Joan Osborne was in her 20s when she took a deep dive into the music of Bob Dylan – and once she immersed herself into the legendary artist’s amazing musical well, Dylan’s vast catalog became an important part of her own musical journey.

In 2017, Osborne released an album of Dylan covers called “Songs of Bob Dylan” and on April 25 she will release “Dylanology Live,” an album of Dylan songs recorded on her 2018 tour. Both albums were released on her own label, Womanly Hips Records.

Before the album’s release, the seven-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling singer and songwriter is mounting a brief tour called ”Dylanology and More.” The tour will make a stop at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls on Saturday, April 12, at 8 p.m. and Osborne will sing Dylan’s songs in addition to her own material.

“I was trying to write my own songs, and I would hear people covering Dylan songs, and I was aware that he was a giant as a songwriter,” Osborne said in a recent phone conversation. “So, I thought in order for me to learn and get better, I had better check him out. So that’s when I really started to learn more about him and do a deeper dive.”

The first Dylan song she played for an audience was “I Shall Be Released,” which he wrote 1967.

“It was at a place called Mondo Cane, a little bar on Thompson Street in the [West] Village, literally around the corner from where Bob Dylan used to play in the ‘60s,” she recalled. “This was the night that the Berlin Wall came down and the lyrics of that song just seemed like a poetic description of this moment, that we were all living together.” She went on to say that part of the power of Dylan’s lyrics is their timeless quality.

Osborne included Dylan’s song, “Man in the Long Black Coat,” on her 1995 debut album “Relish.” The song was off “Oh Mercy,” a Dylan album that she especially loved. “Relish” went on to sell over three million copies and included the hit single “One of Us.” The success of that album launched her long and varied career.

Some of the high points of Osborne’s career include touring with the remaining Grateful Dead members after Jerry Garcia’s passing, co-headlining the Lilith tour, and even sharing the stage and recording with Bob Dylan himself. They recorded the song “Chimes of Freedom” as a duet for a television show, and once shared the stage when Dylan was a co-headliner for one of her tours with the Dead.

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Then came the “Songs of Bob Dylan” album.

“It’s something I had been thinking about,” said the Kentucky-born singer. “You know, Ella Fitzgerald did this thing called the ‘songbook series’ and she would pick an artist and do an entire album of their songs. It could be Duke Ellington or whoever, and I always thought that it was such a cool thing.” Osborne decided to do the same with Bob Dylan.

A residency at Cafe Carlyle in New York provided her the chance to try out different Dylan songs and arrangements before heading to the studio.

The resulting critically acclaimed album was a testament to Osborne’s soulful vocals and creative interpretation skills, and included her unique takes on famous tunes like “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Highway 61 Revisited.” It also included more obscure fare like “High Water (For Charley Patton)” and “Ring Them Bells.”

“You could do an entire album of deep cuts, and it could be an excellent record, but it’s also nice to try your hand at some of these well-known classics and put your stamp on them,” Osborne said in explaining the material she chose.

Osborne recorded several shows from the album’s tour, but they remained on the back burner while she focused on other projects. She rediscovered them in her archives recently and was so impressed with their quality that she decided to release them. The timing for the new album is perfect because Dylan has been a prominent figure in pop culture recently, thanks to the success of the award-winning biopic “A Complete Unknown.”

“I know people think we are marketing geniuses, but we had no idea that movie was coming out!” she laughed.

For this show at the Shea, Osborne will be joined by Will Bryant on keyboards and Jack Petruzzelli on guitar. “I’ve worked with Jack since my club days in the early ‘80s. He’s worked with Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright, and there’s a cover band called The Fab Faux, and he works with them,” she said. “We are going to play a bunch of Bob Dylan’s songs, some you’d expect and some you might not, and we are going to play a bunch of Joan Osborne songs as the cheery on top.”

Tickets including VIP packages are available at sheatheater.org

Looking for a night of high energy, first-rate bluegrass music? Head to the Whately Town Hall on Saturday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. and catch banjo player Max Wareham and the National Bluegrass Team, who will celebrate the release of Wareham’s new debut album ”Daggomit!” This show is part of the Watermelon Wednesdays concert series, which launched its 2025 season in February. And yes, it’s not on a Wednesday, but sometimes the series needs to schedule a show on a different day of the week.

Wareham, who splits his time between Turners Falls and Boston, began his musical journey as a jazz guitarist. One day, while walking down a New York street, he was captivated by a banjo player performing and decided to switch gears. He picked up the banjo and began learning about bluegrass.

He later discovered that renown bluegrass musician Peter Rowan was a distant cousin and ultimately connected with him. Wareham joined Rowan’s band and was featured on the Grammy-nominated album “Calling You From My Mountain.” Rowan significantly influenced Wareham, producing ”Daggomit!” and providing vocals on a couple of tracks. The album also features prominent figures in the bluegrass scene such as Chris Eldridge and David Grier on guitar, Laura Orshaw on fiddle, Mike Bub on bass, and Larry Atamanuik on drums. It truly boasts an all-star cast.

”Daggomit!” is an excellent debut that is certain to increase Wareham’s visibility in the bluegrass world. The National Bluegrass Team is Jean-Baptiste Cardineau on mandolin, Jack Holland on guitar, and Emma Turoff on bass. Singer-songwriter Wallace Field will open the show.

Tickets are available at www.watermelonwednesdays.com.

Tree House Brewing Co. in South Deerfield continues to announce more shows for their summer stage concert series. Tickets went on sale Tuesday for the great double bill of Hurray for the Riff Raff and Ani DiFranco, who will be there on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Tickets are available at Tixr.com.

The Shea Theater will welcome singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff on Friday, June 27 and the one and only Judy Collins on Sunday, July 13. Tickets are available at sheatheater.org.

Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at soundslocal@yahoo.com.