RAHWAY, NJ — Joan Osborne is a great artist in her own right, and she’ll be performing the songs of Bob Dylan at the Union County Performing Arts Center.
On Friday, June 6, Osborne, along with a full band, will be performing the songs from new live release “Dylanology Live.” Her special guests will be Anders Osborne, Gail Ann Dorsey and Cindy Cashdollar, with Will Bryant and Lee Falco.
Back in 2017, the Grammy-nominated artist released the critically acclaimed album “Songs of Bob Dylan.” Some of the songs on that album included “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Buckets of Rain,” “Dark Eyes,” “Spanish Harlem Incident,” “Ring Them Bells” and “Highway 61 Revisited.”
This time around, Osborne will revisit such songs as “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Buckets of Rain” and “Spanish Harlem Incident,” while exploring such classics as “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” with Jackie Greene and Robert Randolph, “Rainy Day Women No. 12 and 35,” with Jackie Greene, and “Tonight I’ll be Staying Here With You,” also with Jackie Greene.
The idea of a singer/songwriter performing the work of another singer/songwriter was an idea Osborne said she stole from Ella Fitzgerald. “Back in the ’50s and ’60s, she did a songbook series,” said Osborne. “She would choose one songwriter and do an entire record of their material. I thought that would be such a cool thing to do.”
During the “Dylanology Live” performances, fans will hear exclusively Dylan songs. But it’s also the 30th anniversary of Osborne’s debut album “Relish” which was released in 1995. That album has her best-known recording, “One of Us,” which was penned by Eric Bazilian, founding member of The Hooters.
For Osborne’s upcoming tour, in addition to “Dylanology Live,” there will be shows focusing on the “Relish” album.
“I’m excited,” said Osborne, in regard to the tour. “I’m so grateful I can do this after all this time.”
While it’s a great job, it’s also not an easy job, she explained. “Conditions physically, night after night,” she said. “The older I get, the harder traveling is on my body.”
Osborne nourishes her body by spending time practicing yoga and Pilates, as well as working on her voice, in order to feel strong and capable. She said, “I give the audience the show they deserve, and I can be proud of.”
Now in her early 60s, Osborne feels it’s a good time in life. “I feel energetic and very optimistic,” she said. “Creatively, it’s a very rewarding time. As a singer, my voice has matured in a way. I don’t have the same range as in my 20s, but my tone is more beautiful.”
When Osborne has free time, she enjoys fixing up her house. She said, “I have an old house in the Catskills. I like to spend time up here. I’m not going to be able to grow a garden. In the past, I loved growing vegetables and flowers, digging my hands into the earth. There’s something primal about that.”
She’s also being conscious of how she spends her time. “I want to spend my time with family and friends. My mother is in her 90s, in Kentucky.”
To learn more about Joan Osborne, visit: https://joanosborne.com/.
For tickets to see Joan Osborne at UCPAC, visit https://ucpac.org/.
Photo Courtesy of Laura Crosta