A sample of some obscure – and maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.

Today’s selection: Josh Ritter – Harrisburg 2002

Josh Ritter was born in 1976 in Moscow, Idaho – “beautiful little town in the middle of wheat fields in the northern part of Idaho.“. After graduating from high school, he entered an Ohio college to study neuroscience but ended up creating his own major in “American History Through Narrative Folk Music” and recorded his debut album on campus. After graduation, he moved to Scotland for 6 months, then back to the States, then to Ireland as an opening act for Irish band The Flames.

His father had grown up in Pennsylvania and on family trips as a child from a small town, the dome of the capital Harrisburg made an impression on him, eventually inspiring his song “Harrisburg” released in 2002. “The song of ‘Harrisburg’ was much longer, initially, and I thought of this person desperately trying to make their way to a place that they hope would be better, and Harrisburg was that place.“

It’s a long way to Heaven, it’s closer to Harrisburg
And that’s still a long way from the place where we are
And if evil exists, it’s a pair of train tracks
And the devil is a railroad car

He worked with Bob Weir on Weir’s third solo album, Blue Mountain

Josh Ritter has now released 13 albums. About his latest, I Believe in You, My Honeydew (2025):
“That’s the best part about songs, is that what comes out is never what you think is going to come out and you can’t ever run away from yourself. I’m so proud that you can hear Idaho in there because that’s under there all the time. And I feel like I draw on it sometimes without even knowing.”