'd Burn the Same
6. Phoebe
7. II
8. Pollution / Disclaimer
9. Paper News
10. Something, In General
11. Wormwood
12. (If) the Book Doesn't Sell
13. III
Jul 19 -- Salt Lake City, UT -- Kilby Court - SOLD OUT
Jul 20 -- Salt Lake City, UT -- Kilby Court - SOLD OUT
Aug 2 -- San Diego, CA -- House of Blues
Aug 3 -- Los Angeles, CA -- The Roxy Theatre
Aug 4 -- San Francisco, CA -- Slim's
Aug 6 -- Seattle, WA -- The Crocodile Back Bar
Aug 7 -- Portland, OR -- MCMENAMINS ROOM
Sep 8 -- Denver, CO -- Lost Lake
Sep 9 -- Wichita, KS -- Kirby's Beer Store
Sep 10 -- Austin, TX -- Cheer Up Charles
Sep 11 -- San Antonio, TX -- Limelight
Sep 12 -- Houston, TX -- Axelrad
Sep 13 -- Dallas, TX -- Ruin's
Sep 14 -- Hot Springs, AR -- Maxine's
Sep 15 -- Atlanta, GA -- Mothers
Sep 16 -- Charlotte, NC -- Evening Muse
Sep 18 -- Washington D.C. -- Songbyrd
Sep 19 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Everybody Hits
Sep 20 -- New York City, NY -- Elsewhere (Zone One)
Sep 22 -- Somerville, MA -- Once Ballroom
Sep 23 -- Cleveland, OH -- Beachland Tavern
Sep 26 -- Madison, WI -- The Winnebago
Sep 27 -- Milwaukee, WI -- Boone & Crockett
Sep 28 -- Bloomington, IL -- Nightshop
Sep 30 -- Sioux City, IA -- Whiskey Dick's
Oct 1 -- Des Moines, IA -- Vaudeville News
Oct 2 -- Iowa City, IA -- Yacht Club
Oct 3 -- St. Louis, MO -- Rubar
Raised in a family of devout Mormons, Jack Rutter (aka Ritt Momney) appeared pretty devout also until his senior year of high school. Two years earlier he had decided he was either agnostic or atheist, but was afraid of telling family and friends, as he had heard Mormons talk about others who had "fallen away." Halfway through his senior year, despite his skepticism, he was planning on serving a two-year mission for the church. He felt the mission work would be easier than dealing with the social backlash that comes with staying home. The backlash itself, he says, "is not malicious and manifests itself mostly in forms of passive-aggression and condescension." But telling his family was the more daunting prospect--they'd be spending a literal eternity in the celestial kingdom (highest form of heaven) without their son. "I was sure my entire community, including my family, would look at me the same way I'd looked at people who'd left the church when I was younger - 'that's so sad' and 'I pray for him every night' and 'we really need to get her back to church' were phrases I'd heard and spoken often," says Rutter.
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