Joan Osborne Acoustic Duo to perform at Wealthy Theatre

Community Media Center announces Joan Osborne Acoustic Duo, the next concert in WYCE: Live at Wealthy Theatre fall concert series, featuring internationally-touring artists in fundraising concerts for local nonprofit organizations. 

"This one feels a little different," Joan Osborne, beloved singer-songwriter and seven-time Grammy nominee, says of her new release "Love and Hate." In addition to being her eighth studio album and her eOne debut, the 12-song set is one of the most personally-charged, creatively ambitious efforts of her two-decades-plus recording career.

While Osborne has already earned a reputation as both a commanding, passionate performer and a frank, emotionally evocative songwriter, her soulful songcraft reaches a new level of musical and lyrical resonance on "Love and Hate." 

The same creative dedication that spawned "Love and Hate" has been a hallmark of Joan Osborne's work from the start. Although the Kentucky native grew up with a passion for music, when she arrived in New York City in the late 1980s, it was to attend New York University's prestigious film school. But she couldn't resist the pull of the city's live music scene for long, and soon she was performing her own songs in downtown rock clubs and emerging as a popular presence in a vibrant scene of rootsy new acts that included such then-unknowns as Jeff Buckley, Chris Whitley, Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors. In 1992, Osborne launched her own indie label, Womanly Hips, and released the live "Soul Show: Live at Delta 88" and the studio EP "Blue Million Miles."  

Osborne's regional success led to a major-label deal and the release of her 1995 multi-platinum breakthrough album "Relish," which included her Number One single "One of Us." That song, along with a well-received run on 1997's inaugural Lilith Fair tour, introduced her to a wide audience. But Osborne quickly made it clear that she was more interested in musical integrity and creative longevity than transient pop success, and she made that point repeatedly with such subsequent albums as 2000's "Righteous Love," 2002's "How Sweet It Is," 2005’s "Christmas Means Love," 2006's "Pretty Little Stranger," 2007's "Breakfast in Bed," 2008's "Little Wild One" and 2012's "Bring It On Home."

Osborne's talents have also made her a sought-after collaborator and guest performer. She joined forces with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead when they regrouped to tour in 2003 as The Dead, sang with Motown's legendary Funk Brothers in the acclaimed 2002 documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," and produced two albums for the great blues trio the Holmes Brothers. She's shared stages with a wide range of performers, including Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Emmylou Harris, Patti Smith, Melissa Etheridge, Taj Mahal, Luciano Pavarotti and the Chieftains. More recently, Osborne has toured and recorded as a member of Trigger Hippy, which also includes rising Americana star Jackie Greene and Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman.

The concert benefits Hospice of Michigan: Sound Service, bringing musicians into the homes of those in the final stages of life.

The series continues November 12 with My Brightest Diamond; and The Bad Plus, December 12. Season passes are available for only $75 through September 8, and all tickets are available online at and by phone though Wealthy Theatre Box Office at 616-459-4788 ext. 130 or in person at Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St SE in Grand Rapids, MI.