Anders Osborne

Anders Osborne
Anders Osborne at New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2010
Background information
Birth name	Anders Osborne
Born	(1966-05-04) 4 May 1966 (age 50) Uddevalla, Sweden
Genres	Americana (music), Rock, R&B, blues
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, singer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1989-present
Labels	Alligator Records Rabadash Records Okeh Records Shanachie Records
Associated acts	The Revivalists, Galactic, Tab Benoit, Johnny Sansone, Billy Iuso, Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, Theresa Andersson, Kirk Joseph, Phil Lesh & Friends
Website	Andersosborne.com/

Anders Osborne (born 1966, Uddevalla, Sweden) is an American singer and songwriter.

As a teen, Anders started playing guitar and listening to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell records. He fell in love with the vocal styles of Ray Charles, Van Morrison and Lowell George. Then he heard the blues of Robert Johnson and recordings of African drumming, and suddenly, everything clicked. "Blues connected everything together for me," Osborne recalls. "The early rock, the R&B, the jazz, the singer-songwriters. Blues was like a thread running through everything." He began playing in Open D tuning (a rare choice for a guitar virtuoso), which gives his fretwork a signature sound and feel. "I first heard Open D on Joni Mitchell's Blue," he says, "and my fingers just fit the tuning."

Anders left home at age sixteen, and hitchhiked and played music throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. He settled in New Orleans in 1985 and still calls Louisiana his home.

During his first decade in New Orleans, Anders lived in the French Quarter and Mid-City. He played regularly in local clubs, and after gaining a following, Anders received an independent record deal with Rabadash Records out of New Orleans, and released Doin' Fine in 1989.

Anders and his band toured the U.S. during these years and in 1995, he was signed to Okeh Records. He released Which Way to Here, an album that dealt with spirituality and tolerance. The record became Osborne's first commercial break with two top-five singles "Favorite Son" and "Pleasin' You." Both were featured in several Hollywood movies, and the latter was later recorded by Jonny Lang.