With a personal take on country and folk that is distinctly California in nature, singer and songwriter Carly Ritter -- the daughter of actor John Ritter and granddaughter of Tex Ritter -- wouldn't have been out of place in the 1960s pop and folk world of artists like Jackie DeShannon and Buffy Sainte-Marie. A graduate of Vassar, she has been as likely to cite Soren Kierkegaard as an influence on her songwriting as Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, or Joni Mitchell. Her debut album, Carly Ritter, including guest contributions not only from Joachim Cooder but also his father Ry, as well as Robert Francis and Francis' sister Juliette Commagere, appeared from Vanguard in 2013. ~ Steve Leggett