Brian Ritchie (born November 21, 1960) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza ( ...

. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence in Australia. In 2007 the Violent Femmes broke up acrimoniously after an argument between Ritchie and singer Gordon Gano. The band eventually re-formed and still tours today. It has since released several albums including Hotel Last Resort in 2019. Ritchie was curator of MONA FOMA festival at Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania from 2007 until it was discontinued in 2024. In addition to his bass playing, Ritchie is proficient at the

shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

, a Japanese

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

flute. He acquired a Jun Shihan (shakuhachi teaching license) in March 2003 from James Nyoraku Schlefer, and his professional name is "Tairaku" ("big music" in Japanese). Ritchie has released three solo albums: in 1987, "The Blend," in 1989, "Sonic Temple & Court of Babylon" and "I See A Noise" in 1990. In 2007 Ritchie produced and toured with the Italian punk/folk band The Zen Circus, which subsequently changed its name to The Zen Circus and Brian Ritchie. The first international album of the band, '' Villa Inferno'', was released in 2008 for the Italian record label Unhip Records. In 2008, Ritchie and his wife, Varuni Kulasekera, moved to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he has guested in a band called The Green Mist. Ritchie does most of his work in DV (David Vartanian) Studios. On Australia Day 2012, Ritchie and his wife were naturalised as Australian citizens. In 2009 he curated the first Mona Foma (MoFo) festival in Hobart, Tasmania. Since 2009 he has curated Mona Foma every year until 2024. At the 2012 MoFo, he organised an impromptu performance of the entire Violent Femmes first album by a 'super band' consisting of musicians playing at MoFo: the Dresden Dolls ( Amanda Palmer, vocals, and Brian Viglione, drums), two musicians touring with

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

's band (

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

, guitar, and

John Parish John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...

) and with Brian Ritchie himself on bass guitar and vibraphone. In 2010 he toured as bassist with the Australian surf instrumental band called The Break, composed of

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

members

Rob Hirst Robert George Hirst (born 3 September 1955) is an Australian musician from Camden, New South Wales. He is a founding member of rock band Midnight Oil on drums, percussion and backing vocals (sometimes lead vocals) from the 1970s until the band ...

Jim Moginie James 'Jim' Moginie (born 18 May 1956) is an Australian musician. He is best known for his work with Midnight Oil, of which he is a founding member, guitarist, keyboardist and leading songwriter. Career In addition to Midnight Oil, Moginie ha ...

and Martin Rotsey. Their debut album ''Church of the Open Sky'' was released on April 16, 2010, on the independent label Bombora, distributed by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. In 2011 his home in Tasmania, designed by architect Stuart Tanner, was featured on the TV series ''Sandcastles''.

Discography

*1987 – ''The Blend'' (LP) *1989 – ''Sonic Temple & Court of Babylon'' (LP) *1989 – "Sun Ra – Man from Outer Space" (single) *1990 – ''I See a Noise'' (LP) *2004 – ''Shakuhachi Club NYC'' (LP) *2006 – ''Ryoanji'' (LP) *2007 – ''Taimu'' (LP) *2008 – '' Villa Inferno'' (LP with The Zen Circus) *2010 – ''Church of the Open Sky'' (with The Break) * 2011 – ''Tea Life'' (with Silas Be Ritchie) * 2012 – ''Tea Life 2'' (with Silas Be Ritchie) * 2013 – ''Space Farm'' (with The Break) * 2013 – ''Tea Life 3 / Teenage Strangler'' 12" vinyl split (with Silas Be Ritchie) * 2019 – ''Hotel Last Resort'' / (with Violent Femmes)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Brian 1960 births Living people American bass guitarists Shakuhachi players Guitarists from Wisconsin Musicians from Milwaukee American emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia Violent Femmes members American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American male bass guitarists 20th-century American flautists