Joan Osborne collection of unearthed live in-studio radio recordings entitled Radio Waves is out now (via her imprint Womanly Hips Records). The 13-song album is a unique, hand-picked assortment of Osborne’s favorite and most captivating live appearances culled from 100+ radio station performances over her 25-year career. She released a video/single for the song “Real Love“, a video/ single for “Shake Your Hips” recorded live at WXPK The Peak in 2012 on January 21 and the time-traveling montage music video for “Saint Teresa“, created by legendary music video director Nigel Dick. See the videos below.

Most of my life’s work has disappeared without a trace. I’ve made 10+ studio albums, but the vast majority of the songs I’ve sung hundreds and thousands of times over decades of touring acrossthe globe, has never been recorded.

When you are a live performer, the music you make exists only in the moment of that performance and in the minds of the people in the audience, and I can never truly know what effect my singing has had on it’s listeners any more than a stone thrown into a pond understands the ripples it makes as they travel through the water and ultimately vanish.

The extended break in touring brought on by the Covid pandemic gave me the opportunity to stay home and finally clean out some closets. As I cleaned I found dusty boxes filled with old cassette demos, rough recordings of long – ago rehearsals, and a bunch of CDs given to me by engineers at the many radio stations I’ve visited over the years. These visits usually included a performance of whatever new material my band and I were promoting, and as I combed through the CDs I realized I had a decent collection of high quality live – in – studio versions of these songs.

It was a trip down memory lane for me, and even though I’m generally my own worst critic I found that I liked what I was hearing enough to play it for other people. I also realized that there was probably much more material like this in the archives of the radio stations themselves, so my team and I started to ask for copies.

What you hold in your hands now is a small selection of the best of those radio performances, combined with some unreleased demos, drawn from a 25 year period. In effect it’s a little time machine, making quick stops to catch glimpses of the moments that have otherwise evaporated.

Many thanks to the different musicians who played these songs with me, to the recording engineers who captured them, and to the people at the radio stations who went into their archives to find them.

To the fans: please know that I’m forever grateful for the love and support you’ve given me through the years.

I hope you enjoy this collection.

Joan Osborne

The tracks of Radio Waves cover a wide range in style and source material, perfectly exhibited in the album’s bookends – starting with “Saint Teresa” from a KCRW session in 1995 and ending on a take of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everybody is a Star” performed at KROQ in 2002.

Joan Osborne – Radio Waves CD

Consistent throughout Radio Waves are Osborne’s bigtime silky voice, soulful and smooth instrumentation from the likes of veteran accompanists Andrew Carillo and Jack Petruzzelli, and a keen ear for heart-lifting song selections. Inspiring, stylistic choices span classics like Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love”, as well as deeper cuts such as Bill Withers’ “Same Love That Made Me Laugh” and Toshi Reagon’s “Real Love”.

Throughout her 25-year, multi-Grammy nominated career, Joan Osborne has never been an artist confined to one space. She has utilized her incredible voice through her own songs while also becoming one of her generation’s finest interpreters. Radio Waves is a living document of that.

Radio Waves track listing

1. “Saint Teresa” (KCRW, 1995)
2. “My Love Is Alive” (KPRI, 2000)
3. “Dream A Little Dream” (demo, 2005)
4. “How Sweet It Is” (Radio Bremen, Germany, 2003)
5. “Shake Your Hips” (WXPK, 2012)
6. “One Of Us” (Dutch Radio, 2001)
7. “Real Love” (demo, 2006)
8. “Little Wild One” (KBCO, 2008)
9. “Same Love That Made Me Laugh” (The Loft – Sirius XM, 2012)
10. “Make You Feel My Love” (Radio Bremen, Germany, 2002)
11. “Only You Know and I Know” (The Loft – Sirius XM, 2012)
12. -“Love’s In Need of Love Today” (Radio Bremen, Germany, 2002)
13. “Everybody Is A Star” (KROQ, 2002)

All tracks produced by Joan Osborne.
All lead vocals: Joan Osborne.