Still One Of Us: Joan Osborne To Play Ridgefield Playhouse Tomorrow

If all you know about Joan Osborne is that song with the controversial lyrics and chiming guitars, you're being shortchanged.

This singer, fully-versed in sixties-soul, country, pop and rock, will unleash all her impressive eclecticism 8 p.m. Sunday at The Ridgefield Playhouse. Not that she won't sing the haunting hit, "One Of Us," but it's just a little bit of what she does.

"Recently, I debuted my song cycle, 'Love and Hate,' in the Allen Room of Lincoln Center," Osborne told Patch. "I also have a rock-and-roll side project with Audley Freed and Steve Gorman of The Black Crowes — I love all kinds of music and I don't want to be known for any one thing."

Just to recap, Osborne started singing in Manhattan in the late-1980s. She released one album independently, then composed the record, "Relish," with the hot-button hit that bravely asked, "What if God was one of us?"

She got Grammy nominations by the score, played Lilith Fair, and everybody thought they had her pegged as an alterna-siren with a pierced nose and a certain folk-rock sound. 

"Relish" sold a ton. Subsequent recordings? Not so much. People wondered if what they knew about Joan Osborne was entirely correct.

Well, one of the things that occurred a few years later is something she should be known for. This would be her show stopping performance in the concert film, "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown." A documentary about the session men who backed the singers of that legendary label, Osborne's performance of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a fine example of one of the genres she does so brilliantly.

The fact that Osborne sings so many genres so well, from soul to alternative, has kept her busy in the music business, but may have hurt her a bit commercially. It seems that people can't quite get a beat on what she does specifically.

Which is totally okay with her.

"There are a couple of reasons I don't really have a record label right now," Osborne said. "One, of course, is that things in the music business are currently so crazy — it's like the Wild West. Who knows if your company will even be there tomorrow?"

"Also, I like doing one-offs," she said. "I've done a couple of soul albums ('Breakfast In Bed' and 'How Sweet It Is'),  a country record and there's this song cycle thing. I like to be able to move around."

As for "Relish," that 1995 album which contained the controversial hit (say it quietly, "One Of Us"), Osborne says it had all sorts of intense ramifications. Some that were really rough, others that were pretty sweet.

"On one hand, it was a bit of a nightmare to have such a big hit and have it be about God," Osborne said. "Fundamentalist types went crazy. They picketed my concerts, sent nasty letters — it was scary. Also, I'm a pretty private person, so being in the spotlight, generally, was not a good place for me. But, then there were the opportunities that came as a result."

Osborne still can't believe all the offers that followed her smash.

"Well, I got to duet with Stevie Wonder, Luciano Pavarotti and Bob Dylan," she said. "Singing 'Chimes of Freedom' in the studio with Bob was crazy-thrilling, not to mention a great learning experience. He likes to do each take differently. So I learned how to stay loose, not get thrown and shake things up like that, myself."

"Deadheads" also know that the eclectic Ms. Osborne got to sing with The Grateful Dead in the new millennium.

"Yeah, I was a member for a while—- I toured with those guys," Osborne said. "Now that Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir are getting along — they weren't playing together back then — they're being a bit more insular about things. But never say never. Maybe I'll get to sing with them again, someday."

The flexibility inherent in that statement explains Osborne's longevity. Hits, misses. Country, soul, rock and roll. If she digs it she sings it, and people come to listen. Maybe she should call the next record, "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It."