Another ‘Historical Conquest’ for Ritter

INTERVIEW. When Josh Ritter hit the road in 2007 for his fifth album, “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter,” he couldn’t imagine that the tour would  eventually add a monumental concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra. We caught up with Ritter last week in Nashville, where he was recording songs from his previous three records solo and acoustically, “just ‘cuz,” he says, mysteriously.

Have you played Symphony Hall before?
Never. I’ve never actually been there. I’ve never been allowed [Laughs]. I feel like you have to be Metallica before you get to get this far.

If Metallica can do it, you can do it.
Exactly. My ego’s just as big.

I was thinking more musically. So, your band will be playing with you?
Definitely. I’d be in serious trouble if they didn’t play. All our families are coming from all over the country.

This has to be a career high.
Yes it is. I really started in Boston. My first time playing there was my spring break from college. I drove out [from Oberlin College in Ohio] to Passim to play the open mic. I remember the first time selling out the Kendall Café and the first time getting to play The Paradise. That was the day Johnny Cash died. There are all these gigs that I remember and they were all my first big gigs in Boston. This is right up there with that.

Any career lows?
I believe in cultivating optimism. It’s better than the alternative. Especially when I’m on the road, I try not to think backwards or forwards too much. In terms of gigs, there have been some that feel like a career low. The dressing room in Sheffield, England was definitely a career low.

A bad gig?
The gig was fine, but they had sandwiches that were mayonnaise and grapes and there was no light. We thought there was a dead guy in the middle of the room. It was called the Cold Turkey Club.

Who the heck thought of grape and mayonnaisesandwiches?
I don’t know. It was a passing acquaintance with vegetarianism.

Are you a vegetarian?
No, and I swore it off forever after a grape and mayonnaise sandwich.

An Evening with Josh Ritter and the Boston Pops Orchestra
Friday, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall
301 Mass. Ave., Boston
MBTA: Green E Line to Symphony
$21-$76, 888-266-1200
www.bso.org