Singer/songwriter Tom Russell has the kind of background that comes in handy when writing songs espousing the wisdom learned on the long road of life.

A Los Angeles native, he earned a master’s degree in criminology, but instead of going into police work, went to Nigeria during the height of the Biafran war to teach criminology.

He has lived in Spain, was encouraged by Robert Hunter, of The Grateful Dead, to continue with music, then moved to Vancouver, B.C. where he started the long climb up the music career ladder by playing in the strip clubs of that city’s Skid Row. He’s been married and divorced. Had a few kids.

Rich material indeed. He has recorded 18 albums of original material, and is working on an Americana trilogy.

The first installment, “The Man From God Knows Where,” has been called “as close to a Homeric treatment of American history as we’re ever likely to see.” (Rolling Stone magazine.)

He recently released the second installment, “Hotwalker.”

These albums are not just an old cowpoke pluckin’ a geetar around the campfire. Russell incorporates the recorded rants of a circus midget and the voices of American legends living and dead, including Lenny Bruce, Jack Kerouac, Edward Abbey and Dave Van Ronk. The result is an edgy, beat-inspired commentary on America.

“The Man From God Knows Where” chronicles European immigration to America, particularly Russell’s own Irish and Scandinavian heritage. The album features a host of European and American performers playing Irish Uileann pipes, Norwegian fiddle and other traditional instruments.

Russell’s songs have been recorded by a wide range of folk icons, including Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith and Canadians Ian and Sylvia Tyson.

That criminology degree was not in vain — he’s published a detective novel, as well as a book of songwriter quotes, with Sylvia Tyson called “And Then I Wrote: The Songwriter Speaks.”

His song, “Outbound Plane” was co-written with Nanci Griffith and recorded by Suzy Bogguss, and was one of the most played AM radio songs of the 1990s.

Among his accolades is this ringing endorsement from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx: “Tom Russell is an original, a brilliant songwriter with a restless curiosity and an almost violent imagination.”

At 65, he is still touring regularly, and makes a stop in Kitsap County to play at Island Center Hall Feb. 17. The 8 p.m. concert is sponsored by local concert promoter Susan Goodwin and Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District.

Advance tickets are $18 adults, $10 children younger than 12, available by calling Goodwin at (206) 842-6140. Tickets at the door are $20 adults, $10 children younger than 12.

Island Center Hall is located at 8395 Fletcher Bay Rd., Bainbridge Island. wu