Josh Ritter
Tuesday, December 11
Club Passim, Harvard Square
7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $35-$75 (SOLD OUT)

When Josh Ritter closed his most recent Somerville show with a rambled monologue in which he dispensed impractical driving directions from Davis Square to Canada (via the Fresh Pond Whole Foods) and plugged his two upcoming benefit concerts at Passim, Bostonist jumped at the chance to see him in such a cozy, acoustic-friendly venue—and so did everyone else, apparently. Tomorrow night's "(mostly) solo" shows are sold out, but the charity auction continues on Ebay until the 14th; proceeds from both go toward medical care for his friend Kate who's been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30.

Mr. Ritter won the 2007 Boston Music Awards' Outstanding Singer/Songwriter of the Year (despite having absconded to Idaho), and we've seen much grander venues fall into a reverent hush to hear his every warble, so we know why the $75 seats sold (and why supplicants on Craigslist would pay even more). As for the auction: now's your chance to get autographed objets de rock, or a personalized voicemail greeting, or to have a special person in your life be serenaded by Josh Ritter's impressively mustachioed bassist and "Nessie, possibly the world's only dragon-shaped tuba."

Josh Ritter with Sam Kassirer, Zack Hickman, and Zack Hickman's facial hair photographed in Copley Square circa 2006.