Singer/songwriter Joan Osborne’s latest work, “Radio Waves,” is a 13-song album, a unique, hand-picked assortment of her favorite and most captivating live appearances culled from 100-plus radio station performances over her 25-year career.
In support of the album release, Osborne is touring around the United States, including an intimate performance at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Thursday, April 7. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
Following the 2020 release of her critically acclaimed “Trouble and Strife,” Osborne canceled her touring plans and spent the lockdown like many others — visiting backburner projects and sorting through the contents of old, dusty shoeboxes.
“Most of my life’s work has disappeared without a trace,” Osborne said. “I’ve made 10-plus studio albums, but the vast majority of the songs I’ve sung hundreds and thousands of times over decades of touring across the globe, has never been recorded.”
What Osborne found buried deep within her closets were relics of those lost performances, time-capsule live recordings spotlighting her lightning-in-a-bottle dynamism. The tracks of “Radio Waves” cover a wide range in style and source material, exhibited in the album’s bookends, starting with “Saint Teresa” from a KCRW session in 1995 and ending on a take of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everybody is a Star” performed at KROQ in 2002.
Consistent throughout “Radio Waves” are Osborne’s big-time silky voice, soulful and smooth instrumentation from the likes of veteran accompanists Andrew Carillo and Jack Petruzzelli and a keen ear for heart-lifting song selections.
Inspiring, stylistic choices span classics like Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” as well as deeper cuts such as Bill Withers’ “Same Love That Made Me Laugh” and Toshi Reagon’s “Real Love.”
Throughout her 25-year, multi-Grammy nominated career, Osborne has never been an artist confined to one space. She has utilized her incredible voice through her own songs while also becoming one of her generation’s finest interpreters. “Radio Waves” is a living document of that.
Osborne’s performance at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall is set for 8 p.m. Thursday, April 7. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40-$50 and can be purchased at The St. Augustine Amphitheatre box office and at ticketmaster.com.
Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays. The box office accepts credit- and debit-card payments only.
Proof of a negative COVID test within 72 hours is required for this event. In the absence of the negative test, proof of vaccination may be accepted.
For more information, go to pvconcerthall.com/events/detail/joan-osborne.
