Editor’s note: Due to concerns about the new coronavirus, please check event and venue websites for the latest information on possible cancellations.
Joan Osborne is a bit anxious.
The rock singer, best known for the monster 1995 pop-rock hit “One of Us,” has just had a slew of shows canceled — three in Washington state, one in Portland, Ore. She is scrambling to reschedule another in California.
In the 21st-century music industry, artists make the bulk of their money on tour, so losing four shows is more than a blip. But so it goes in the era of the coronavirus threat. On Thursday, when the singer was interviewed by phone from Los Angeles, the pandemic had shuttered Broadway, Disneyland and all or most of pro and college sports. Few who are losing those events from their lives have the silver lining Osborne has: Canceled shows might mean more time for her and her 15-year-old daughter in Hawaii.
That they might get more time in the islands to surf and hike is what keeps Osborne’s anxiety to a minimum. When they last visited four years ago, Osborne did some stand-up paddling, and they both took a surf lesson.
“The waves are so gentle there and so perfect for learning,” the New York resident said.
Osborne’s concert at Iao Theater on March 22 caps three shows in three nights on three islands. Her original itinerary had her headed to the Northwest just two nights later, but the sudden hole in her schedule might allow her more time on Maui, where she has performed before but hasn’t had the opportunity to explore beyond a drive down the road to Hana.
“It’s like paradise on Earth. … It is an amazing place.”
There are two facets to Osborne’s career right now: the singer/songwriter and the interpretive vocalist.
Her next project, tentatively titled “Trouble and Strife” and targeted for a September release, comes from the former. It contains what Osborne called her most political work yet and is “a response to what’s been happening in the world in the last few years.” She cited corruption and negligence toward the climate crisis as two of the issues she attacks but said the album’s ultimate goal is to provide hope and bring our divided nation together.
“It’s important at a time when it’s easy to get discouraged for music to uplift people and to allow them to stay connected to this joy of being alive,” Osborne said.
The other album Osborne is working on is the next in what she calls her Songbook Series, in which she takes on an album’s worth of her favorite songs from one artist. She plans to follow up her well-received 2017 album of Bob Dylan songs with a set of Tom Waits covers that she worked on during a recent residency at New York’s Carlyle Cafe.
Though Osborne is an accomplished songwriter, it is somewhat fitting that she makes room for her interpretations of other artists’ work, given that her biggest hit, “One of Us,” was written by Eric Bazilian of the Hooters.
She has only one regret about the song that sparked her career.
“I wish that I had written it because then I would have more money right now,” she laughed. “You certainly can’t complain about having a giant hit song. It allowed me to tour all around the world, and the notoriety that that song brought me really opened up a lot of doors for me. I was able to sing with Luciano Pavarotti in Italy and sing with Stevie Wonder.”
The album it came from — her debut, “Relish” — sold 3 million copies. That early success has allowed Osborne the freedom to be the artist she wants to be and make music she finds interesting and fulfilling.
“I don’t have to try to chase another hit song. … That’s a really privileged place to be.”
—
JOAN OSBORNE
with special guest Rocky Rose
>> When: 7:30 p.m. March 22
>> Where: Iao Theater
>> Tickets: $42.50-$59.50
>> Info: mauionstage.com
