Anders Osborne was born in 1966 in Uddevalla, Sweden.  At the age of 7 his family moved to Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, an island known for its artist-friendly atmosphere, ancient architecture and serene landscape, captured so poignantly by resident and famed movie director Ingmar Bergman in several of his films. Anders’ father, a professional drummer who toured northern Europe with various jazz and popular rock bands throughout the sixties, would bring home early reel to reel bootleg recordings of contemporaries like Little Richard, Fats Domino, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, “Cannonball” Adderley, Bobby Womack and the Valentinos, John Coltrane, Jimmy Smith and Charlie Parker.  Listening to all of this music paved the way for an aspiring young artist. Osborne began playing drums, piano, guitar, and singing in local groups, performing his own compositions as well as songs by singer-songwriters of the time, including Van Morrison, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.
 
Anders left home at age sixteen and hitchhiked south.  He spent the years that followed working odd jobs and playing music throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, then across the U.S. and eventually ending up in Louisiana in1985.  New Orleans was a perfect match for Osborne, with its mixture of Afro/Euro culture, vibrant lifestyle and welcoming attitude, the city was reminiscent of the stories told by his grandfather, a life-long sailor and resident of New Orleans during the twenties, thirties, and forties.  Anders remembers his grandfather’s stories of travelers, seekers, and eccentric people from all around the world meeting up in the colorful port towns like New Orleans.
 
During his first decade in New Orleans, Anders lived in the lower part of Decatur Street in the French Quarter, where a thriving art scene kept poets, painters and musicians inspired and afloat. It was during this time that Osborne met Theresa Andersson, a seventeen-year-old singer and violin player from his native country.  They fell in love and formed a band around 1988.  They began playing weekly Tuesday night gigs at a then-new joint called Checkpoint Charlie’s, a 24-hour bar, Laundromat, pool hall, and burger place at the corner of Esplanade and Decatur, in the Marigny.  Soon the gigs became packed with artists, pool sharks, hustlers, drinkers and psychedelic adventurers of all kinds.
 
Bolstered by the success of the scene that developed around Checkpoint’s, Osborne landed an independent record deal with Rabadash Records out of New Orleans, and cut Doin’ Fine in 1989,Osborne’s first full length recording as a solo artist, influenced by all the great local music coming out of Louisiana at the time. The album featured Anders’original recordings of songs like “Louisiana Rain,” “Oh Mama,” and “Life is Strange,” among others; tunes that are still live show favorites today.  In 1993 he recorded Break the Chain also for Rabadash Records. Osborne and Andersson began to develop a distinct style, incorporating syncopated beats and hook sensibility with folky overtones reminiscent of early Ry Cooder.
 
Anders and his band toured the country hard during these years and in 1995, he was signed to Okeh Records, which had just been revived by Sony's Michael Caplan.  [Okeh was originally founded in 1916 and is credited with releasing the first blues record – Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" – in 1920.]  For Okeh, Anders cut Which Way to Here, co-produced by his then-manager and bass player of “Louisiana Le Roux,” Leon Medica.  Which Way to Here dealt with spirituality, tolerance and issues of settling down on foreign soil.  The record received rave reviews world wide and became Osborne’s first commercial break with two top-five singles on the national charts, “Favorite Son” and “Pleasin’ You.” Both were featured in several Hollywood movies, and the latter was later recorded by Johnny Lang.  Anders also recorded a second CD for Sony’s Okeh label, called New Madrid.  These recordings were never released, though they toured the U.S. extensively behind the Okeh record. One of these live performances was captured on the record -  Live at Tipitina’s, released in 1998.
 
Shanachie Entertainment signed Osborne in 1998 and in 1999 released Living Room, a stripped-down and very personal record that signified some new directions in Anders’ music.  Osborne here sings from a darker side, touching on his breakup with Andersson, drug use, family death and the personal struggles of a man trying to get back up on his feet.  The record was praised and called a masterpiece of modern songwriting, making it to many “top ten” lists. The album was also nominated for a Grammy.
 
Around this time, Osborne found some musical soul mates.  Kirk Joseph, the original sousaphone player in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, joined his band in 1997, and tenor saxophone player Tim Green joined in not long thereafter. Mixing Kirk’s traditional jazz roots and deep grooves, Green’s love for Nordic folk music and modern jazz, and Anders’ singer-songwriter talent and slide guitar, resulted in a very unique brand of rock music that still defines the core sound of his current touring band.
 
Anders also dried out during this time. He found his wife, and made a beautiful musical tribute to these things on his 2000 release Ash Wednesday Blues, which is still hailed as his most mature and his best record to date.  Ash Wednesday Blues is the other side of Living Room – offering a joyous and vibrant outlook on what life has to offer a man back on his feet.
 
In 1994, Anders began working as a professional songwriter in Nashville, first for Polygram and then for Universal.  There he spent a couple of weeks each month, writing and producing for/with other artists and having a new kind of success. His song, “Watch the Wind Blow By,” was recorded by country music star Tim McGraw, hitting No. 1 on the country charts for 2 weeks and selling over 3 million albums.  Osborne’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Keb’ Mo’, Tab Benoit, Double Trouble, Dr John, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and many others who have garnered Anders’ Grammy Awards for songwriting and producing.
 
Today continues to live in New Orleans, with his wife and two children, writing and recording eminently hummable songs that touch on life, love, friendship, struggle and renewal.  His newest release, Coming Down on M.C. Records, was mostly cut at a friend’s home studio in Nashville.  What he was after, says Anders, is a CD that people could feel happy listening to, that was bright and light. Any messages – assuming you find some that might be meaningful to you – are delivered in little statements and details, the way most people experience their lives. And listening to the songs on this CD, there are many moments where you will smile to yourself or nod in acclimation which are, in fact, mostly quiet moments arrived at almost privately, while driving down the road, preparing dinner, or playing with the dog.
 
There is no question that Anders’ perspective has been influenced by the events of Hurricane Katrina. Although he was not in New Orleans at the time, his family was and rode out the storm. Later, the Osbornes lived for six weeks in Nashville until they could return to their home. In the two years since the storm, Anders’ observation is that the emphasis of outsiders and politicians if often in the wrong place.  It is not so much a matter of rebuilding, but of healing a broken heart. It is the experience, let’s say, of your best friend now living in California, or a 29.9% credit note, or the awful feeling that, in dealing with Katrina, America forgot that it isn’t a place you are from but an idea worth saving. Anders addresses this feeling of destitution on Coming Down with his song “Katrina,” which likens the storm to an especially mean-hearted lover in the best tradition of the blues.
 
These days, Anders splits his time between writing at home and playing live shows out on the road. He says that one thing Katrina has taught him is that the little things we desire and count on really do need to be acknowledged. While the modern world’s tendency is to pick things apart and analyze them, so academic and intellectual, our efforts rarely illuminate what makes us feel good or our true soul. Perhaps that is Anders Osborne’s mission, contained in just a little story, lovingly written and tenderly played.