Joan Osborne Sang With Bob Dylan On The Same Microphone Once

"I have actually had the chance to sing with Dylan a couple of times," Joan Osborne reveals when we begin talking about her current project Joan Osborne Sings The Songs Of Bob Dylan. "Once we were in the studio singing together and we were actually on the same microphone... and because, I guess he just has this restless intelligence, we did the song four different times and each time was a completely different way - different phrasing. And I was right there on the mic with him trying to follow his phrasing. It was very challenging.... I think that restlessness is part of why he's so great. He must be easily bored and always searching for something different."

"I don't know if it's been a commercially smart thing to do to not stick with one area, but for me I just love so many different kinds of music."

As much could be said for Osborne, who has refused to adhere to one musical style over her 25-year career. From her unexpected breakthrough debut, Relish, and its monster hit One Of Us, Osborne's performances and recordings have embraced pop, blues, soul and more, leading her to join forces with the likes of Dylan, Patti Smith, Taj Mahal, Mavis Staples and members of The Grateful Dead.

"Yeah, I've been really fortunate to have been welcomed into so many different musical worlds," says Osborne. "I don't know if it's been a commercially smart thing to do to not stick with one area, but for me I just love so many different kinds of music. I couldn't be just doing one thing. There are people who do that who I respect enormously... people like Alison Krauss, who stick to one lane and do it incredibly well. But I've never felt like I had the temperament for that."

It's easy to see why Osborne would be so attracted to a musical chameleon like Dylan.

"It's been fun, it's been intense," Osborne says of recording and touring Dylan's songs. "I've been telling people, and it's true, it's like what an actor would feel like when they're doing Shakespeare. The stuff is so rich, there's so much there and the well is so deep. Songs that were written 50 years ago feel like they're talking about what we're all going through right this minute."

For her upcoming Bluesfest debut, Osborne's focus will be a little bit broader. Performing as a trio with Kevin Bents and co-writer/co-producer Jack Petruzzelli, Osborne will not, as some misleading publicity has suggested, be presenting a classic soul revue. "We will do some of the Dylan material," she reveals. "We're going to bring some of it because we're just so in it right now that this is part of what we're doing. But we also want to do some of the stuff from the records of my songs and things that people will want to hear because we've not had a chance to come down there and perform my own songs at all. When Relish was such a big hit and One Of Us was such a big hit, we tried to make it down there but I can't even remember why, something happened and it fell apart."