Ten years after releasing Songs of Bob Dylan, Joan Osborne is still happily wandering the songwriter’s endless landscape.
On her current tour, she’s revisiting Dylan classics, mixing in deep cuts and fresh interpretations that invite audiences—especially younger listeners discovering him for the first time—to hear those songs with new ears. On April 30th, 2026, Joan Osborne will perform at St. Cecilia Music Center, as part of her current tour, “Joan Osborne Sings The Songs Of Bob Dylan.”
We chatted with Osborne about the thrill of stepping into Dylan’s world, and what to expect.
So you recorded your album Songs of Bob Dylan in late 2016. Now, ten years later, you’re in the midst of this tour. What is it about Dylan’s work that makes it worth revisiting?
Well, it’s such a deep well of amazing material. There are so many wonderful ones to choose from, but how do you choose? You could do ten albums and only get the cream and still have more left over.
Audience have a bottomless appetite for it too. Part of that might be the film that came out [A Complete Unknown, 2024]. That reignited the younger generations’ interest in him.
You’ve been a fan for a long time. You covered “Man In The Long Black Coat” on Relish, your breakthrough album, back in 1995.
You know, that song’s the reason I was invited into the studio. They had me come in to re-record “Chimes of Freedom” with him. It was for a TV movie or something.
What was that like?
Of course, I was nervous. But the great thing about how Bob works is he just goes for it. There’s no talking through how it’s going to be. We just went into it.
Then, in 2017, you did Songs of Bob Dylan, an album of covers. How’d you pick the songs you did? It’s a rich catalog.
Certainly you start out with the ones that grab you and won’t let go. But I also wanted to touch on the fact that he’s not just a guy from the 60s, not just the voice of a generation, or a moment. But he’s continued through all these different decades and eras, regardless of whether he was hugely popular or thought of as a has-been. He’s just kept going.
I mean, “I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You” [from 2020’s Rough And Rowdy Ways] stands along the best ballads of his career. “Tangled Up In Blue” is this whole epic story. A whole novel or something, all compacted into one song. The lyrics are so economical and yet to full and so powerful. It just takes you on this ride. It’s kind of miraculous.
Part of my guiding principle was to try things out. Some things might work great intellectually but in the studio it never took off. OK, put that aside. It was a process of trial and error.
Dylan’s famously willing to change the arrangements of his songs. Did that give you a certain amount of freedom – a way to sort of take your own direction with them?
If you’re going to cover someone else’s song, you could do a straight-ahead version. But for me the challenge is how to reinterpret it, how to make it unique to me. That can provide different shades of meaning. I think of it as a jazz singer reinterpreting classic American songbook. What can you do to put your own stamp on it? That’s part of the job.
It’s really interesting: he has such a distinct voice and vocal style. I find him really fascinating as a singer. There’s so much character and emotion in his voice, so much intelligence. He’s a really, really great singer.
It’s nothing like my voice—there was no way I could make it sound like his recordings sound. There’s just no way. But that gives me a license to play around.
And of course there’s a long history of Dylan covers. You had Peter, Paul and Mary. The Byrds. People making incredible versions of his songs. So there’s precedent.
Now you’re in the midst of this tour, doing mostly Dylan covers, but some original songs, too.
Yes. And we’re touching on the record [Songs of Bob Dylan] and the live album [Dylanology Live, 2025]. But we’re also doing songs we haven’t recorded and released. We want to give people who show up to the live show something special, something no one else can have. It’s a gesture of appreciation, and a way for us to keep things fresh, too.
Finally, what are you hearing from audiences? How are they responding to these shows?
It’s been really gratifying I’ve been out there a long time. There are fans who’ve seen me over and over again. I want to bring something new and fresh to those people. And the response has been incredible. Not just applause or whatever, but speaking to them afterward.
Young people come up to me. They say, I never got Dylan. But now I hear you singing these lyrics, and I get it. What an amazing artist. I’m just singing these songs, I didn’t write them. But if I can play some tiny role in people enjoying this great American genius—who by the way is still out there playing shows—then I’m happy. He’s my north star.
Joan Osborne Sings the Songs of Bob Dylan
St. Cecilia Music Center
Apr. 30, 7:30 p.m.
https://www.scmcgr.org/concerts/joan-osborne-2026
