Lee Ritenour set to release Dreamcatcher, his first-ever solo guitar album
The 12 tracks of Dreamcatcher are said to rank amongst the “most melodic and tinglingly beautiful” in Ritenour’s catalogue.
The music is a result of dire yet life-affirming circumstances. In 2018, Ritenour’s house and studio in Malibu, Calif., burnt down. He and his family were safe, but he lost about 100 guitars, 40 amps and lots of his music in the fire. Then a week later, he underwent surgery to replace an aortic valve.
“Those incidents and the support from my family and friends absolutely went into this music,” he says. “Making this record was a life-saver for me.”
The recording of Dreamcatcher also took place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Ritenour working out of the makeshift studio at his new home in Marina Del Rey.
“It was an important album for me — especially now, with everything going on in the world,” he says. “I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s an important missing piece in my guitar history. It was inspiring and it was meant to happen this year, in these times. After a lifetime of playing the guitar, this project reaffirmed just how much I love the guitar.”