ENTERTAINMENT

Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne is excited to be back and making music ahead of Savannah show

Christopher Berinato
For Do Savannah

“What if God was one of us?”

The infectious melody and hook of Joan Osborne’s hit 1995 single, “One of Us,” will now probably be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

“One of Us,” (written by Eric Bazilian of the Hooters) and its accompanying album, "Relish," thrust Osborne into stardom with the album becoming a Top 10 hit and earning seven Grammy nominations. Osborne is considered one of the most powerful voices in music and the success of "Relish" opened a lot of doors for the artist.

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Osborne co-headlined the 1997 Lilith Fair, toured with the Grateful Dead, sang duets with Bob Dylan and Luciano Pavarotti, sang with Motown house band the Funk Brothers, and was invited by Stevie Wonder to help induct Gladys Knight and the Pips into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

After album sales began to slow down, Osborne left the corporate music industry grind and forged an enduring career on her own terms.

Joan Osborne

“I’m not in the situation where people at a major label are expecting me to sell millions of copies,” said Osborne in a phone interview. “People don’t do that that much anymore anyways, unless you’re Beyoncé or something. The business has changed and my situation within it has also changed, but I never got in this in order to become a big star or something. I just always loved performing live, so for me I’ve been able to land in this very satisfying place of having enough of a fanbase where people are still interested in what I’m doing and still come out to the shows, and some of them still buy the records and vinyl and stuff, but I don’t have this expectation from being part of some corporate structure.”

“It’s very freeing to know that I can follow my own instincts and desires to do the kind of music I want to do, and hopefully these fans will stick with me like they have over the years.”

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Besides being a singer-songwriter, Osborne has earned a reputation for her ability to interpret the music of other artists. Osborne held three cabaret residencies at Manhattan's famous Café Carlyle where she sang the songs of Bob Dylan.

“I feel like I’m lucky to be able to walk on both sides of the street that way. I do love writing songs and creating something that never existed before, and having my own ideas and my own point-of-view out there in musical form. But, there’s also a whole lot of other great songs out there, so as singer, I don’t want to limit myself to only the songs that I write, so it’s nice to be able to do both.”

Joan Osborne

Osborne has recorded over a dozen albums including a collection of Bob Dylan covers, and 2020’s "Trouble and Strife" (released on her own record label, Womanly Hips), which features her wonderful original songs and spans several genres, all of which showcase her amazing vocal range.

“I think it’s my job to communicate what the song is trying to communicate,” Osborne said of the variety of song styles on "Trouble and Strife."

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The songs on "Trouble and Strife" are her most political to date and show several sides of her voice through an array of musical styles including rock, country, blues, and disco. “It’s almost like playing a character,” explained Osborne. “You don’t necessarily have to have be all about you, it’s about what is this song trying to say. I try to make that my Northstar, as opposed to having a particular style.”

Singer Joan Osborne arrives at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles. The Grammy-nominated singer of the hit “One of Us” has put together an album of her unique takes on 13 of his classic songs.

Osborne’s latest release is "Radio Waves," a compilation of old live recordings from radio station appearances over her career. The project was born out of being quarantined during the pandemic and digging through some old boxes in the back of her closets while doing some overdue deep cleaning.

“I found all these boxes and it turned out there were a lot of CDs and tapes and files in there,” said Osborne. “Normally I would tape the box back up and put it away again, but I had a lot of time on my hands and started listening through stuff. I was really pleasantly surprised at what I had. Because it was from these radio station visits that I’ve done over the years, a lot of it was really high audio quality. We looked at it and I thought if we can’t go out on the road and bring the music to our fans in that way, maybe we can make something out of this and release something so that they can get some music.”

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Of course, with hundreds of found recordings not everything was a hidden gem, but they did put Osborne in a reflective mood about her successful career.

“It’s a little bit like looking at old pictures of yourself from high school, like, ‘Oh my God, my hair was terrible.’,” recalled Osborne. “Some of it I felt like I was probably over singing at that point, but still there was a lot of stuff that surprised me. I’m normally my own worst critic, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good a lot of the stuff sounded.”

Joan Osborne

“I found things like rehearsal cassettes from the late 80s. It was way, way back. I think it really gave me a perspective on how fortunate I’ve been to be able to do this for my living. I’m very much aware that it’s a privilege to be a musician, and I think seeing the whole path that I’ve come from in that way really brought that home for me again. It’s not like it’s an easy life — it’s not, there are a lot of challenges — but, it’s so wonderful to be able to make music and play music live for real human beings as a job.”

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Old recordings are special, but Osborne is excited to get back to what she loves most — performing live. Osborne will make a welcome appearance at District Live in Plant Riverside with her trio that includes guitarist Jack Petruzzelli (Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright), and Keith Cotton on keyboards. Osborne’s voice remains as powerful and versatile as ever, so it promises to be a terrific show.

And if you are struggling with getting “One of Us” out of your head, Osborne has a suggestion.

“Just listen to the rest of the record, or some of the other ones,” Osborne said with a laugh. “That’s your cure.”

IF YOU GO

What: Joan Osborne

When: Sunday at 8 p.m.

Where: District Live, 400 W. River St.

Cost: $55-60

Info: www.plantriverside.com